DITMAS I. S. 62CLASSES 770 and 710

Barry Kevorkian, Principal

Mrs. Heather Barron, Social Studies Literacy Project Designer

and Practices & Collaboration

Ms. Rogers, Teacher Associate & Collaborator

Dr. Rose Cherie Reissman, Literacy Specialist & Writing Institute Press

America’s Book of

HistoriCal Facts

Table of ContentsForewords Darryl Coleman Rap of American History Mark Gyra Endorsement

David Keller Trevaskis- Pennsylvania Social Studies Award to Heather Barron

Student Contributors

Credits

Poetry

Quotes

Hanifah Poetry-Modeled on Pinkney

Triva

Bios

Dr. Reissman Teacher CCSS Alphabet Alignment

770 AuthorsJared Aguilar

Marco Alonso

Sheelsa Augustin

Fezan Bhatti

Cynthia Blanco

Ketlyne Bonne Annee

Carlos Campos

Kaisy Cardoza

Adriana Cazares

Darryl Coleman

Stanley Desir

William Fernandez

Angelique Flores

Kansas Fournier

Ariana Garcia

Mohamed Hussain

Hanifah Johnson

Faiaz Kabir

Skylynn Lozada

Zeest Mahroyah

Aisha Maqsood

Sandro Mejia

Mohammad Rahman

Marcelino Ramos

Danny Rendon

Mohammad Sarwar

Esther Telcy

Mi Sun Teah was lead designer

ArtWork

Haseeb Cheema

Awais Mohammad

Jonathan Salazar

Mi Sun Teah

Teachers

Mrs. Barron

Ms. Rogers

Mohammad Hussain named the book

710 Authors/ArtistsIsmael Balbuena

Emmily Cordova

Jack Davronov

Harun El Rowmeim

Jaharutul Fariah

Ali Haider

Monira Hoque

Daeno Isufaj

Myriam Kerolle

Temur Khamrokulov

Javeria Khan

Jitendra Lama

Desteny Lee

Celeste Lopez

Giovanni Lopez

Jorge Lopez

Mohammad Maharaj

Saima Mili

Daniel Orea

Kiara Pichardo

Joselyn Ramos

Abu Raton

Sumaya Rimi

Leslie Robles

Avital Sudyarov

Dolma Tsering

Alex Tzum

Stephanie Zuniga

Teachers

Mrs. Barron

Ms. Rogers

Foreword:Rap –ABC’s of American History

Darryl Coleman, Class 770

Now we’ve spent the year learning all about our historyAmerica the beautiful, full of lots of mystery.You got to know your past, your roots and where you come from-Here are all the things that make America number one.

A is for America the land that we all live in, So now I’m gonna tell you about our roots and where we have been.

B is for Boston Massacre, where we fought against them red coats Tryin’ to take our freedom and everything we loved most.

C is for Constitution which gives us all our rules. Without these regulations we’d all be acting like fools.

D is most important, Declaration of Independence. With this piece of paper we reached our freedom and transcendence.

E equals the Proclamation of Emancipation. This brought freedom to all the slaves in our new nation.

Now we’ve got an amendment, F stands for fifteen. Gives us the right to rock the vote, the American dream.

G is for Greatness, the Compromise they reached Representation, equality, this contract won’t be breached.

H is for a place, The Hudson River School. Artists learned there, painting by their own rules.

I is for the Removal of all the Indian People. America did not feel that they were their equal.

3 branches of government, J is for Judicial They interpret all our laws, the Judges are official.

K is for King James, in England with his crown He sent guys to America, they founded Jamestown.

L is for Lewis, an explorer joined by Clark. They scouted out the West, and really made their mark.

Next we have a Doctrine, M is for Monroe. “MYOB” to foreign countries, we told them where to go.

N stands for Northwest Passage. An easier route for all the masses.

O is for the Trail through Oregon land, For a better life for every woman and man.

P is for the Pilgrims, Puritans at heart. They rode over on the Mayflower for a fresh start.

Quartering Act is next, it’s for the letter Q. You had to open your crib to keep soldiers there with you.

R is for Rush-Bagot, a simple compromise. The Great Lakes could be used now from both sides.

Daniel Shay is letter S, a leader with no fear. Farmers stood up for their rights, for what they held dear.

T is for the Tea Act. It made the colonists react.

Underground Railroad is your U. 300 were saved, yet that seems so few.

V is Virginia; they came up with a plan. A fresh new Constitution, sovereignty for all man.

W’s for Whiskey, a drink that made people cheer. They rebelled when it was taxed, their intentions were clear.

X is for an acronym called XYZ. French agents tried to take away some dough from you and me.

Y is for a place, a battle in Yorktown, P.A. America was the winner; wave your flags for USA

Z is now our last one, it’s for Zebulon Pike Explorer by nature, he’s a guy we like.

I just gave you a lesson in America’s HistoryWhat happens in our future is up to you and me

Darryl is a licensed poet-

Rap –ABC’s of American HistoryContinued

Foreword:Mr. Mark Gura , ISTE Literacy President,

Former head of Department of Education Office of Technology, NYC

As someone who has been involved in the development and implementation of literacy projects for several decades, I was excited to review your literacy and informational Social Studies-rich Alphabet Book project. Dr. Reissman detailed to me how under the expert shepherding of Ms. Heather Barron, and accompanied by Ms. Rogers, your students researched, illustrated, created poetry commentary and trivia content for, and finally designed an Andrea Pinkney-inspired poetry and a rap book as part of customized SS/History project research. Very impressive, indeed! Your project demonstrates that rigorous learning experiences aligned to the ELA Common Core Standards in Social Studies can be fun and inspire students to be informed citizens.

I wish I could have been on one of your student teams.

I understand this is your class’s second book. To your future books!!

David Keller Trevaskis,Pennsylvania Social Studies Council

On the basis of this book and learning display, I am pleased to award Heather Barron, the President’s Award for Curriculum Innovation in Social Studies. This project is notable for its mix of social studies content, po-etry, use of Pinkney historical information text and its alignment to ELA/SS/History CCSS Standards.

Dr. Reissman, Ditmas Literacy Support and Director of the Writing Insti-tute which also assists LEAP shared the various stages of the project and the work of students with me as leaders and as researchers.

Bravo to Ms. Barron who is an expert in collaboration, project based learn-ing and in shepherding our next generation to informed history and civic citizenship.

A is for the

American RevolutionThe Continental Army tried,

To fight for our rights, but many died.The British troops were much too strong,

Prepared to fight even though they were wrong.The struggle for liberty never did stop,

Through the different weather they fought even though it was hot.The colonial forces gave it their all

As they witnessed their closest comrades fall.Victory was in the distance you see

Colonial forces fought for you and for me.

By: Mrs. Barron & Jared Aguilar

B is for the

Boston Massacre“Come on you rascals…. Fire if you dare!!!

Yelled someone from the crowd who probably never cared.What happened next was tragic and sad,

It left many angry, upset and mad.Someone fired their weapon with a loud boomThe men began to fire, the crowd had no room.

Chaos played a key role in the demise of some menThe colonial troops were saddened yet again.

