Stowaway + Antarctica

In our book, Nicholas journeys to Africa, South America, New Zealand...and furthest of all, Antarctica!

The southernmost continent, Antarctica sits almost entirely within the Antarctic Circle and has our geographic South Pole.  It is the least-populated, but the fifth-largest continent -- nearly twice as large as Australia!

Nearly 98% of the continent is covered by ice, most of which is around 1.2 miles thick.  It is the coldest, windiest, driest contient on Earth.  It's a polar desert, and yet, nearly 80% of the world's freshwater reserves are stored there.  That's enough to raise global sea levels by about 200 feet...which is why scientists are concerned with climate change.  

Many scientists work at research stations here, studying plants, animals, and weather.  Thirty-eight countries have signed the Antarctic Treaty prohibiting military activities, mineral mining, nuclear explosions, and nuclear waste disposal in the region.  This is the world's last discovered and inhabited region, and major world leaders want to work together to promote scientific research and protect the continent's ecology.  Currently, between one and five thousand people live at the research stations at any given time.

Our spine novel for this unit is:

• Stowaway   
• It is known that in the summer of 1768, Captain James Cook sailed from England on H.M.S Endeavour, beginning a three-year voyage around the world on a secret mission to discover an unknown continent at the bottom of the globe. What is less known is that a boy by the name of Nicholas Young was a stowaway on that ship.  Newbery winner Karen Hesse re-creates Cook's momentous voyage through the eyes of this remarkable boy, creating a fictional journal filled with fierce hurricanes, warring natives, and disease, as Nick discovers new lands, incredible creatures, and lifelong friends.

Get the ENTIRE UNIT in Twenty-Three Reads Bundle - for someone who wants a little bit of everything! 

It includes twenty-three unit studies covering a wide range of topics. Each unit has introductory text, which will give the student basic background information about the topic at hand. These studies are directed toward upper grades students, but some have resources for younger students so that the whole family can work together.

• There are photographs and illustrations, and we have also included primary documents when available.
• After this text, there are featured videos, which augment the background information and help make the topic more accessible for more visual students.
• You will also find a short list of reading books, including a featured novel that the unit builds upon.
• There are vocabulary words, places, and people to identify.
• Reading comprehension, critical thinking questions, and writing assignments are included.
• We add fun with hands-on activities and extra videos to watch that will bring the era to life.

Includes:

• Language Arts
• Finding Langston & the Poetry of Langston Hughes
• Geography
• Anne of Green Gables & Canadian Provinces
• Stowaway & Antarctica
• Julie of the Wolves & Alaska
• Blades of Freedom & the Louisiana Purchase
• The Avion My Uncle Flew & France
• History
• Zlata’s Diary & the Slavic Wars
• Freedom Summer & the Summer of 1964
• Treasure Island & Pirates of the Caribbean Sea
• Farenheit 451 & Types of Government
• Red Stars & Russia in World War 2
• The Great Gatsby & the Roaring Twenties
• The Long List of Impossible Things & Post-War Germany
• A Tale of Two Cities & French Revolution
• Witch of Blackbird Pond & Salem Witch Trials
• The World Made New & Early Explorers
• Stitching a Life & Jewish Immigration
• Life Skills
• Teetoncey & Lifesaving Skills
• Freak of the Week & Disabilities Awareness
• Island of the Blue Dolphins & Sailing
• Science
• The Science of Breakable Things & the Scientific Method
• Frankenstein & Human Anatomy
• Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation & Albert Einstein

Product samples:

• Teetoncey & Lifesaving Skills
• Finding Langston & the Poetry of Langston Hughes
• Farenheit 451 & Types of Government

Red Stars & WW2 Russia

In 1939, the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.  The treaty divided territories of Romania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Finland into German and Soviet sections in a plan for 'political rearrangement.'  

At this time, the Germans and Soviets were working together...both Hitler and Stalin invaded Poland, separately, and the Soviet Union invaded Finland during the Winter War.  However, when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, and invaded the Soviet Union, in June 1941, they broke the pact.  

By this time, Stalin was confident that the Allies would eventually stop Germany, and decided to work with the Allied troops.  In November 1943, Stalin met with Churchill and Roosevelt in Tehran.  They planned a two-front war with Germany and discussed the future of Europe after the war ended.  By forcing Germany to divide their forces into a Western and Eastern Front, they had a better chance of ending victoriously.

The Soviet Union suffered tremendous losses, losing more then twenty million citizens and fully one-third of all the military casualties of World War 2.  After the war ended, there was disagreement about how to proceed with the future of Europe and the world.  This began a new era, the Cold War.

You may also be interested in these novel studies:  The Night Witches & Breaking Stalin's Nose.

Our spine read for this unit is:

• Red Stars  
• Twins Viktor and Nadya are twelve years old when Hitler's Germany declares war on the Soviet Union. With little notice, the city's children are evacuated on trains that are meant to take them to safety.  Shockingly, Viktor and Nadya are separated, and disaster befalls them both. As the terrible conflict rages, each embarks on a desperate race across snow and ice, struggling through the destruction in an effort to be reunited. Their chances are slim, but they never lose hope. In an original format--using the kids' diary entries, with historical photos, maps, and drawings throughout, this fictionalized account of the Nazi siege of Leningrad during the Second World War, this heart-stopping story of danger, courage and bravery emphasizes the power of truth and what it means to be a hero.

