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November 2005
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Dear Educator:
It's November! As the holidays approach, we make plans for families, friends, or communities to come together. Whether our plans include being with others or helping others, we yearn for those times that give us a feeling of belonging. This season, let students know that they too, belong—not just to families at home, but also to their classroom family—a special family that accepts, respects, and above all, values their development and growth.
We hope Weekly Reader is also a part of your classroom family, and that our resources support your ongoing efforts and goals.
Don't forget to check your inbox for each month's edition of our Teacher's Companion! We'll highlight stories from our current Pre-K–Grade 1 publications and bring you up to date on other Weekly Reader products designed to support your curriculum and engage your students.
Leap into literacy with this cool tool kit! For November, encourage students to think about families—they come in all shapes and sizes! Invite children to share photos, draw pictures, and give thanks for the loved ones in their lives.
Note: Teachers who ordered ten or more subscriptions of Weekly Reader K–Senior automatically receive a "What's Your Story?" activity kit. You may also visit www.weeklyreader.com/wys for grade-level activities and resources.
—The Editors at Weekly Reader
WEEKLY READER IN YOUR CLASSROOM—NOVEMBER
There are a lot of topics to look forward to in November issues of Weekly Reader. We've included a few highlights of upcoming issues below. Try posting a few clue words and pictures on your classroom message board the week before reading each issue. It's a great way to build background, assess prior knowledge, and get students excited to read their Weekly Readers!
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 PRE-K EDITION
We learn with our five senses! This month, young children see how they can use their five senses to learn about the neighborhood. Children will also read about things to be thankful for. Extend the lesson. Guide children in listing what they are thankful for and invite each child to draw a picture or create a wall mural. Other issues this month teach about animal movements and show Mingo preparing for the holidays.
Weekly Reader Web Watch!
Print out this month's reproducible BLAST! (Balanced Literacy Activities and Skills for Today!). Invite children to match pumpkin faces to reinforce important pre-reading skills: visual discrimination and left-to-right progression.
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 KINDERGARTEN EDITION
We go places this month! Children will read about how people travel and learn key concept words associated with transportation. The Make-a-Book features photos of many things that make our country special. Use the full-page illustrations of Thanksgiving to guide children in comparing celebrations of the past and present. The holiday issue features people in four neighboring homes getting ready for the holidays, highlighting—in colorful fashion—the festivity and fun of every holiday!
Attention Teachers: Download the Kindergarten, November issue Teacher's Guide for more information.
Weekly Reader Web Watch!
Print out this month's reproducible BLAST! (Balanced Literacy Activities and Skills for Today!).Invite children to match uppercase and lowercase letters to reinforce letter identification and sounds.
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 GRADE 1 EDITION
We need clean air! Teaching about clean air and its effects on health builds children's knowledge as it extends to the parts of the body and how they function. This month's Make-a-Book features wonderful photos of animals in winter. Squanto and the Pilgrims co-star in an issue about cooperation and celebration. The holiday issue highlights different celebrations through holiday greetings across cultures.
Weekly Reader Web Watch!
Print out the monthly reproducible skills calendars. November reinforces consonant blends; December provides practice in ending sounds.
www.weeklyreader.com/teachers/grade1
Print out this month's reproducible BLAST! (Balanced Literacy Activities and Skills for Today!). Invite children to acquire new vocabulary as they match words to create compound words.
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 GRADE 2 EDITION
This November, students will learn all about the traditions of Native Americans, including their clothing, beliefs, food, and shelter. Students will also learn the differences between today's Thanksgiving and the first celebration among the Wampanoag Native Americans. Hitting classrooms mid-month is our Look-Alikes issue. Students will be able to classify some animals that look alike, but are actually very different.
Each issue includes a "Whiskers's Corner" for an important lesson in citizenship and an activity that tests students' understanding. Print out the monthly Skills Calendar for November, where students will learn about prefixes and suffixes.
Attention Teachers: Download the Grade 2 Edition, Issue 9, Teacher's Guide for more information.