By: Mrs. Barron & Marcelino Ramos

C is for the

ConstitutionThe Articles of Confederation were bad

It made people really madIt gave Congress too much might

The United States Government was weak and tightSo they created the Constitution

To boost up the government’s determinationIt set up the government’s duties and powers

But most people thought it was weak and sourSo they created the Bill of Rights

And the Constitution gave the people and government a lot of might

By: Mohammad Rahman

D is for the

Declaration of IndependenceThe colonies were inspired

To finally take a standAnd separate from Britain

And form their very own land

Encouraged and enlightenedThey fought with all their might

And drafted a declarationTo give themselves their rights

No longer would they be a partOf Great Britain’s territory

So they proclaimed their independenceAnd started their own story

With the Declaration of Independence And all the things it gave

We are now the land of the freeAnd the home of the noble and brave

By: Ms. B. Rogers & Stanley Desir

E is for

Emancipation ProclamationFreedom from torture was soon to be

Lincoln knew it was wrong so he issued a pleaHe saw the horror and devastation

This made him mad so he issued a proclamationThis proclamation set free so many

It gave happiness and rights to plentyLincoln was a hero because of this Even though it was far from bliss

By: Stanley Desir

F is for the

Fifteenth AmendmentThe rights to vote you see,

Was as important for you as it is meWe are all equals, and no different from one another

We should all vote together, after all we are brothersWe began to protest to show how we felt

We have suffered for years given what we were dealtWe are all caring, loving and smart,

A vote is a vote you can’t tell them apart

By: Faiaz Kabir

G is for the

Great Compromise2 parties coming to a head

But both want different thingsSo they came to an agreement

And enjoyed the benefits they bring

Big Virginia said “National Government”And “Representation by how many people we got!”

But smaller states saw that as unfairIt made their tempers boiling hot

Little New Jersey said “put states in charge!”“And give us equal representation!”

Could there be a wayTo bring peace to this new nation?

So they made a compromiseThis held the drama at bay

So now they had equal representation and powerWhich we still have today

By: Ms. B. Rogers & Danny Rendon

H is for the

Hudson River SchoolNow America is freeAs happy as can be

No Great Britain to tell us what to doWe proudly wave our red, white, and blue

Now that we have our own identityTime to make our own art and make plenty

Hudson River School made its own styleAnd artists would sit and paint for awhile“America the Beautiful” in all new paintings

Were met with cheers and critics high ratings

By: Fezan Bhatti

I is for the

Indian Removal ActR is for reluctant and mostly forcible

E is for emigration of tens of thousands of American Indians to the west

M is for May 28, 1830 when the Removal Act was signedO is for organizer Jeremiah Evarts protested against its passage

V is for the violence and sadness the Indians feltA is for Andrew Jackson the President at the time

L is for the lands to the west that the Indians now called home

By: Kansas Fournier

J is for the

Judicial BranchThe division of the federal government

Made up of the national courtsIts purpose is to help the people

And bring justice to those who tortThis part of the branches of governmentPunishes criminals and settles disputesThe men and women have representation

In the form of lawyers in suitesThe judicial branch helps to,

Keep peace amongst the statesAnd the system of Checks and Balances

Helps to distribute the weight

By: Mohamed Hussain

K is for

King James IIY is for your majesty who struggled with the English parliament

O is for October 14, 1633 the day he was bornU is for undeniable attempts to create religious liberty

for English Roman Catholics R is for the Roman Catholic Monarch

M is for his marriage to Anne Hyde in 1660A is for Anne who became pregnant and no one

expected a Prince to marry a commonerJ is for James’ wife who was devoted and influenced many decisions

E is for England’s church for their loss of legal supremacyS is for the struggle for supremacy between

English parliament and crown T is for two rebellions that King James did face

Y is for the years of struggle that led to his exile in France

By: Carlos Campos

L is for the

Lewis and Clark ExpeditionAn expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

A major part of history that began with a sparkThe expedition started in 1804

What was out there, they were not sureThey used the Missouri River as their highway through the unknown

Sacagawea helped to guide them so they were not on their ownThey cooked, wrote in journals and slept

gnats, flies and mosquitoes they did not exceptEven though the expedition was exhausting and long

Lewis and Clark both remained strong

By: Darryl Coleman

M is for the

Monroe DoctrineAmerica had to protect itself

From foreign countries overseasSo they passed a special doctrineIn eighteen hundred twenty three

We swore not to interfereWith other nations’ affairs

And told them to keep their colonies On their own soil over there

But we told the Europeans, tooTo not over extend their reach

And they too wouldn’t get involved with usAnd then there would be peace

By: Mrs. B. Rogers & Cynthia Blanco

N is for the

Northwest PassageA path through North America

That you could not seeExplorers searched and searched To make it easier for you and meThe King of England desperately

Wanted to find a routeJohn Cabot offered & paid himself

So the King told him to scootCabot sailed to North America

But failed to find the pathHis voyage became England’s claim

To their North American wrath

By: Mrs. Barron & Esther Telcy

O is for the

Oregon TrailA 2,000 mile long route

Many died but many survivedFollowing a challenging and

Dangerous routeStretched from places suchAs Independence, Missouri or

Council Bluffs, IowaTravelling this perilous six

Month journeyPeople starved, supplies ran out

But they wouldn’t stop and look backAll they had was this long routeAlso known as the Oregon Trail

By: Ariana Garcia

P is for

PilgrimP is for Puritan

I is for inner path of the spiritual aspirantL is for literature of Christianity

G is for Great MigrationR is for religious belief system

I is for IndependenceM is for the Mayflower Compact

By: Zeest Mahroyah

Q is for the

Quartering ActIt was the time of the revolution, man to man the soldiers fought

This act helped to fan the flames, at least that’s what they thoughtThe Quartering Act put the red coats in our arms

Americans were forced to keep them safe from harmWhy were we forced to house a British soldier?

As I understood it the winters were growing colderBecause of this U.S citizens have Amendment # 3

We have these laws because we are all now freeNo soldier shall be quartered in the time of war

Without consent of the owner in a manner described by law.

By: Angelique Flores

R is for the

Rush- Bagot AgreementR is for resolutions

U is for United StatesS is for the spring of 1817

H is for history-

B is for British CanadaA is for agreement

G is for Great LakesO is for opposite sides

T is for two sides that compromised

By: Aisha Maqsood

S is for

Shay’s RebellionR is for rebellion that started August 29, 1786

E is for economic depressionB is for became radicalized against state government

E is for events took place after Philadelphia ConventionL is for led by Daniel Shay

L is for led to the arrest of many leadersI is for incident in Sheffield Massachusetts

O is for outrage and horrorN is for necessary for farmers

By: Marco Alonso

T is for the

Tea ActT is for tea smuggled in the British North American Colonies

E is for exported from BritainA is for ability to tax the colonies

-A is for act of the parliament of Great Britain

C is for colonists paying less for teaT is for tea going directly to the colonists

By: Sandro Mejia

U is for the

Underground RailroadH is for Harriet Tubman, courageous conductor of

the Underground RailroadA is for the Abolitionists who worked together

R is for the running the slaves didR is for the Railroad led by “conductors”

I is for the inspiration they gave to othersE is for the exceptional strength these men and women had

T is for the men and women using the stars as their guide

T is for Tubman’s capture reward of 40,000U is for the Underground Railroad success of

leading over 300 slaves to freedomB is for the barns they rested in

M is for the masters that hid and fed the fugitivesA is for attics of abolitionists

N is for it not being an actual railroad but a network to arrange escape

By:

V is for the

Virginia PlanAt the Constitutional Convention delegates had met

But after four days they began to fretEdmund Randolph of Virginia presented the Virginia Plan

He proposed a new federal constitution and sovereignty for all manSupreme power the government would obtain

However people thought it was a little vainNew Jersey proposed a plan as well

Still it was not fair and not swellThe Great Compromise came to be

Two sides agreeing with 1 humble plea

By: Adriana Cazares

W is for the

Whiskey RebellionWhy tax whiskey?