Get the ENTIRE UNIT in Twenty-Three Reads Bundle - for someone who wants a little bit of everything! 

It includes twenty-three unit studies covering a wide range of topics. Each unit has introductory text, which will give the student basic background information about the topic at hand. These studies are directed toward upper grades students, but some have resources for younger students so that the whole family can work together.

• There are photographs and illustrations, and we have also included primary documents when available.
• After this text, there are featured videos, which augment the background information and help make the topic more accessible for more visual students.
• You will also find a short list of reading books, including a featured novel that the unit builds upon.
• There are vocabulary words, places, and people to identify.
• Reading comprehension, critical thinking questions, and writing assignments are included.
• We add fun with hands-on activities and extra videos to watch that will bring the era to life.

Includes:

• Language Arts
• Finding Langston & the Poetry of Langston Hughes
• Geography
• Anne of Green Gables & Canadian Provinces
• Stowaway & Antarctica
• Julie of the Wolves & Alaska
• Blades of Freedom & the Louisiana Purchase
• The Avion My Uncle Flew & France
• History
• Zlata’s Diary & the Slavic Wars
• Freedom Summer & the Summer of 1964
• Treasure Island & Pirates of the Caribbean Sea
• Farenheit 451 & Types of Government
• Red Stars & Russia in World War 2
• The Great Gatsby & the Roaring Twenties
• The Long List of Impossible Things & Post-War Germany
• A Tale of Two Cities & French Revolution
• Witch of Blackbird Pond & Salem Witch Trials
• The World Made New & Early Explorers
• Stitching a Life & Jewish Immigration
• Life Skills
• Teetoncey & Lifesaving Skills
• Freak of the Week & Disabilities Awareness
• Island of the Blue Dolphins & Sailing
• Science
• The Science of Breakable Things & the Scientific Method
• Frankenstein & Human Anatomy
• Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation & Albert Einstein

Product samples:

• Teetoncey & Lifesaving Skills
• Finding Langston & the Poetry of Langston Hughes
• Farenheit 451 & Types of Government

Get the entire World War 2 Bundle!

Includes:

• 
  The Book Thief
• We Were There at the Battle of Britain
• Number the Stars
• The Winged Watchmen
• We Were There at Pearl Harbor
• We Were There at the Battle of Bataan
• Island War
• Red Stars
• The Night Witches
• Mare’s War
• We Were There at the Normandy Invasion
• Code Talkers
• We Were There at the Battle of the Bulge
• The Light Between Us
• We Were There at the Open of the Atomic Era
• A Merry 1940s Christmas

Product samples:

• We Were There at the Opening of the Atomic Era
• Have Yourself a Vintage Little Christmas

Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation + Albert Einstein

November 11, 1930 - The US Patent Office awards another patent to Albert Einstein, this one for the refrigerator.  The invention is not immediately put into production, and the patent is acquired by Electrolux.
Born March 14th, 1879, Albert Einstein is considered one of the greatest physicists and thinkers of all time.  In 1921, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Law of the Photoelectric Effect.  He developed the Theory of Relativity, which is one of the two pillars of modern physics, and his mass-energy equivalence (E=mc²) is considered the world's most famous equation.  Today, the word 'Einstein' is equated with 'genius.'
Einstein was born in Germany, but moved to Switzerland in his teens.  In 1933, while visiting the United States, Hitler came to power in Germany.  Because Einstein was Jewish, he opted not to return to Europe, and settled in the US, becoming an American citizen in 1940.  Just before World War 2, he wrote a letter to President Roosevelt recommending that the US begin nuclear research, as Germany already had a program underway.  While he was against nuclear weapons, he supported the Allied troops in defeating Hitler.
At age 76, he passed away in Princeton, NJ after refusing a life-saving surgery.  He said, "I have done my share; it is time to go.  I will do it elegantly."  During the autopsy, his brain was preserved in the hope that future neuroscientists would be able to discover what led to his high intelligence.  However, as fellow physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer remarked at his memorial, what truly made him special was, "He was almost wholly without sophistication and wholly without worldliness. ... There was always with him a wonderful purity at once childlike and profoundly stubborn."

You may also be interested in Pi Day Fun!

Our spine read for this unit is:

• Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation    
• Charlie Thorne is a genius.  Charlie Thorne is a thief.  Charlie Thorne isn’t old enough to drive.  And now it’s up to her to save the world…  Decades ago, Albert Einstein devised an equation that could benefit all life on earth—or destroy it. Fearing what would happen if the equation fell into the wrong hands, he hid it.  But now, a diabolical group known as the Furies are closing in on its location. In desperation, a team of CIA agents drags Charlie into the hunt, needing her brilliance to find it first—even though this means placing her life in grave danger.  In a breakneck adventure that spans the globe, Charlie must crack a complex code created by Einstein himself, struggle to survive in a world where no one can be trusted, and fight to keep the last equation safe once and for all.