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 GRADE 3 EDITION
December 1 is the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. In issue 11, students will learn how her actions sparked the equal rights movement. They will also read how children in Montgomery, Alabama will honor this important anniversary in U.S. history.
Attention Teachers: Download the Grade 3 Edition, Issue 9, November Teacher's Guide for more information on the debate to ban Native American mascots and names from postseason games.
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 GRADE 4 EDITION
Your students can head to the moon in our first November issue. They'll read about NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade—the first step in a mission to Mars. They'll also find out how the new program contrasts to the Apollo missions and realize the differences between Earth and the moon. And they can read our first-hand interview with astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who made history with Neil Armstrong in 1969. In other issues this month, students will read about the role of the Supreme Court and how changes in the nation's highest court affect the lives of all Americans. And don't miss our classroom play about Rosa Parks. Our play honors the fiftieth anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Each issue's skills pages are packed with maps and charts that encourage comprehension skills.
Attention Teachers: Download Grade 4 Edition, Issue 8, Teacher's Guide for more information on the popularity of the Harry Potter series and its affect on kids everywhere.
Attention Teachers: Download Grade 4 Edition, november, Teacher's Guide for more information.
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 SENIOR EDITION
This month, Senior Edition takes students on a trip to the moon! Issue 11 talks about NASA's plans to return astronauts to Earth's closest neighbor by the end of the next decade. The space agency hopes the trip will pave the way for a human mission to Mars. Students will learn how the new mission will differ from previous Apollo missions and about major events in the history of human space exploration. They'll also read a first-hand interview with astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
In other issues this month, students will learn about the recent earthquake in southern Asia, a global effort to save the great apes from extinction, and the debate over the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Each issue is packed with pictures, charts, maps, and graphs to help bring the stories to life.
Attention Teachers: Download the Senior Edition, Issue 9, Teacher's Guide for more information on why New Orleans flooded Hurricane Katrina and what experts are doing to protect against future storms.
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Early Learning Activity from
Make-a-Book 123s
Let's Bake Counting Cookies!
Set up a cookie baking time with children to reinforce counting as you measure out ingredients and place cookies on baking sheets. Hands-on experiences are great everyday learning sessions — and they can taste great, too!
Download a sample page from Make-a-Book 123s
To download, view, and print PDF files, you must have a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader installed, or be using a browser with Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visit Adobe's Web site to download Acrobat Reader.
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Make-a-Book
Activities for Pre-K–K
Help your students develop early learning skills with our Make-a-Book Activities books. The series engages your young learners through interactive experiences and allows them to feel successful as they make their very own little books!
Each book
- provides two eight-page books for children to assemble
- invites children to color each page of their own books
- includes opportunities for children to practice reading, language,
and math skills
- incorporates Try This!—tips and suggestions for additional learning using songs, activities, and prompts
- integrates easily into cross-curricular lesson plans
| Title |
Grade(s) |
Item # |
Price |
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| Make-a-Book ABC's |
PreK-K |
#861 |
$1.95* |
Order Now |
| Make-a-Book 123's |
PreK-K |
#844 |
$1.95* |
Order Now |
*Prices above apply to orders of 10+ copies. For orders fewer than 10, please add $2.00 per book.
Science Spin
Student Practice Books for Grades 1–4
The best articles taken fromScienceSpin, Weekly Reader's popular magazine supplement, that reinforce the key science concepts included in your curriculum. The series includes two themed books for Grades 1–2: Lifecycles of Plants and Animals, and Insects and Bugs. There are also two books available for Grades 3–4.
Each book
- includes 10, theme-related science lessons
- presents lessons in three organized steps, integrating science content and language arts in a meaningful way
Step 1. a grade-level ScienceSpin article
Step 2. a student comprehension check and integrated language arts skill
Step 3. a theme-related word puzzle or activity
provides steady practice in reading skills
develops vocabulary through word puzzles and activities
invites scientific inquiry with "Put on Your Thinking Cap" prompts
increases student interest and focus with full-color pages
supports national and state science standards
| Title |
Grade(s) |
Item # |
Price |
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| Lifecycles of Plants and Animals |
Grades 1-2 |
#104 |
$4.95 |
Order Now |
| Insects and Bugs |
Grades 1-2 |
#105 |
$4.95 |
Order Now |
*Prices above apply to orders of 10+ copies. For orders fewer than 10, please add $2.00 per book.
