Metropolitan Museum of Art opened its doors for the first time in 1870. It contains over 200 galleries and possesses over three million pieces of art. Idea: Consider reading From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Two siblings run away to the museum. They solve a mystery, and readers learn a great deal about the museum. Children can visit the museum website at: http://www.metmuseum.org/.
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in 1943 in Washington, DC. This date was picked in honor of Jefferson’s birthday. Construction was started in 1938 and was finished in 1943. A bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson was planned, but World War II intervened and bronze was needed for the war. A plaster statue painted to look like bronze was on display until 1947 when a real bronze statue took its rightful place. Children can visit a website at: http://www.nps.gov/thje/.
Samuel Becket (born Foxrock, County Dublin, Ireland, 1906; died Paris, France, December 22, 1989) wrote books and plays. During World War II he worked with a French resistance group. One of his most famous works is Waiting for Godot.
Gunning Bedford, Jr. (born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1747; died Wilmington, Delaware, March 30, 1812) represented Delaware at the Constitutional Convention. During the Revolutionary War he was for a short time an aide to General Washington. A staunch abolitionist, he served as a federal judge for 23 years. Children can learn more at: Gunning Bedford, Jr..
Alfred Butts (born Poughkeepsie, New York, 1899; died Rhinebeck, New York, April 4, 1993) invented the game Scrabble. He invented the game when he was out of a job during the Depression. After he sold the game to a company, he received three cents for each game sold.
Erik Christian Haugaard (born Fredricksberg, Denmark, 1923; died County Cork, Ireland, June 4, 2009) fled Denmark in 1940 when the Nazis invaded. He began writing children’s books in 1963. He wrote at least twelve books for young adults. He received the 1968 Jane Addams Award for The Little Fishes. Children can learn more at: Erik Christian Haugaard.
Marguerite Henry (born Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1902; died San Diego, California, November 26, 1997) wrote 59 books for children and young adults. She received two Newbery Honor Awards, one in 1945 for Justin Morgan Had a Horse and one in 1948 for Misty of Chincoteague. She earned the Newbery Medal in 1949 for King of the Wind. Children can learn more at: Marguerite Henry.
Lee Bennett Hopkins (born Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1938; died Cape Coral, Florida, August 8, 2019) was a poet and novelist. His first career was as a teacher, and he found out how important poetry was to children and to him. He published over 200 books, and one of his works is Good Rhymes, Good Times. He also created the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award to honor the best poetry works of the previously published year. Children could visit the award’s site at: Hopkins Award. They could also read a biography of him and a history of the award in Children’s Book Award Handbook, by Diana F. Marks.
Peale Portrait of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (born Albermarle County, Virginia, 1743; died Charlottesville, Virginia, July 4, 1826) was the third president (1801-1808) of the United States. He hoped people would remember him for writing the Declaration of Independence, for writing the statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and for founding the University of Virginia. He also made possible the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Children could visit a website at: Thomas Jefferson. Idea: Jefferson invented several items that made life easier, including the swivel chair, a lap desk, and a decoding device. Children could evaluate his inventions and draw diagrams of them.
Rita Williams-Garcia (born Queens, New York, 1957) writes books for young adults. Her book One Crazy Summer won a 2011 Newbery Honor Award, the Coretta Scott King Medal, and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Children can learn more at: http://www.ritawg.com/.
Texas Bluebonnets
National Gardening Day is today! Spring and warmer weather have arrived, along with some wild flowers, including the Texas bluebonnet. While it still may be too early to plant some flowers, fruits, and vegetables, it is a good day to turn over the soil, look for worms, and think about where to plant everything.
National Look Up at the Sky Day is today! At sunrise children could look for colorful skies. During the day, children could observe the color of the sky, the types of clouds, weather conditions, and the sights of living organisms. During sunset, they again could look for colorful skies. At night they could find the moon and determine its phase. They could also look at the stars and find constellations.
The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage was formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1775. This group was America’s first abolition society. Some of the early members were Thomas Paine, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, and John Greenleaf Whittier. Renamed the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, the group still exists, working for racial justice.
Newer Version Of Webster’s
Noah Webster’s dictionary was copyrighted in 1828. Children could play some word games at the Merriam-Webster site: http://www.wordcentral.com/games.html. Idea: Children can create their own picture dictionaries regarding a certain topic. For example, a child could make a picture dictionary of Spanish words, or another student could make a picture dictionary of computer terms.
Abraham Lincoln was shot in 1865. He was at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, to see a performance of “Our American Cousin.” He died the next day. Children could learn more at: Lincoln. They could also read Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson. Children could decide how the future of America would have been different if Lincoln had not been assassinated.
Christiaan Huygens (born The Hague, Dutch Republic, 1629; died The Hague, Dutch Republic, July 8, 1695) was a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He discovered that Saturn had a ring around it and that Saturn had at least one moon, Titan. He wrote a book about probability theory, and he quantified several physics concepts.
Gary D. Schmidt (born Hicksville, New York, 1957) writes books for children. His Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy earned both a Newbery Honor Award and a Printz Award in 2005. The Wednesday Wars received a 2008 Newbery Honor Award.
Anne Mansfield Sullivan (born Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, 1866; died Forest Hills, New York, October 20, 1936) was Helen Keller’s teacher from 1887 until her death in 1936. Older children can learn a great deal about Sullivan from the American Foundation for the Blind website: http://www.afb.org/asm/.
National Rubber Eraser Day is honored. Joseph Priestley accidentally invented the eraser in 1770 when he was experimenting with latex.