Get the ENTIRE UNIT in Twenty-Three Reads Bundle - for someone who wants a little bit of everything! 

It includes twenty-three unit studies covering a wide range of topics. Each unit has introductory text, which will give the student basic background information about the topic at hand. These studies are directed toward upper grades students, but some have resources for younger students so that the whole family can work together.

• There are photographs and illustrations, and we have also included primary documents when available.
• After this text, there are featured videos, which augment the background information and help make the topic more accessible for more visual students.
• You will also find a short list of reading books, including a featured novel that the unit builds upon.
• There are vocabulary words, places, and people to identify.
• Reading comprehension, critical thinking questions, and writing assignments are included.
• We add fun with hands-on activities and extra videos to watch that will bring the era to life.

Includes:

• Language Arts
• Finding Langston & the Poetry of Langston Hughes
• Geography
• Anne of Green Gables & Canadian Provinces
• Stowaway & Antarctica
• Julie of the Wolves & Alaska
• Blades of Freedom & the Louisiana Purchase
• The Avion My Uncle Flew & France
• History
• Zlata’s Diary & the Slavic Wars
• Freedom Summer & the Summer of 1964
• Treasure Island & Pirates of the Caribbean Sea
• Farenheit 451 & Types of Government
• Red Stars & Russia in World War 2
• The Great Gatsby & the Roaring Twenties
• The Long List of Impossible Things & Post-War Germany
• A Tale of Two Cities & French Revolution
• Witch of Blackbird Pond & Salem Witch Trials
• The World Made New & Early Explorers
• Stitching a Life & Jewish Immigration
• Life Skills
• Teetoncey & Lifesaving Skills
• Freak of the Week & Disabilities Awareness
• Island of the Blue Dolphins & Sailing
• Science
• The Science of Breakable Things & the Scientific Method
• Frankenstein & Human Anatomy
• Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation & Albert Einstein

Product samples:

• Teetoncey & Lifesaving Skills
• Finding Langston & the Poetry of Langston Hughes
• Farenheit 451 & Types of Government

The History Behind Thanksgiving Traditions - Unit Study

Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, food, and tradition. People gather with family and friends on the fourth Thursday in November to enjoy a traditional meal and to give thanks for life’s many blessings.  But where did this holiday originate?

Pilgrims & Indians

We all know the story of the Mayflower and the First Thanksgiving - held 400 years ago this year - and the relationship that developed between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indian tribe.  It had been a long year since the ship arrived in 1620, and the colony was very grateful to be doing so well with the help of Massasoit and his people.  Read more about the First Thanksgiving here.

Prior to the colonists arrival, the Native Americans already had a tradition of celebrating the fall harvest.  Thanksgiving falls under a category of festivals that spans cultures, continents and millennia. In ancient times, the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans feasted and paid tribute to their gods after the fall harvest.  Thanksgiving also bears a resemblance to the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot.

As the colonies grew, colonists continued to give thanks with the autumn harvests.  No official holiday was declared, however, until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving to be held in 1863, at the height of the Civil War.  He asked all Americans to have God “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.” 

A Holiday is Born

From 1863 to 1939, the holiday was held on the last Thursday in November.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up by one week that year, in an attempt to boost the economy with holiday shopping, and in 1941 he officially made Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November.  This officially gave most people a four-day break from school and work!

Turkey & Pumpkin Pie

Did you know that lobster, seal, and swans were served at the first Thanksgiving?  Historians believe that many of the foods were prepared in the Native American way because the Pilgrims did not have an oven.  Turkey may or may not have been served back in 1621, but we know that they didn't have many of the tasty desserts from today, because they had no sugar!

In many American households today, the holiday centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends.  Turkey, corn, pumpkins, squash, nuts, and cranberry sauce are foods that represent the first Thanksgiving. 

Beginning in the mid-1900s, the president has “pardoned” a Thanksgiving turkey each year, sparing it from slaughter and sending it to a farm for retirement. A number of U.S. governors also perform the annual turkey pardoning ritual.

Holiday Activities

Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity.  In the spirit of giving, many communities hold food drives and host free dinners for the less fortunate.  Many families host a Thanksgiving meal, complete with gratitude activities around the table. 

Parades have also become a big part of the day in cities and towns across the United States.  The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924, and today New York City’s parade - with its performers, floats, and marching bands - is the largest and most famous, attracting millions of spectators along its 2.5-mile route, as well as an enormous television audience.

Our spine reads for this unit are:

• I'm Thankful for My Family
• Thanksgiving Traditions in Boston
• Who Pardoned the First Thanksgiving Turkey?

Access the entire unit in the History Behind Our Holidays unit study bundle!

Includes eight American holidays. Each unit has introductory text, which will give the student the holiday’s history and customs.

•  Introduction
•  Valentine’s Day
•  St. Patrick’s Day
•  Easter
•  Mother’s Day
•  Father’s Day
•  Halloween
•  Thanksgiving
•  Christmas

In addition to text, there are featured videos, which augment the background information and help make the topic more accessible for more visual students. You will also find a short list of reading books and fun hands-on activities!

Product Samples:   Valentine's Day & Christmas Traditions