That was very riskyThe farmers will get mad And that is always bad

It would give the farmers painAnd whiskey taxers their gain

The farmers will fight with all their mightAnd whiskey taxers will have a fright

By: Shellsa Augustin

X is for the

XYZ AffairXyz affair took place in 1797

When French agents tried to reachA new financial heaven

X Y Z as it’s calledWas for the guilty agents

This horrible display outraged manyThe American public ran out of patience

“Millions for defense, butNot one cent for tribute”

This became the rallying cryThe American people began to dispute

Fearing war Adams askedCongress for more ships

He wanted the navy to be ready He asked for not 2 or 4 or 6

He thought war was unavoidableCongress supported this

Adams decided to not declare war And this stunned Federalists

By: Mrs. Barron & Kaisy Cardozo

Y is for the

Battle of YorktownThe Battle of Yorktown the last major battle

British General Cornwallis became rattledThe British fought but knew they were tight

The General saw their faces and knew their fright The Americans battled with all their might

For they knew ultimate victory was in sight

By: Jared Aguilar & Marcelino Ramos

Z is for the

Zebulon Pike1806 and explorer was sent to

exploreHe was ordered to find the start of the Red River from the shore

Zebulon Pike was the explorer’s name

Search and discovery was his favorite game

He was the founder of Pike’s Peak, man what a hike

It is named Pike’s Peak after Zebulon Pike

He was very optimistic as he travelled west

After all he was on a mission and was sure to do his best.

By: Ketlyn Bonne Annee

A is for John Adams

“Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.”

-John Adams

B is for Nathaniel Bacon

“The poverty of the country is such that all the power and sway has got into the hands of the rich, who by extortious advantages, having the

common people in their debt, have always curbed and oppressed them in all manner of ways.”

-Nathaniel Bacon

C is for William Clark

“Boys, be ambitious. Be ambitious not for money, not for selfish aggrandizement, not for the

evanescent thing which men call fame. Be ambitious for the attainment of all that a man can

be.”

-William Clark

D is for the Donner Party

“I will now give you some good and friendly advice. Stay at home; -you are in a good place, where if sick you are not in danger of starving to death.”Mary Graves to Levi Fosdick (her sister Sarah

Fosdick’s father in law), 1847

E is for E pluribus Unum

“Out of many, one”

-Author Unknown

F is for the Forty- Niners

If golden Fortune be your goal, take off your coat, your sleeves uproll;

though Fortune is a fickle DameShe smiles upon the brave of Soul.

But if she frowns, still hoe your row, Pursue her, no surrender make, the favors she will not bestow

upon you, you by force may take.Life’s prizes are by Labor got,

they come to those who toil and spin; Strike, strike the Iron while ‘tis hot,

Go in and win!

- Charles Pancoast, A Quaker Forty-Niner

G is for Gadsden Purchase

“When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic. Sell

not liberty to purchase power”

-Benjamin Franklin

H is for Alexander Hamilton

“We must take man as we find him, and if we respect him to serve the public, (we) must interest his

passions in doing so. A reliance on pure patriotism has been the source of many of our errors.”

-Alexander Hamilton

I is for the Industrial Revolution

“One of my primary objects is to form the tools so the tools themselves shall fashion the work and

give to every part its just proportion.”

-Eli Whitney

J is for Thomas Jefferson

“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing

from a friend.”

Thomas Jefferson

K is for General Stephen Kearny

“Although most Americans believed in Manifest Destiny, few could agree on exactly which lands

the United States was supposed to govern.”

- Charles W. Carey Jr.

L is for Meriwether Lewis

“Captain Clarke who had gone out yesterday with eighteen men to bring in the meat we had killed the

day before, and to continue the hunt, came in at twelve o’clock.”

-Meriwether Lewis

M is for James Madison

“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”

-James Madison

N is for Native Americans

“Native Americans are the original inhabitants of the land that now constitutes the United

States. They have helped develop the fundamental principles of freedom of speech and separation of

powers that form the foundation of the United States Government.”

-Joe Baca

O is for Osceola

“They could not capture me except under a white flag. They cannot hold me except with a chain.”

-Osceola, Seminole, 1839

P is for James K. Polk

“One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or

encroaching upon their just rights.”

-James K. Polk

Q is for “Quarters”

“The Question is not of the inexpediency of the Stamp

Act, or the inability of the Colonies to pay the Tax, but

that it is unconstitutional, and contrary to their Rights,

supporting the Independency of the Provinces, and not

Subject to the Legislative Power of Great Britain”

-Author Unknown

R is for Railroads

“A railroad meant two things for the community. It allowed for marketing of local produce such

as grain and livestock, and it allowed for direct entry of English and German immigrants into the

community.”

-John Skinner

S is for Samuel Slater

“If I do not make as good yarn as they do in England. I will have nothing for my service, but will throw the

whole of what I have attempted over the bridge”

-Samuel Slater

T is for Jethro Tull

“You were bred for humanity and sold to society. One day you’ll wake up in the present day, a million

generations removed from the expectations of being who you really want to be.”

Jethro Tull quotes

U is for the unbelievable gold mines

“California presented to people a new model for the American dream—one where the emphasis was on the ability to take risks, the willingness to gamble

on the future.”

- Historian H.W. Brands

V is for Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo

“We were the pioneers of the Pacific Coast, building towns and missions while General Washington was

carrying on the war of the revolution.”

-Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo

W is for Eli Whitney

“I can make just such ones if I had tools, and I could make tools if I had tools to make them with.”

-Eli Whitney quotes

X is for eXchange

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”

Henry David Thoreau

Y is for Brigham Young

“It is wise for us to forget our troubles; there are always new ones to replace them.”

-Brigham Young

Z is for Vladimir Zworykin

“You can enjoy encouragement coming from outside, but you cannot need for it to come from outside.”

- Vladimir Zworykin

Inspired by Andrea Pinkney’s Hand in HandPoems for 770 Alphabet Book

Composed by self affirmed poet, Hanifah Johnson

Used as an informational historical research resource by Dr. Rose Reissman and Heather Barron for a classroom Alphabet Book, Expo and E book project.

AchieveThe sky filled with stars equal to my dreams. Bright my dreams shine. Dreams in which I will achieve. Will I get my wish? Yes.

In reaching high above all- Holding tight to a bar To prevent a fall.

