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November Newsletter 2009Well it’s November already and I’m sure you are all planning for holiday activities in school and out.I’ve found a list of special observances for each day of the month. I thought it might help in yourplanning and maybe think of other types of topics to bring into your units of study besides the usual.So on page 2 is a table of daily observances, some not so “normal”, but hopefully to cause somecreativity to flow.

HappyThanksgiving!

NovemberNovemberNovemberNovemberNovemberNovemberNovemberNovemberNovemberNovemberNovemberNovember

In this Issue:November Calendar of Daily Celebrations……2

Sandwich Day Activities……………………….. 3-10

Recycling Day Activities……………………….11-14

Young Reader’s Day Activities……………….15-18

Gettysburg Address Day Activities…………..19-22

Ideas to Help You Site Reminder!..................23

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SaturdayFridayThursdayWednesdayTuesdayMondaySunday

30-Stay atHome BecauseYou’re WellDay (seriously)

29-King Tut’s Tombopened in 1922

28-MarkTwain’s Birth-1835 (realname wasSamuelClemmens)

27-Pins &Needles Day

26-CharlesSchulz’sBirth-1922NationalCake DayThanksgiving Day

25-John F.Kennedy Jr.’sBirth 1960WoodyWoodpecker’sBirth 1940

24-ZacharyTaylor’sBirth-12th

Presidentb. 1784

23-NationalCashew Day

22-Stop the ViolenceDay

21-WorldHello Day

20-MexicanRevolutionDay

19-GettysburgAddressdelivered byLincoln-1863

18-MickyMouse’s Birth-1928William TellShoots Appleoff Son’s Head-1315

17-HomemadeBread DayNationalYoungReader’sDayTake a HikeDay

16-Button Day15-America RecyclesDayPack Your Mom aLunch Day

14-NationalClean OutYourRefrigeratorDay

13-Mom’s &Dad’s Day

12-1st

Balloon toCross thePacificElizabethCadyStanton Day-(equalrights)

11-RemembranceDay in CanadaVeteran’s Day

10-U.S.MarineCorp est.byCongress1775SesameStreetdebuted in1969

9-Parade Day8-X-Ray Day-discovered in 1895

7-Hug-a-BearDayMagazine Day

6-BasketballDay

5-NationalDonut Day

4-1st WagonTrain to reachCaliforniaNational CandyDay

3-U.S.A.ElectionDaySandwichDay-Birthof JohnMontague,creator

2-DanielBoone’sBirthday-B.1734 inPennsylvaniaNationalDeviled EggDay

1-All Saints DayDaylight SavingsTime EndsElectric Light BulbPatented by ThomasEdison-1879National Author’s Day

I’ve chosen some of the special events from the calendar to create activities you can usein your classroom through this month. They are in sequential order by the day.

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November 3rd-Sandwich Day (Health, Tables and Graphs, MathALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR LOWER GRADES: For a lower grade, students could build thesandwiches and then look at a chart to see what group each ingredient belongs. Then havethem decide if the sandwich is balanced or not. Lower grade students could even pickingredients by circling them and then comparing what they chose to a food groups chart.

Sandwich #1Activity: If you were going to build a healthy sandwichfor yourself to eat, what would be the ingredients? Tell in whichfood groups the ingredients would belong.The next two pages have these shapes ready to cutout and create a sandwich. Ifthere are other ingredients students might think of, they can draw and cut their ownshapes.

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Build a Sandwich

Name___________________ Date________________

Below are sandwich shapes to cutout and use in building the sandwich. Place oneach part a word to identify the ingredient and also of what food group that ingredientwould be a part. Then have students compare their sandwiches to see how balancedthey might or might not be.

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Sandwich #1 cont’d (more sandwich parts)

Any other ingredients not here can be created by the student.

