The Stone Soup Experiment is a remarkable story of cultural difference, of in-groups, out-groups, and how quickly and strongly the lines between them are drawn. It is also a story about simulation and reality, and how quickly the lines between them can be dismantled. In a compulsively readable account, Deborah Downing Wilson details a ten-week project in which forty university students were split into two different simulated cultures: the carefree Stoners, and the market-driven Traders. Through their eyes we are granted intimate access to the very foundations of human society: how group identities are formed and what happens when opposing ones come into contact. The experience of the Stoners and Traders is a profound testament to human sociality. Even in the form of simulation, even as a game, the participants found themselves quickly—and with real conviction—bound to the ideologies and practices of their in-group. The Stoners enjoyed their days lounging, chatting, and making crafts, while the Traders—through a complex market of playing cards—competed for the highest bankrolls. When they came into contact, misunderstanding, competition, and even manipulation prevailed, to the point that each group became so convinced of its own superiority that even after the simulation’s end the students could not reconcile. Throughout her riveting narrative, Downing Wilson interweaves fascinating discussions on the importance of play, emotions, and intergroup interaction in the formation and maintenance of group identities, as well as on the dynamic social processes at work when different cultural groups interact. A fascinating account of social experimentation, the book paints a vivid portrait of our deepest social tendencies and the powers they have over how we make friends and enemies alike.

Newly arrived in New York City in 1910, Bella is desperate to send money home to her family in Italy, and becomes one of the hundreds of workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. But one fateful March night, a spark ignites some cloth in the factory, resulting in a fire that will become one of the worst workplace disasters in history.

"I can make soup from a stone!" declared the old man. The old woman didn't believe him. Do you? Simply written in lively, flowing text Usborne First Reading books are designed to capture the imagination and build the confidence of beginner readers. This book includes audio, simple comprehension puzzles and downloadable worksheets and teacher's notes. "For every parent, child and teacher weary of the monotony of the average reading scheme, Usborne's First Reading series will offer rays of sunlight. The books are carefully levelled and offer a huge variety of accessible and fun, fiction and non-fiction." - Tamara Linke (Proprietor, Tales on Moon Lane Bookshop)

Retells the classic tale about a traveller, a ghost, who tricks a town's witches, ghouls, and zombies into helping him make soup.

A lively tale of a cool invention. Frank William Epperson is a curious boy who loves inventing. And since inventing begins with experimenting, he spends a lot of time in his “laboratory” (i.e., his back porch) trying out his ideas. When he invents a yummy flavored soda water drink, his friends love it! And this gets him thinking: “I wonder what this drink would taste like frozen?” Though he doesn’t yet know it, Frank’s curiosity will lead to his best invention ever: the Popsicle! This delicious story includes hands-on experiments and is sure to whet the appetites of budding inventors everywhere!

The technologically tethered, iPhone-addicted figure is an image we can easily conjure. Most of us complain that there aren't enough hours in the day and too many e-mails in our thumb-accessible inboxes. This widespread perception that life is faster than it used to be is now ingrained in our culture, and smartphones and the Internet are continually being blamed. But isn't the sole purpose of the smartphone to give us such quick access to people and information that we'll be free to do other things? Isn't technology supposed to make our lives easier? In Pressed for Time, Judy Wajcman explains why we immediately interpret our experiences with digital technology as inexorably accelerating everyday life. She argues that we are not mere hostages to communication devices, and the sense of always being rushed is the result of the priorities and parameters we ourselves set rather than the machines that help us set them. Indeed, being busy and having action-packed lives has become valorized by our productivity driven culture. Wajcman offers a bracing historical perspective, exploring the commodification of clock time, and how the speed of the industrial age became identified with progress. She also delves into the ways time-use differs for diverse groups in modern societies, showing how changes in work patterns, family arrangements, and parenting all affect time stress. Bringing together empirical research on time use and theoretical debates about dramatic digital developments, this accessible and engaging book will leave readers better versed in how to use technology to navigate life's fast lane.

Teaching literature unit based on the popular children's story, Stone soup.