I am bold enough to let go. Yet I soar – Higher and higher To achieve – I’m on fire!!

Souls filled with strength Fighting minus fists Speaking for Justice.

Inspirational words that flow Like sweet Harmony Reducing people’s hearts Within Influence.

They stand together as one. Hand in hand To Achieve Ten strong men.

Hanifah Johnson

Celebrating the biography of Frederick Douglas in Ms. Pinkney’s book

Segregation, no more separationBuild strong souls in children. Do not corrupt their minds with negatives. Fix within them That blacks and whites can be together-not separate.

“Building strong souls in children is easier than fixing broken men,” Frederick once said.

There must be an end to segregation, no more separation. Let people know black numbers are not just statistics. They are powers, not colors. When whites look down at us to try to break our insides, We pull back and say- NO! Segregation no more, Separation No.

Hanifah Johnson

“Hanifah is an amazing and talented poet!”Andrea Pinkney, winner of the Coretta Scott King Award

Hanifah has a license to practice poetry

Lindamichelle Baron

Early American History Trivia

Continental Congress

A - where the minute men trained to become soldiers

B - final battle of the Revolutionary War is fought here

C - first form of government for the colonies

2 George Washington

A - Frenchman who helped the Continental Army

B - trained minute men to be soldiers at Valley Forge

C - general of the Continental Army

3 Patriots

A - German soldiers used by Britain

B - loyal to the king or Britain

C - fought for the Continental Army

4 Loyalists

A - fought for the Continental Army

B - loyal to the king or Britain

C - German soldiers used by Britain

5 Minute Men

A - Continental Congress asks to write the Declaration of Independence

B - farmer/untrained soldiers who fought for Washington

C - brought food/water to the soldiers

6 Hessians

A - fought for the Continental Army

B - loyal to the king or Britain

C - German soldiers used by Britain

7 Marquise de Lafayette

A - general of the Continental Army

B - Frenchman who helped the Continental Army

C - trained minute men to become soldiers at Valley Forge

8 Baron von Steuben

A - general of the Continental Army

B - Frenchman who helped the Continental Army

C - trained minute men to be soldiers at Valley Forge

9 Valley Forge

A - first form of government for the colonies

B - final battle of the Revolutionary War is fought here

C - where minute men trained to become soldiers

Yorktown

A - where minute men trained to became soldiers

B - first form of government for the colonies

C - final battle of the Revolutionary War is fought here

Boston Tea Party Trivia

The Boston Tea Party was a protest against what?

A - Taxes

B - Danger in the colonies

C - Unfair working conditions

D - Slavery

2 Who organized the Boston Tea Party?

A - The Fathers of Liberty

B - The Sons of Liberty

C - The Brothers of Liberty

D - The Protests for Liberty

3 Who was King at the time of the Boston Tea Party?

A - George I

B - George V

C - George IV

D - George III

4 Which one of the following people was involved in the Boston Tea Party?

A - Joe Hancock

B - Patrick Morse

C - Paul Revere

D - Richard Revere

5 What did the Sons of Liberty disguise themselves as when they threw tea into the harbor?

A - Chumash Indians

B - British soldiers

C - They had no disguise

D - Mohawk Indians

6 A member of the Sons of Liberty tried to steal some tea before it was dumped into the harbor.

A - True

B - False

7 The Boston Tea Party occurred on August 18, 1753.

A - True

B - False

8 A revolution is a ________.

A - a war that is a country against the other half of the same country

B - a violent change of government

C - a war that involves the British

D - a war against a king

9 People against the British King were called "Patriots".

A - True

B - False

Did Paul Revere help write the Declaration of Independence?

A - Yes

B - No

Lewis and Clark Trivia

Who won the Presidential election of 1804?

A - James Madison

B - Thomas Jefferson

2 Congress approved $100.00 for supplies for the Expedition?

A - True

B - False

3 This was the second official Army exploration into un-known territory.

A - True

B - False

4 In 2001, President Clinton made Sacagawea an honorary?

A - Sergeant

B - Citizen

5 Where did the Corps establish their first winter headquarters?

A - Fort Mandan

B - Camp Dubois

6 Who was the youngest member of the Corps of Discovery?

A - Private Peter Wiser

B - Private George Shannon

7 What member of the Corps went A.W.O.L. and was charged with the theft of a government rifle?

A - Private Moses Reed

B - Private Joseph Whitehouse

8 When Sergeant Charles Floyd died, who was voted to replace him?

A - Patrick Gass

A - John Colter

BIOS

Angelique Flores 770Team workI think teamwork was a really fun and good way to create this book. I enjoyed sharing ideas and thoughts about what we should put into the book. Working with my friends helped me think of good idea that I would have never thought of. I think the book will turn out amazing! Everyone working together really makes the book more successful.

Haseeb CheemaI enjoyed doing the book, it was fun. I was an artist. I was drawing and I had a lot of fun. It was a fun time and I hope you could it again.

Stanley DesirWhen we were working in our groups for our book, this partnership made me know more what teamwork is all about. This is my second book in two years with Dr. Rose. I am looking forward to this second book.

Fezan BhattiI liked working in a team to finish the book because I can see how hard everyone worked on their poems, biography and how they also like working in teams to finish their part of the book. I think this will come out really good because of Ms. Barron’s help; she has been working night and day on the book. So I am sure the book will be great.

Aisha MaqsoodI enjoyed working with people in my group and my classmate. We helped each other in ways to make it easier for us. We got to know each other’s talent. We spent time doing our roles in the book and helped each other out.

William FernandezDid I enjoy working in groups? Yes, I did enjoy working in groups because it was fun and everybody was saying stuff about the book also, because of allot new historical facts about America. Also, everybody else was giving feedback.

Danny RendonI think working in groups was a great thing. We could help each other that way if we had problems with an assignment we could ask our group. Another good thing about working about working in groups is sometimes you learn from them. I was working with Fezan and Kansas. I learned and help them in their poems I could see how hard we worked. This is why I liked working in groups.

Kaisy CardozaHow I feel like working in group is that I was easy because all of us worked together to get the job done. Also when someone need help to give idea to help them write their poem. Through this experience I learned about my topic I never knew.

Shellsa AugustinWorking in groups helped me a lot. I learned more stuff about American History. When I had to do my poem on the Whiskey Rebellion I had some trouble but, Jared helped and It turned out GREAT!

Esther TelcyHello, my name is Esther Telcy and I am a student at Ditmas in class 770 who’s in the 7th grade. Starting on the book was great for me because I had have the experience from last year’s book which turned out great! So this year I’m going to be working on the poster boards letters from A to Z about the American History. I also have a lot of friends who each has a part doing in the book like a group of them are doing pictures, poems, and boards. It’s a lot of work, but I know we can all finish it on time!

Misun Teah 770Hi, my name is Misun Teah. I am 13 years old in 7th grade, 770. I am African American and I am tall. I love drawing and illustrating because it makes me express myself in different ways, like how I feel and my entire favorite subjects are Math and ELA because they are the main subjects, and because I love them. I am a sister of seven, the oldest and I love my family. I’m caring, nice, shy, and friendly and a great best friend. I have respect for myself and others and I like things to be clean. I also love working on this book with Mrs. Barron, Mrs. Rogers and Dr. Rose. I like team work because we get to share lots of things together to help one another. Also it helps us communicate.

