Candace Fleming
Ben Franklin’s Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman’s Life
Candace Fleming's award winning Ben Franklin's Almanac is the anchor text for a classroom guide that provides teachers with a cache of pre, during, and post-reading activities.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Using an Almanac
Young scholars work cooperatively in order to identify specific situations in which an almanac is the best choice for locating information. They answer specific questions, record the page on which the answer was found, and the key words...
Library Sparks
Reference Tools Vocabulary Challenge
Students love the opportunity of going to the library to jump into that one comfy chair in the whole room with a book, or be a lucky one to get to the computers before anyone else. But knowing how to locate books and other reference...
Curated OER
Use Or Abuse?
Young scholars explain the meaning of "use value" of nature's resources by researching and writing studenT books personifying an aspect of nature. They produce public service announcements regarding use value for their local community.
Curated OER
Make a Community Almanac
Students gather geographic information about their community. They work together to create a community almanac.
Curated OER
Animals in the Almanac
Students practice using a World Almanac by completing the provided worksheet on animals.
Curated OER
Where in the World is Mr. Fultz?
Young scholars use maps and other geographic resources to learn about their world while problem solving. They read clues each day and use classroom resources to narrow down where the prize is located.
Concord Consortium
Leap Years and Calendars
How many birthdays do leap year babies have in a lifetime? Learners explore the question among others in a lesson focused on different calendar systems. Given explanations of the Julian, Gregorian, and Martian calendars, individuals use...
Curated OER
Reference Materials
Students discuss reasons to use reference materials, identify correct reference material to use for specific information, find answers to specific questions by locating information in encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, almanac, glossary,...
Curated OER
Reference Materials
After a class discussion where kids share how they find answers to their questions, learners explore the world of reference materials such as, an atlas, an almanac, and an encyclopedia. The Internet is also discussed as a way to access...
Curated OER
Happy Birthday!: Internet Research and Historic Events
Talk about intrinsic motivation! Begin where your students' natural interests lie -- with themselves -- and launch a variety of projects with this activity. Class members research important events that took place on their birthdays....
Curated OER
Locating Information Quickly in a Variety of Resources
Here is a lesson which may be best suited for a library science teacher, or one that can be done by a regular teacher when in the library. In it, learners explore the best ways to use print and electronic resources to find information...
Curated OER
Starting With Stats
Statisticians analyze a data set of student IQs by finding measures of central tendency and dispersion such as mean, median, mode, and quartiles. They practice using a graphing calculator to find the values and analyze box plots and...
Curated OER
Word Reference Materials
A class discussion on reference materials opens up a lesson on how to use these important resources. They discover that dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses are called word reference resources, and they practice using them. The...
School Improvement in Maryland
Political Systems: Advantages and Disadvantages
Every political system has advantages and disadvantages. To gain an understanding of these differences, groups investigate the political system of another country—oligarchy, monarchy, dictatorship, parliamentary—and prepare a...
National First Ladies' Library
The State Of The States
High schoolers engage in a study of the states as part of the United States while conducting research using a variety of resources. The focus of the study is the states that were part of the Union by 1890. Students create an almanac...
Curated OER
What's Your Reference
In this reference material worksheet, students choose the correct reference for each question given. Students discover the differences in the materials found in the dictionary, the almanac, the atlas, the newspaper, and the thesaurus.
Curated OER
Weather Watchers
Students are introduced to an Underground Weather Stations. In groups, they use the internet to research the weather in different parts of the United States locating each city. To end the lesson, they summarize the information they...
Curated OER
Cite Your Sites
What information would you find in an almanac that you would not find in an atlas? What is the difference between a dictionary and a thesaurus? Using a Cite Your Sites worksheet on which they record their observations, groups participate...
Curated OER
100 Questions
Gather around to play a game! Middle and high schoolers answer questions (provided here) using various reference materials. Bring encyclopedias and other reference materials to class, as each group has limited Internet access! An answer...
Curated OER
What Are We Going To Do About Baby Six Billion?
Students formulate and evaluate suggestions about government policy using demographic examples and projections. They examine websites and utilize worksheets imbedded in this plan.
Curated OER
Searching the States (or Provinces) Scavenger Hunt
Students examine information on a particular state or province. Groups of students use the internet to locate facts about an assigned state. They research information such as capital, state song, and major crops. students report their...
Curated OER
Olympic Shadow Boxes
What a cool way to incorporate art and use reference materials. Learners use classroom reference materials such as almanacs, encyclopedias, and dictionaries to answer one of four questions, and then they use the information to create a...
Curated OER
Comparing Countries
Students use a graphic organizer to research, compare and contrast two countries. They write a brief (or detailed - depending on age) report of their findings.