Can't-Miss Teaching Extras
Keep the learning going with additional videos, book recommendations, discussion starters, and more!
How Australia’s most-loved animal has become a major pest
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Your students will crack up watching this 2-minute video of a kangaroo that invaded a soccer match not once but three times during the game. (Be sure to explain that “football” in the captions means soccer in Australia.)
Fun Fact
Red kangaroos need very little water to live. They can go up to several months without drinking water.
The story of Paradise, California, and the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history
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For an uplifting epilogue, share this 2-minute video of students returning to Paradise High School last August for the first time since the fire.
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Another bright spot in this tragedy is that many pets who’d been left behind during the fire were reunited with their owners. This heartwarming 4-minute video of adorable pets seeing their owners again can lend an element of hope to your lesson.
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If you want to share with your students why California has so many wildfires, this New York Times article explains it clearly. While we don’t recommend sharing it with students, it will provide helpful background information for you.
Fun Fact
The city of Chico, where many residents of Paradise relocated after the fire, is the home of the world’s largest yo-yo (250 lbs.!), a yo-yo museum, and, for 22 years, a national yo-yo contest.
Know This
The Paradise fire is also known as the Camp Fire. That’s because it ignited near Camp Creek Road in Paradise, and wildfires are often named after the place where they started.
The story of a remarkable boy and the school where he thrives
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Join Lauren Tarshis on her 2012 visit to Isaac’s school in this 5.5-minute video. (There’s no sound for the first 35 seconds.) You’ll see pictures of Isaac and G.J. (Grandma Judy) too!
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Here’s a 6-minute clip from the 2018 Special Olympics: the 100M freestyle event followed by a lovely interview with the jubilant 18-year-old winner. (For short attention spans, you can watch the first 2 minutes, then jump to the interview at the 4:15 mark.)
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Show your students Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver celebrating the Olympians during the 1987 games in this 3.5-minute video. (It might be worth pointing out that her unique way of speaking is due to her thick Boston accent!)
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The National Down Syndrome Society celebrates each fall with a series of Buddy Walks across the country. The walks are designed to promote acceptance and inclusion. This interactive map tells you where to find your closest Buddy Walk.
And what the African Tooth Fairy brought me was even better than money!
Fun Fact
Author Penda Diakite first wrote this story when she was 8 years old, based on what happened when her younger sister, Amina, lost her tooth in Africa. (Yes, she got a chicken!)
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Show your students the gallery of work by Baba Wague Diakite, who illustrated the story. He creates tapestries, ceramic tiles, bowls, and more.
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Baba Wague Diakite used this proverb from Mali to describe the experience of working with his daughter: “Raising a child is like planting a tree. When it is tended well, you will enjoy its shade.” Ask your students what they think this means.
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Show your students exactly where Mali is in relation to where you are--simply plug your town into this interactive map.
A classic story of good and evil
Fun Fact
This story is almost 300 years old! It originated in England back in the 1730s and was called “The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean.”
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Your kids will never forget this catchy 3.5-minute song and video about reading with expression: “Don’t Read Like a Robot.”
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Share more work from the incredible illustrator Jeremy Polonen here. Have your students vote on their favorites!
Or is zooming up in a rocket ship too dangerous?
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Science connection alert! This 3-minute video from our friends at Scholastic News shows astronaut Peggy Whitson answering kids’ questions about life in space--while she’s in zero gravity!
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In this 5-minute video you’ll join British billionaire Richard Branson, who owns the space tourism company that will bring “regular” humans into space, as he watches his first spaceship blast off into space.
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This cool 8.5-minute video from NASA features two astronauts breaking down what it’s like to eat in space. (No plates, forks, or knives necessary!)
Fun Fact
Have your students guess how much an astronaut’s space suit costs. Answer: $22 million, according to NPR.
And learn what happened when he got lost in the woods and met the Wampanoag people.
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Our friends at Scholastic News 2 created this 6-minute video about pilgrim life.
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Scholastic partnered with the Plimoth Plantation, a living-history museum in Massachusetts, to create this 17-minute virtual field trip to a homesite of the Wampanoag people
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This article is filled with surprising info about the daily life of the Wampanoag people back in the 1620s. (Get this: Beds were made of seven or eight layers of deer, bear, and moose fur!)
Figurative language describes an autumn chore in an exciting way
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You have access in the archives to another wonderful, lyrical poem by Bobbi Katz, “September.”
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Introduce your students to Bobbi Katz in this illuminating 7-minute interview between her and a student reporter, filled with great creative-writing tips.
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“October Saturday” is part of a collection called The Place My Words Are Looking For, which is special because it contains not only wonderful poems, but the stories behind the poems from the poets themselves. Add it to your classroom library!