Carlos CamposMy name is Carlos. I like soccer, pie and sleeping. My favorite music is PUNK. I would like to go to Canada. My favorite movie is Jurassic Park (all 3).

Skylynn LozadaI am a beautiful young 13 year old Puerto Rican girl who believes music is life, animals are cute and sensitive and school comes first!

Mohammad Rahman/770I feel that working in groups and creating this book was excellent. I enjoyed working in these groups and creating this book and not doing work. I feel that by doing this we learned more about teamwork and working together. I really enjoyed this and I hope to do this again next year.

Jared AguilarHow I feel working in groups? It was nice. Also I like how people are creative and use imagination. Also it would be fun working in groups. Also maybe we can learn new stuff and that is how I feel working in groups.

Haseeb CheemaI am 13 years old. I go to Ditmas I.S.62. I am in 7th grade. I live in Brooklyn. I was born in Pakistan. I have 7 people in my family. I have 2 big brothers. I have 1 little brother and 1 sister. Including me we are all 7 people plus mom and dad. I play basketball. I also love horses and I want to go to the army, Swat and I want to be really smart.

Ketlyn Bonne-AnneeMy name is Ketlyne , and I don’t really believe I am different from others. I was born in Brooklyn, NY and I lived there all my life. I have three sisters and five brothers. The three words that would de-scribe me as loving, creative and most of all optimistic. I don’t look at myself as a perfect person I see myself as an experience.

Stanley DesirMy name is Stanley Desir. I was born and still raised in Brooklyn, New York. My favorite sport is baseball. I am a descendant of Haitian, Dominican and Cuban. My dream is to grow up and play in the NBA for the New York Knicks or the Brooklyn Nets.

Angelique FloresMy name is Angelique Fiores. I am 13 years old. I live in Brooklyn with my mom, dad, and two sis-ters. I love music so much because it brings up my mood! I am Puerto Rican. I love playing video games on play stations. I love Justin Bieber, Daddy Yankee and Demi Lovato. Demi and Justin are both my idols! My favorite color is purple. I love wearing Jordans. I love food also! I enjoyed making the books from 6th grade and this year I can work with my friends and think of ideas and put my creativity into the book. I am really excited to see the final product of the book.

Sandro MejiaMy name is Sandro Mejia. I am 12 years old. I live in Brooklyn and like to play soccer. What I did in the book is I wrote about the Tea Act. I enjoy working on the book because it go to be the second book I wrote.

Class Alphabet Book Class Publishing Project- What counts making historical research literacy rich self

owned fun.

“B” is for Background: a History of Alphabet Books

Alphabet Books have been around for a very long time. As early as mid 15th century, they were produced as hornbooks, parchment on a paddle with letters, syllables, and rhymes designed to teach basic reading. They were all the rage in Europe and later in the colonial United States. By the mid 1700s the reading instruction text of choice in colonial United States was the Battledore – a tri-fold cardboard combination of syllable/pronunciation and fluency teaching with phonics. These featured multiple letters- capital and lower case, as well as a short religious/moral story and illustrations, in many ways the essence of an Alphabet Book. Benjamin Collins sold 100,000 copies of such a text between 1771 and 1780, making it a best seller for the 18th century. But in the late 17th century another reading text format, that of the primer- particularly the New England Primer - emerged. This text was marked by its alphabetic use of rhyming couplets for each letter and stories that had moral lessons, but that had begun veering away from religious content to include everyday life: animals, plants, and other subjects. Producers of primers and spellers included professional authors, poets and illustrators whose take on this reading, grammar and life lesson text, took off. Edmund Lear produced one in 1871 that included Nonsense verse. Kate Greenaway produced a celebrated miniature alphabet book in 1885, which is still in print. A much favored genre had evolved and established itself. Alphabet Books are still popular with a broad span of readers from toddlers to seniors and have proven themselves as mainstays in many elementary and higher grade classrooms. Our students researched and developed a clip art dictionary of alphabet terms as part of their Alphabet book project in reaction to Dr. Reissman’s introduction of this history component. This authenticated ELA/SS/History Literacy short research in service of a genuine student owned project.

“F” is for Fun

What can be more alluring to kids than tackling a major project that involves hunting down clues, puzzling out their best meaning, creatively voicing ideas and producing artwork to illustrate them for an audience waiting to receive it with anticipation. In the Alphabet Book Project as its presented here, students join efforts with classmates and peers in various ways and configurations, all working together toward a big splash book celebration EXPO. So much sharing and exchanging of ideas, opinions, and self expression! Excitement, yes, but without much pressure, knowing that although they will be part of a big enterprise, they only have to contribute a small part of the work. This parallels the real work world of projects preparing students for careers as well as college type research.

Students get to socialize and work alongside team members with minimal teacher coaching. They get to do research online, learning tidbits of information that even adults don’t know . They may even astound some teachers with their discoveries. They get to collaborate with class peers who are artists, who work to help you make their research look really great. They get great, enthusiastic feedback from adults they meet, some of whom communicate through the project’s blog or website or who sign their work at face to face presentations. For this project, poets Andrea Pinkney whose book Hand in Hand with its mix of historical research into the lives of ten black men who changed America and poet Lindamichellebaron whose body of poetry has been shared nationally with educators, commented and supported the students as they compiled the work. NYSUT instructor of the Writing Across Content course for teacher educators also was part of the collaborating and commenting adults who served as audience for this project as did Shirley Miraj, a Kappa Delta Pi officer. David Keller Trevaskis, President of the Pennsylvania Social Studies Council monitored their progress with the promise of recognition for their work with a presentation by their Social Studies teacher, Ms. Heather Barron capably collaborating with her student teacher Ms. Brianne Rogers. What a great feeling!! Experience:

Alphabet Book Themes

Over the years I’ve worked with K-12 students in a variety of settings to create and publish alphabet books. I have done this project with high school students to demystify preparing for the Geometry and United States History exit exams. These students enjoyed this and felt they had made themselves a valuable, personalized study tool. Middle school students who I’ve worked with found these projects offered opportunities for research as a satisfying, self-directed effort with results that are joyously tangible. These projects entice students into self owned research with a purpose.

Thematic versions of Alphabet Book projects I’ve done in middle school include: American Poets, Biodiversity, The Art of Geometry (with special needs students), A is for Addend a math themed Alphabet Book modeled on the famous G is for Googol ) and others. Elementary students often read alphabet books as a genre so this is a delightful natural project context for them.

Project Description

Making this happen to get to the “fun” rigorous Common Core of ELA/SS/History in Literacy –reading and writing in students’ lives. Complexity of text as fun lifelong learning.

In this project, a class of students will conceive, plan, research, write, produce, and publish its own Alphabet Book. The Alphabet Book, a beloved genre with a long track record of instruction use, functions beautifully here as a literary form that supports deep Literacy learning as students analyze it and go on to produce their own.