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Sandwich #2 Activity: On the next page, make a list first, of your favoritesandwiches. Try to think of 3 different kinds of sandwiches. List them first.Then fill in the table after telling the name of the sandwich, then put an x in thecolumn of the type of ingredient used. The table will become somewhat of agraph when done. So the student can then reflect on the types of ingredientsliked most and least by looking at the X’s marked. (Room has been left forstudents to add additional ingredients not listed)ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR LOWER GRADES: Have lower grade students make a chartwith cutout pictures, rather than writing names of ingredients and then use terms like “morethan”, “less than”, or “the same” for amounts of ingredients when comparing the sandwiches.

What’s Your Favorite!

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Rank Your Sandwiches in a Table

Name______________________________ Date_____________________

Sandwich #2 Make a list first, of your favorite sandwiches. Try to think of 3different kinds of sandwiches. List them first below. Then fill in the table aftertelling the name of the sandwich, then put an x in the column of the type ofingredients used. Look at those X’s you have marked to help write about yourlikes and dislikes on the next page. (Room has been left to add additionalingredients not listed)

Beef

Ham

Turkey

Ketchup

Mustard

Mayonnaise

Pickles

Cheese

Bread

Sandwich 3Sandwich 2Sandwich 1

Sandwich #1________________________________________________

Sandwich #2________________________________________________

Sandwich #3________________________________________________

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Write About Your Favorite from the Chart!

Name__________________________ Date________________

Sandwich #2, cont’d Below the student can write about likes and dislikesaccording to the X’s made on the chart on the previous page.

Ingredients I love the most are:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________because________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The ingredients I don’t like are:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________because________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Sandwich #3 Activity: Have the students do a multi-step problem orproblems using sandwiches. (Use the examples on the next page fortheir problems.)The first example: How many sandwiches would they eat in a year if they had one sandwich aday, 3 days out of each week?

The second example: If you ate 4 sandwiches in each week with 3 of those being hamsandwiches and 1 being a grilled cheese, how many ham sandwiches would you eat for a wholeyear as compared to grilled cheese sandwiches?

The third example: If it takes two slices of cheese per sandwich for your ham sandwich andyou have at least 2 of those sandwiches every week, how many slices of cheese would that befor an entire year?

ALTERNATIVES FOR LOWER GRADES: Students in lower grades might use tally marks tofigure numbers of sandwiches in a month and possibly on a calendar, then counting by 5’s or1’s to figure sandwiches eaten.

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Slices of Bread Multi-Step Problems

Name_____________________________ Date___________________

Do your multi-step problems in each of the slices of bread below.

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November 15th-Recycling Day (Ways to Help Our Planet-Writing)

Recycling #1-Writing- Have students write about the different ways theymight be able to help in their own way to save our planet! (Use the nextpage for the students’ responses.ALTERNATIVES FOR LOWER GRADES: Have the vocabulary terms for them to choose from after theyknow the terms and their meaning. Then students could write a number of sentences to describe whatmight be done to help with recycling.

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Write About Recycling

Name_________________________ Date____________________Write about the different ways you might be able to help in your own way to save our planet!

Ways I Can Help Our Planet

By ______________________

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November 15th-Recycling Day (Ways to Help Our Planet-Writing)

Recycling #2- Color and Comment- Have students color each picture andwrite 2 or 3 sentences about how what is depicted in the picture can help ourplanet. (Use the next page to copy and have students respond.) Alternatives forHigher Grades: Besides writing about the picture, tell how how the activity is helping save theplanet.

Color and WriteHow can the things in these pictures help our planet? Write 2 or 3 complete sentences for

each picture.

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Color and Comment

Name_________________________ Date___________________Color each picture and write 2 or 3 sentences about how what is depicted in the picture can helpour planet.

Color and WriteHow can the things in these pictures help our planet? Write 2 or 3 complete sentences for

each picture.

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November 17th-Young Reader’s Day

Young Reader’s Day #1 Writing Have students think about their favorite book andthen write about what the book is about, who are the characters, what is the plot, a favorite pagein the book, and why it is their favorite book. (Example below) Younger and Older students cando this activity.

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!What is your favorite book? Who are the characters? What is the plot? What is your favorite pagein the book and why? Draw a picture of the main character in the box.

