Open Wide, Look Inside

How do you bake an American Pie? Step 1: “Preheat the world until fiery hot with a hunger and thirst to be free.”

So begins the book How to Bake an American Pie, by Karma Wilson, and it continues to lay out the perfect recipe for a perfect American Pie.  Throughout the book, Wilson blends into the recipe to geographical features of the United States as well as the values our country was built on.  Wilson added the “purple mountain majesties,” the “spacious skies,” and of course, “sweet freedom for all.” As more ingredients are added, the larger the American Pie grows and just when the reader thinks it can’t grow any higher, another important ingredient is added and the pie grows ever larger.

The recipe closes with an explanation of how many the pie will serve, “just as many who wish to stop by.”  The recipe describes, in a very unique way, so many things to be proud of about our country.

It would be fun to try and figure out a way to recreate the recipe in the classroom and allow the student’s to bake their own American Pie; or instead they could brainstorm what ingredient’s they think belongs in a “Classroom Pie” and bake that instead.

Curriculum Connections
This book would work well when studying SOLs 1.11 which focuses on developing an appreciation for our country through an understanding of symbols, values, traditional/historic locations, etc…

Additional Resources

• Simon & Schuster, the book’s publisher provides a few ideas on their website about good activities to pair with the book.
• HUD has a interactive website where kids can explore different areas of being a good citizen.
• Education-World.com has lesson ideas centered around the 5 themes of citizenship, honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility, and courage.

Book: How to Bake an American Pie
Author: Karma Wilson
Illustrator: Raul Colon
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: May 2007
Pages: 40
Grade Range: 2-5
ISBN: 978-0689865060

Introduction
Lives: Poems about Famous Americans, selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Leslie Staub, is a wonderful collection of various types of poems about all different kinds of American heroes. Fourteen poems compose the book, with illustrations of the characters to match. Individuals who shaped and changed the course of American history are highlighted in different types of poetry including rhyme, narrative, and free verse.

Summary
Fourteen poems are in the book, each accompanied by a matching illustration saying the name of the character and their respective life span. Each poem is written by a different author and the poems are written in many styles. The poems  are written about Paul Revere, Sacagawea, Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, Harriet Tubman, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Langston Hughes, Rosa Parks, J.F.K, Martin Luther King Jr., and Neil Armstrong. An introduction is included by Lee Bennett Hopkins and detailed notes on the lives of these specific American heroes are offered at the end of the book.

An excerpt from the poem written about Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy can illustrate the ways in which the poems tell important facts and events in American history:

“No roses seen./ No songbird heard./No moonlight./ Not a single word./Till…/Annie/ came.

Then-/ words,/ Sudden near./ Pulsing/ Clear.” (page 14)

Each poem is written in a different style and tells about each specific character. Some poems may be difficult for children to understand, but they all include the basic importance about each American and present the information in a different, unique way.

Curriculum Connections
This book is a very helpful way for young students to learn basic reasons why these specific characters are famous Americans. Reading the poems to the students, and the students looking at the illustrations to become familiar with the faces of these Americans, is a different way for students to learn about these key American figures. Students will be able to identify such figures as Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, and Martin Luther King Jr. as Americans whose contributions improved the lives of other Americans (Civics SOL 2.11, Civics SOL 3.11 (b)).

Additional Resources

1. This website provides students with coloring sheets and handouts about all 44 presidents. It is a helpful and fun way for students to learn the names of the presidents as well as the ability to identify the American presidents in chronological order.
2. Americas Library offers biological information about famous Americans, such as Helen Keller, Harriet Tubman, and Thomas Edison. For each individual pictures, timelines, and specific stories are offered.
3. This lesson plan provides teachers with a project to use where students choose a famous American and create a detailed report about the person’s life.

Book: LIVES (Poems about Famous Americans)
Author: Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrator: Leslie Staub
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date:  April, 1999
Pages: 40
Grade Range: 2-4
ISBN: 978-0-06-027767-3

So You Want to Be President? is a humorous look at the responsibilities of the President of the United States.  This story can be used to describe what the President does, along with some information on some of our past presidents.

“One thing is certain, if you want to be President – and stay President – be honest.  Harry Truman paid for his own postage stamps.  Grover Cleveland was famous for his motto:  ‘Tell the truth’.  Other Presidents weren’t so honest.  Democrat Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath.”

This story also talks about some everyday activities that Presidents do, or don’t do, that would relate to student’s every day lives.

“Some Presidents knew how to dance and some didn’t.  Our first President did a mean minuet.  At his inaugural ball George Washington danced with every lady but his wife.  (Mrs. W had stayed home!)”

This story should be used with an extension about President Obama as it mentions that:

“Every President was different from every other and yet no woman has been president.  No person of color has been President.  No person who wasn’t a Protestant or a Roman Catholic has been President.  But if you care enough, anything is possible.”

Curriculum Connections:

This story aligns with VA Civics SOL K.9, expressing that Kindergarteners should understand that the President is the leader of the United States.  This story however can easily be used with older students to introduce learning about biographies of individual presidents.

Additional Resources:

Scholastic’s website has an audio recording of the story along with expansion questions about the story, and a connection to President Obama.

Eduscape’s website has a plethora of resources relating to Presidents, connecting them to the story for older students.

Apples4theteacher.com provides activities for President’s Day for a wide age range of students.

General Information:
Book:  So You Want to Be President?
Author:  Judith St. George
Illustrator:  David Small
Publisher:  Philomel
Publication Date:  August 21, 2000
ISBN-13: 978-0399234071

Abraham Lincoln is a very important historical figure that many elementary grades study as part of our American hertiage. A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln by David Adler is a book to use with the lower grades when studying Abraham Lincoln and his importance to American history.  The book includes the major life events and contributions of Lincoln. Adler uses just the right amount of details and texts for the younger grades to understand. The illustrations are simple and colorful to hold a child’s attention.  The reader will need to be prepared to explain to young children some of the events Adler explains in the book and the illustrations that the Wallner’s depict in their pictures.  For example, the shooting of President Lincoln and the auctioning of a slave standing in chains. The last page of the book offers a short time line of important events in Lincoln’s life.

Curriculum Connections
A Picture Book of Abraham Lincon is a good picture book to use as part of a civics lesson related to famous Americans.  It is an easy book for children to understand American history from this time period. In Virgina, this book relates to social studies Civics SOL 2.11.  It would also be appropriate to use in kindergarten and first grade when studying about historical accounts of Abraham Lincoln.

Addition Resources

This is a fun way to make Abe Lincoln’s log cabin using pretzels and chococlate icing.

A web based site with various activities for primary students about Abe Lincoln.

Activities, worksheets and crafts for President Lincoln.

Book: A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln
Author: David A. Adler
Illustrator: John and Alexandra Wallner
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication Date: 1989
Reading Level: Ages 5-8
Pages: 26
ISBN: 0590103717