The form also becomes a vehicle by which content learning in subject area classes, like Social Studies and Science, is learned. Literacy and Language learning associated with those areas is easily and powerfully learned as well, providing opportunities to satisfy Common Core requirements.

In doing the project, students work in small teams, each of which is assigned a segment of the alphabet (3 – 4 letters). Teams research and design an artistic graphic to stand for each of their assigned letters. For these they also write an explanatory text (e.g. “E is for Equity”) to accompany them in the finished book. To assure that they produce authentic, well-rounded bodies of content, they also add ancillary materials like trivia segments, cartoons, and quizzes as well as appendices in the back of the book according to their interests.

Students revisit basic print material which was the crux of their content, be it textbooks, handouts or electronic texts. Level of text complexity one,they identify their letter words and write definitions in their own words. They then learn how to reformat these definitions as eye catching posters and writings in a published book format modeled on other commercially published alphabet books (several levels of reading for facts and details, inferences , and writing to explain, to persuade, and to share a narrative).

At the conclusion of the various phases of the project: research and reflection, letterform graphic design, and writing of the explanatory text phases of the project, the class’ work is organized into a completed Alphabet Book, which is then produced and duplicated either as a hard copy or e-book.

Near project’s end, the class will distribute the finished book. And through student oral presentations it is presented to its audience. This project has frequently found such an audience for its student authors in groups adults at local libraries, distanced schools, local teacher meetings, senior centers, or graduate education classes at a university.

Further, the book can be shared online, either through an existing school website or one of the easy to create, teacher-friendly blogs and websites that are explained in detail elsewhere in this book.

Online sharing of these books is a particularly dynamic aspect of the project as it provides a platform for peer comments, including comments from peers who may be at a considerable geographic distance from the book’s authors. This provides valuable, authentic feedback, an essential element for students as they learning the essential skills of Writing. Through this, and through many other facets of its design, this project strongly fosters a lifelong appreciation of learning.

Substantive Student Research that’s Easy, Fun and Aligned with the Common Core Standards

The commonly assigned Short Research Paper is a great opportunity to include Literacy studies reading and writing that is grounded in evidence, portfolios, and content-rich nonfiction. Unfortunately, the very name Research Paper can conjure up, for even conscientious teachers and students, visions of tedious reading, note taking, and informational report preparation.

However, the easy, accessible, and highly adaptable Alphabet Book can transform a massive, in-depth research task into an achievable goal and a delightful activity!

Importantly, , because the Alphabet Book by definition is divided into 26 components - one for each letter in the alphabet, this student publishing project lends itself to a convenient and pedagogically sound division of classroom labor with the letters assigned either to individual students or preferably, small groups that handle 3 – 4 letters each

Thus, the task becomes a jigsaw puzzle style investigation, with student peer s presenting their respective pieces of the puzzle at the end of the project. Under the guidance of an ELA, Social Studies, or other middle school content area teacher, students set off on academic and nuanced vocabulary-driven research of a key curricula theme.

They must identify and properly attribute a variety of print and electronic sources for the alphabet themed definitions and samples they choose to include in their work. Yet, because they are only charged with a few letters, the research task is grade, age, and maturity-level manageable. While each small team of students may be charged with researching just a few letters, the class as a whole, comprised of half a dozen or more such groups, is working on the complete alphabet.

At the end of the project, the class can choose its best example of work associated with each letter, assemble them as a single body of work, and the result is a cohesive, collaborative work that fits the context of a highly recognizable genre. Thus, successful completion of a full alphabet book, a significant task, is assured.

This project represents an exciting, deadline-definite, target-audience initiative that relates strongly to school to career learning, as well. Beyond the “fun” research, which involves small group socializing, conversing, and collaborating on design and content, the final, attractive publication can be promised a definite place in the school library or website. Further, students can share it through performances and conversations with parents, peers, or members of the community. Students know from the start that more individuals than the teacher and their family members will react and respond to their work, lending it powerful authentic project significance and motivation.

What your students will learn with an Alphabet Book literacy project:

Students will become lexicographers and alphabet book designers with expertise in literary or multi-content academic and special domain vocabulary. Their efforts will parallel real-world publishing , research, and publicity/public programming careers as they work together in teams to research letters in alphabet and make the book a collective whole . They will market and publicize the print and e publication of their books with accompanying poster board displays and an oral presentation. From the start they will be developing the project with a target adult-senior, community group, teacher candidate, or civic/union group in mind or distanced peers and/or students from other types of schools.

So how does producing this visually exciting, content rich, and substantial informational publication address the CCSS Standards for students?

CC Standards for ELA Reading and informational texts

1-8

1.1 Key Ideas and Details

1.2 Quote what the text says/draw inferences from the text

1.3 Determine main ideas of text

1.4 Explain relationships between 2 or more individuals, events, ideas or concepts in an historical,

scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.2. Craft and Structure

2.1 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain specific words in a text

2.2 Contrast structure of two or more ideas in a text.

2.3 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

2.4 Draw on multiple or print digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer

quickly to solve a problem efficiently.

2.5 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or to speak.

Addresses Literacy Expectation to the Common Core Learning StandardsFocuses on meaning of words in a particular textEngages students in citing, analyzing, drawing on, reading, comprehending, evaluating, and comparing textsAnalyses the cumulative impact of word choice on meaning and tone

CC Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies

Grades 4-81. Reading Standards1.1 Key Ideas and Details1.2 Uses illustrations, visual and print texts to cite specific textual evidence to support analysis

of primary and secondary sources.1.3 Determining through discussion and through the print and digital book presentation the

central topic or theme key nuanced vocabulary of either a primary or secondary source or using the primary or secondary source to summarize key ideas.

2 Craft and Structure2.1 Determines key meaning of academic terms/vocabulary as relates to the domains of history/

social studies, science, literature and other content. Focuses on the craft and structure of anchor multi content alphabet book formats as informational knowledge and presentation templates

3. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas3.1 Integrates visual information(illustrations, photographs, objects, maps, charts) with other

information in print and digital texts.3.2 Analyze the relationship between a primary and a secondary source on the same topic

through use of the Alphabet book format.4. Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies4.1Text Types and Purposes4.2 Write informative/explanatory texts including narration of historical events, explication of

historical issues and short biographies of key historical personalities.4.3 Use multimedia to graphically format and organize for topic comprehension.5. Production and Distribution of Writing5.1 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development ,organization, and style are

appropriate to task, purpose and audience.5.2 Have guidance from peers and adults to develop and strengthen writing for a purpose.5.3 Use technology to produce writing and present the relationships between information and

ideas clearly and efficiently.

6. Research to Build and to Present Knowledge6.1Conduct short research papers to explore questions.6.2 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, use search terms

effectively access the credibility and accuracy of each source.6.3 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection , and research.

Range of WritingWrite routinely over extended time frames for a range of discipline specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Speaking and Listening Standards 6-12

Comprehension and collaborationEngage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners.Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the text, topic academic/nuanced vocabulary issue.Seek to understand and to communicate with individuals from different perspectives and cultural backgrounds.Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (visually, orally, and quantitatively) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.Presentation of Knowledge and IdeasPresent claims and findings , sequencing ideas logically, using pertinent descriptions , facts and details to accentuate main ideas, themes and word choices.Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Language LearningVocabulary AcquisitionDetermine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases.Acquire and use grade-appropriate, general academic and domain specific words and phrases.Basic Language Arts and Literacy Standard Shifts1. Builds literary and multi=content through the arts knowledge using the alphabet book as

engaging vehicle for presentation of knowledge.2. Engages students in reading and writing grounded in evidence.3. Provides students with regular authentic practice and promotes fluency in complex texts with

emphasis on vocabulary.