My favorite book is Piggie Pie. The story is

really three stories in one. The Three Little Pigs,

Old MacDonald’s Farm, and The Wizard of

Oz. The trouble begins with the witch wanting to

make piggie pie, but has all the ingreditents except

the pigs. So she tries to find the pigs, but the pigs

out-smart her by dressing in disguises. In the end the wolf and the witch join each

other for dinner with one thing on their mind; to eat each other. My favorite page iswhen the piggies are dressed in costume, because I love costumes and disguises.

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My Favorite BookName_____________________________________ Date_______________________________

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!What is your favorite book? Who are the characters? What is the plot? What is your favorite pagein the book and why? Draw a picture of the main character in the box.

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November 17th-Young Reader’s Day

Young Reader’s Day #2 Writing & Illustrating Have students create a flip pagewhere they give hints to their favorite book on the front and then reveal that book on the inside.(Example below) Younger and older students can do this activity.

Which Book Am I?See if your classmates can decide which is your favorite book by the clues you give on the front

of a flip sheet. On the inside draw a picture of the cover and also write the title below it. Usethis page to write your clues.

Clue #1:The book is 3 stories in one.

Clue #2:The book has a wolf, pigs, and a witch as characters.

Clue #3:The story takes place on a farm.

Clue # 4:The witch is the main character.

Clue #5:The witch wants to make food, but needs certain ingredients.

Suggestions for clues you might give…

(1) Name the main character.

(2) Tell the setting.

(3) Tell how the story ends without giving away to much of the book.

(4) Describe the characters as either human or animal or other.

(5) Describe in what time period the story takes place if it is known.

These are suggestions and do not necessarily go with the cluenumbers

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Writing & Illustrating

Name________________________ Date______________________Create a flip page where you give hints to your favorite book on the front and then on the inside,write the title and a drawing to show the book. Below is a worksheet for putting together yourclues.

Which Book Am I?See if your classmates can decide which is your favorite book by the clues you give on the front

of a flip sheet. On the inside draw a picture of the cover and also write the title below it. Usethis page to write your clues.

Clue #1:__________________________________________________

Clue #2:__________________________________________________

Clue #3:____________________________________________

Clue # 4:____________________________________________

Clue #5:_____________________________________________

Suggestions for clues you might give…

(1) Name the main character.

(2) Tell the setting.

(3) Tell how the story ends without giving away to much of the book.

(4) Describe the characters as either human or animal or other.

(5) Describe in what time period the story takes place if it is known.

These are suggestions and do not necessarily go with the cluenumbers.

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November 19th-Gettysburg Address Delivered by Lincoln-1863

Gettysburg #1-Writing Have students write about WHAT the address was and WHY itwas given, and also thoughts they may have about whether the address made a difference overtime. (The next page is the actual page to copy and have students do their writing.) Moreappropriate for upper grades.

The Gettysburg Address: What and WhyWhat was the Gettysburg Address and why did President Lincoln give this speech?

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November 19th-Gettysburg Address Delivered by Lincoln-1863(Writing & Compare and Contrast

Gettysburg Writing#1

Name__________________________ Date_____________________Write about WHAT the address was and WHY it was given, and also thoughts you have aboutwhether the address made a difference over time.

The Gettysburg Address: What and WhyWhat was the Gettysburg Address and why did President Lincoln give this speech?

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November 19th-Gettysburg Address Delivered by Lincoln-1863

Gettysburg #2-Writing Have students write about how President Lincoln compares toour current president. (Use the next page to copy for students to comment.)

More appropriate for upper grades.

President to PresidentTell how President Lincoln compares to our current president. What differences do yousee and also how are they the same.

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Gettysburg Writing#2

Name___________________________ Date_____________________Write about how President Lincoln compares to our current president.

President to PresidentTell how President Lincoln compares to our current president. What differences do yousee and also how are they the same.

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I hope these ideas will add to your teaching. Don’t forget to goto the site and checkout my eBooks and also the graphics youmight be able to use in your teaching!http://www.ideastohelpyou.com

Also I will soon have teacher notecards on my Etsy.com storejust for you, so check those out also. My site there ishttp://www.greggsgoodies.etsy.com