Map of Gadsden Purchase
Gadsden Purchase Treaty was signed in 1853. The United States purchased from Mexico a strip of land south of the Gila River. James Gadsden, United States minister to Mexico, negotiated the deal with Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Mexico’s leader. The United States paid ten million dollars for the area. The country gained almost 30,000 square miles of territory. Children can learn more at: Gadsden Purchase.
USS Monitor
USS Monitor, the iron-clad ship, sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in 1862. The Monitor had been built in early 1862. The ship faced the Confederate iron-clad Merrimac on March 9, 1862. Neither ship sustained major damage. The Monitor was being towed by the USS Rhode Island when both ships ran into a storm. Many of the Monitor crew members were saved by the Rhode Island crew. However, sixteen crew members died. Today the Monitor is part of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. Divers can roam around the outside of the ship. The Sanctuary is a wonderful repository of information and a catalyst for future experiments and research. Children can visit the Sanctuary’s website at: http://monitor.noaa.gov/. Idea: Young scholars could find out why so many ships have sunk off Cape Hatteras.
Rudyard Kipling (born Bombay, India, 1865; died London, England, January 18, 1936) was a poet, novelist, and short story writer. He wrote more than 300 stories, and he is best known for his works about the India he loved. Among his most famous works are The Jungle Book and Just So Stories. He won the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature. Idea: Children could change one of his stories into a play, and then they could perform it. Children can read his works at: Project Gutenberg.
Mercer Mayer (born Little Rock, Arkansas, 1943) is a children’s book author and illustrator. He has written and/or illustrated more than 400 books. He is known for his many books about his Little Critter character. However, he has illustrated works by other authors, including John D. Fitzgerald’s The Great Brain Series. Children could visit his SUPER website, including videos, activities, games, and coloring sheets, at: Little Critter.
Jane O’Connor (born New York, New York, 1947) is an editor and a children’s author of at least 70 books. She is most famous for writing the Fancy Nancy books. She also writes the Nina, Nina, Ballerina books and a host of well-written nonfiction books. Children can visit the AMAZING Fancy Nancy website at: Jane O’Connor.
Jane Langton (born Boston, Massachusetts, 1922; died Lincoln, Massachusetts, December 22, 2018) wrote and illustrated at least 30 books for children. She is well-known for her Hall Family Chronicles and her Homer Kelly Mysteries. The Fledgling, a book from the Hall Family Chronicles, was a 1981 Newbery Honor Book.