College and Career Readiness preparationThis literacy project engages its participants in college and career preparation for: technology coursework, publications, news/fact-finding/checking, research, and publications layout and design careers.

Implementing the Project

This project centers on the creation of a student learning product, and the planning and preparation behind it as well as sharing it and learning from the feedback it generates after completion.

Description of a typical Class Alphabet Book (collaborative student learning product):

Class Alphabet Books will be at least 30+ pages in length, 26+ pages of “A is for Airplane…” type definitions, as well as other content items from the list below:

1. Cover design by kids2. List of contributors and role in creation of the book3. Table of Contents4. Foreword by kids5. Book Pages, each of which will contain a definition and an illustration for a letter as well as

trivia, quotes, and quiz sidebars. 6. Bibliography7. Interesting Appendices- this one will have stuff on hornbooks and primers and a quiz for

readers. Some alphabet books can include other topic related resources such as an alphabet of coins terms or stamps that students identify related to the main topic.

8. Webliography – 9. Alignment to CCSS Standards by teacher and by students stated in their own terms so that

they own their learning.10. Afterword by kids – reflections on what they learned from the research and other topics

that might be interesting.11. Comments by kids and by other student peers or adult educators, professiopal organization

members on the contents embedded in the text or on back cover as reviewer comments.12. Reflections by educators 13. Back Cover

Project ImplementationStudent Learning Products

The class will produce the following items as a result of their participation in this project: a) Letter pages – for each letter of the Alphabet they will produce page composed of letter illustration, and text definition/explanatory writing. Additionally, these pages will contain quotes, quiz, and trivia side bars. All of these elements will be organized and designed into an attractive book page. The elements will be affixed to the 8 ½ X 11 inch pages using conventional scissors and glue in collage fashion or be scanned to be published/photocopied as a print book.b) e-Book – the completed pages will be digitally scanned and the resulting files will be organized to compose a complete, professional style Alphabet book that may be distributed online through the school website, class email list, etc. See section on how to create e-books as student learning products, as well as their instructional use, elsewhere in this book. c) Posterboards – The class will produce a display posterboard for each letter of the alphabet so that its Alphabet Book may be displayed effectively for exhibitions/demonstrations/talks to groups. See section on how to create posterboards as student learning products, as well as their instructional use, elsewhere in this book.

Below are the steps taken in a typical implementation of an Alphabet Book project.

Before beginning the project, the teacher will divide the class into letter writing/researching teams of 3 – 4 students. Each team will work on 3 – 4 letters of the alphabet that are assigned by the teacher. It will be fine for some teams to have duplicates of other teams’ letters as there is ample opportunity at project’s end for the class to select the best examples or to ensure that each team has a more or less equal number of letters selected for the final version of the book. For each of its assigned letters the team will write a text definition to explain its meaning in their own words. These definitions may reflect the interests, taste, talents (poetry, graphic narratives) of the team members. Additionally, teams can be assigned to produce a trivia, quotes, and quiz sidebar.

The teacher should set standards and parameters for these definitions before beginning the project so that the students will have a clear set of expectations about what to do and produce. A rubric or a set of expectations should be shared and discussed with the students at the onset.

There will also be a team of student artists who will illustrate the letters and a team of web researchers who will research trivia and other interesting facts. Both teams will support the text writing teams. These students will be doing more quantifiable work than others since they will be researching web and print resources, collaborating with other students in doing their work, and paralleling workplace project deadline team style. These students who identify as artists and as researchers can immediately hone their career and college talents as part of this project.

Alphabet Book Project Steps

1. Topic: select a topic from the curriculum that takes at least a month or two to complete and into which you can embed the alphabet book as a culminating project.

2. Essential Questions - have students generate open questions that have multiple possible answers that students will address in their Alphabet Book investigations. At the conclusion of their projects, they will discuss how their research, writing and art identified potential “answers” for these projects or suggested new questions (See step 12).

3. Draft Definitions: Students make an initial attempt at writing their definitions. For added interest you may want to assign the definitions as poetry, dialog, or other particular focus use of language.

4. Review: sharing of the definitions and editing with the whole class. This can be nicely accomplished by having a whole class discussion in which each letter definition is reviewed. Student constructive criticism and suggestions are brainstormed with the letter team responsible for recording so that it may use feedback later as it refines its work on each letter.

5. The teams will maintain records of the research they do to inform their definitions and ancillary content items and will develop a list of websites and print sources from which they draw, producing a ‘webliography’ and a bibliography.

6. As they did with the definition of their assigned letters, teams will generate at least 1 of each of the following ancillary content items for each of their assigned letters: a trivia, a quotes, and a quiz sidebar.

7. Members of the student research team will find and provide for letter writing teams supplementary materials for trivia, quotes, and quiz sidebars.

8. Ancillary content item review: as was done in step 4 above, the ancillary items can be reviewed in a whole group setting so that the class collaboratively provides feedback and suggestions that the teams can use to revise these items.

9. Working from a Letter Page Template (provided by the teacher at the beginning of the project) the teams organize the various elements of each of their letter pages into completed pages to be considered by the group for inclusion in the finished book. These are prepared as both large scale posterboards (to be used in presentations) and small scale (8 ½ X 11) to be scanned and included in the e-book or photocopied for reproduction as hard copy books.

10. The teacher has the option of involving the students in creating the Front Matter (i.e. introduction, forward, table of contents, list of contributing authors, artists, researchers, and editors) as well as the Back Matter (i.e. index, appendices, etc.) or doing it on her own, depending on grade and achievement level of the students as well as time considerations. In whole group lesson mode, the teachers and the class make decisions about the final look, body of content, and format of the book. All the pages are put in order in a final session and displayed on posterboards for class review and for display at school or at neighborhood venues. The pages can be photocopied to produce complete copies of the book to be given to students and outside audiences or they can be scanned for display on school web site. If there is sufficient funding, they may be more formally published.

11. Presentation (supported by the use of the Posterboards) of the finished work at the home school to other classes or by visiting to neighborhood peers or younger peers (at neighboring schools) or senior citizens at a local senior center or other neighborhood gathering place. A student speaker will introduce the project to the audience and self nominated students representing research teams or artists will explain how the book was developed. Quiz questions from the book are shared with the audience plus the audience is given a sample activity or investigation from the book. This makes all components of ELA/SS/History in Literacy Speaking and Listening come alive in a real way with a real purpose for the students.

12. Student designed feedback and reflection: Students write reflectively about what they learned in terms of content and process of collaboration from the project and compare and contrast this project to typical text learning/mastery of a delivered content. They discuss how their research, writing, and art identified potential “answers” for the project’s essential questions or suggested new questions. They explore the fun elements of the project. They also write about new areas of interest and talents they identified through developing the alphabet book. This writing becomes part of the e book, published book or web site.