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Test Yourself! Reading
This collection of reproducible student practice sheets AND Weekly Reader Test Yourself! Sample Tests provides you with a ready tool to help monitor students' strengths and weaknesses and provide practice in grade-level language arts skills and reading comprehension.
Each 128-page reproducible book:
- includes the best student practice sheets and four-page sample tests from Weekly Reader's award-winning magazines
- offers highly engaging activities to monitor student strengths and weaknesses in reading and writing
- provides practice in literacy skills such as vocabulary development, punctuation, spelling, capitalization. and much more
- presents test-question formats to help students become better test-takers
| Title |
Grade(s) |
Item # |
Price |
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| Test Yourself! Reading |
2-3 |
#111 |
$14.95 |
Order Now |
| Test Yourself! Reading |
4-6 |
#112 |
$14.95 |
Order Now |
Take a look inside! FREE reproducible Sample Test pages, from Test Yourself! Reading for grades 2—3.
To download, view, and print PDF files, you must have a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader installed, or be using a browser with Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visit Adobe's Web site to download Acrobat Reader.
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Science Spin
Student Practice Books for Grades 1–4
The best articles taken from ScienceSpin, Weekly Reader's popular magazine supplement, that reinforce the key science concepts included in your curriculum. The series includes two themed books for Grades 1–2: Lifecycles of Plants and Animals, and Insects and Bugs. There are also two books available for Grades 3–4. (Land, Water, and Resources, and The Atmosphere and Beyond).
Each book
- includes 10, theme-related science lessons
- presents lessons in three organized steps, integrating science content and language arts in a meaningful way
Step 1. a grade-level ScienceSpin article
Step 2. a student comprehension check and integrated language arts skill
Step 3. a theme-related word puzzle or activity
- provides steady practice in reading skills
- develops vocabulary through word puzzles and activities
- invites scientific inquiry with "Put on Your Thinking Cap" prompts
- increases student interest and focus with full-color pages
- supports national and state science standards
| Title |
Grade(s) |
Item # |
Price |
|
| Lifecycles of Plants and Animals |
Grades 1-2 |
#104 |
$4.95* |
Order Now |
| Insects and Bugs |
Grades 1-2 |
#105 |
$4.95* |
Order Now |
| Land, Water, and Resources |
Grades 3-4 |
#106 |
$4.95* |
Order Now |
| The Atmosphere and Beyond |
Grades 3-4 |
#107 |
$4.95* |
Order Now |
*Prices above apply to orders of 10+ copies. For orders fewer than 10, please add $2.00/book.
Test Yourself! Reading
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This collection of reproducible student practice sheets AND Weekly Reader Test Yourself! Sample Tests provides you with a ready tool to help monitor students' strengths and weaknesses and provide practice in grade-level language arts skills and reading comprehension.
Each 128-page reproducible book:
- includes the best student practice sheets and four-page sample tests from Weekly Reader's award-winning magazines
- offers highly engaging activities to monitor student strengths and weaknesses in reading and writing
- provides practice in literacy skills such as vocabulary development, punctuation, spelling, capitalization. and much more
- presents test-question formats to help students become better test-takers
| Title |
Grade(s) |
Item # |
Price |
|
| Test Yourself! Reading |
4-6 |
#112 |
$14.95 |
Order Now |
Also available: Test Yourself! Reading (Grade 2-3) Item#111
Take a look inside! Download the FREE reproducible Sample Test pages, from Test Yourself! Reading for grades 4-6.
To download, view, and print PDF files, you must have a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader installed, or be using a browser with Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visit Adobe's Web site to download Acrobat Reader.
Weekly Reader has teamed up with a variety of high-quality organizations to produce educational materials that we believe will benefit your classroom. Check out their Web sites below. We guarantee that you'll find something to enliven your classroom and make teaching more effective!
Internet safety message: We recommend that you view all Web sites before sharing the URLs with students.
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