Time 6-8 weeks Recommended as a culminating project for scheduled topic study at any point during the school year or at end of year after standardized test exams. The key idea is to infuse this as the culminating project for a given extensive curricula unit /theme study in any content area with Mathematics, Social Studies and Science at any level lending themselves well to this literacy project.

Implementation Reflections

• Establish the theme or “big idea” behind the class’ alphabet book from the start. This allows the students to work backwards toward that goal. For example in grade 7 , the class project might be an alphabet book highlighting key words (academic and special domain) in that year’s study of American History: The colonies, Declaration of Independence, Revolutionary War, Gold Rush, etc.) If possible, try to include collaboration with art, science and mathematics or other content teachers/librarian specialists in your building to enrich and enhance the multidisciplinary compo-nent of the inquiry.

• Have the students establish Essential Questions to drive their Alphabet Book research. Such questions should be generated by the students themselves and need to be aligned with the the inquiry(research) into the alphabet/vocabulary study of their theme. Teachers may support this by first holding a short whole class discussion to generate a series of questions the stu-dents hope to investigate as a result of their alphabet study.

Such questions need to be: relevant beyond just the subject theme or content classroom, transfer to other research projects beyond the alphabet study research project, be open-ended, and not lead to any easy answers. The questions should encourage students to identify real life issues, literary/language aspects of actual real world documents that connect to alphabet book study.

Sample Alphabet Book Projects “Essential Questions”Among the potential questions students might generate are:

A) 7th Grade Alphabet BookIn what ways are the new words we’ve discovered in our American History studies important today for us as citizens today?

Which of these means the most to us personally not only in understanding American History but in our personal lives, why?

Which of these words or persons are still in today’s news/events and online highlights?

Are any of these words, terms or persons commonly misused or misunderstood? Why might that be and how does our alphabet book project correct that?

Creating and Using Letter Page TemplatesAs the finished Alphabet Book will include the ideas of many individuals a unifying device will be needed to keep the results acceptably consistent for it audience, while still supporting The individuality of the contributors. Creating a template for the letter pages is a good solution to this need. This process really consists of deciding on the elements of each letter page and their organization (relative size, location, style, etc.) Develop this template with students or have them contribute to modifying one identified or created beforehand. The template / format for the book should be student friendly and anchored to published formats of anchor alphabet books used as student publications. Students within the class who have already shown a talent for graphic design should work individually to create various templates or as a group to create a single template for each letter. In addition, one page should be a thumbnail- 26 letter intro and closing page.

As students work using this template they should keep in mind the target audience for their book- is it parents, teacher education candidates, peers at another school, a veteran civic group, a community group, or a tenant organization. They should talk about and develop their template/formats in an environment of anticipation and collaboration.

To document their project, students – a team of project documenters can be self nominated- should develop an electronic portfolio, in which lesson prompts, drafts, observations, sketches and illustrations are maintained. The librarian, classroom “push in“ specialists, media specialists and technology specialists can support students in this process. Students will have components of this alphabet project in their book so that it can travel with them to high school and model college/career portfolios in publications/research.

Step Four: Plan the scope of the project.(The teacher determines this according to time allotted for this product as a culmination of unit study.)Develop a timeline for the project. Key is date for LAUNCH/AUDIENCE PRESENTATION.Organize student activities to allocate sufficient time for individual student letter research submission, revision, compilation and editing for final publication. Decide on assessments-tests, rubrics, student end project and pre project reflections.Focus and highlight at the start for the students what key CCSS skills they will be learning, using and expanding as they create their alphabet book.Sample Focus Skills :Academic and Special Domain VocabularyExplanatory WritingCollaboration and ComprehensionKnowledge and Research PresentationReading and Writing over a Range of Time and including a range of textsAnalyze how students will need- particularly ESL and Special Needs/Visual /intrapersonal learners will need to supported to actually produce the final products required.Create a timeline for the projectProject Launch DateSequence of activities leading to the projectDue dates for drafts

Preparation of draftsRehearsals for live audience presentationsAssessments, review and feedback from product Time for reflection after the product is produced.Reach out to parents for input and for feedback about the book

Decide on an appropriate MLA and/or APA bibliographic format and teach it to the whole class.Appoint a team of two to four students to do the bibliography.

FYI: Rubrics for literacy based project learning can be found on RubiStarhttp://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Classroom Management-Have the students in class for no fewer than 3-4 periods working in their small groups at their various research, editing, writing, designing and bibliographic tasks. The teacher should circulate and “kid watch”/confer with the groups to review progress, offer tips and help them work toward their small group goals. The groups should mini-present what they are doing to the teacher and ask for support or for feedback.Throughout the small group experience, the teacher serves to keep students on task toward the final alphabet book goal and its deadline to be present it to its target audience. This audience and upcomin has to be referenced continually.

Extension TipsThe following tips show how the project may be continued and furthered in ways that relate to common and overarching instructional goals. Also, by adopting some of these or creating some of your own you will be expanding the parameters of this project to suit the topics or themes students identify. The following also establish opportunities to make certain that every student meaningfully contributes to this book:Annotate –explain each alphabet word in a sentence to a paragraph depending on individual student contributor ability and for target audience reading.Develop, if appropriate, a poster board presentation for every letter or groups of 3 letters. Get an emcee to introduce the project, a team of students to tell how the book came to be, and finally have each team share its letters. If the students can record and write a funny alphabet song, even better,. This can be presented before a live audience or recorded online as an audio file for website posting. Allow students who are fluent in other languages to translate the project or at least key words and its purpose in their language. Record this as well.Have students develop an audience Alphabet test, survey or game to gage audience response and their comprehension of the material.Use as anchor or inspiring books for format or content the following:Cheney, Lynne (2003). A is for Abigail. New York: Simon and Schuster Press.Gorey, Edward. (1998). The utter zoo alphabet. San Francisco, CA: Pomegrante.Hershenhorn, Esther. (2009). S is for Story. Chelsea, Michigan: Sleeping Bear Press.Melimans, David. (2006). Gone Wild. Walker and Company.Schwartz, David. (1998). G is for Googol. California: Tricycle press. Schwartz, David. (2001). Q is for Quark. California: Tricycle Press.Sleeping Bear press books specialize in multi-content alphabet books with complex texts ranging from simple to detail rich, plus include a series on states, geography, and sports.

We would like to recognize the websites that assisted us in

our research!!

www.lewisandclarktrail.comwww.allthetests.com

www.funtrivia.comwww.rhymezone.com

www.google.com

Trivia Answer KeyEarly American History TriviaQ1 - CQ2 - CQ3 - CQ4 - BQ5 - BQ6 - CQ7 - BQ8 - CQ9 - CQ10-C

Boston Tea Party TriviaQ1 - AQ2 - BQ3 - DQ4 - CQ5 - DQ6 - TrueQ7 - False (December 16, 1773)Q8 - BQ9 - TrueQ10-False

Lewis and Clark TriviaQ1 - BQ2 - FalseQ3 - FalseQ4 - AQ5 - BQ6 - BQ7 - BQ8 - A