This wildly funny twist on the "How I spent my summer vacation" school-essay ritual details one child's imaginary adventures over the summer and is perfect for back-to-school reading! Most kids go to camp over the summer, or to Grandma's house, or maybe they're stuck at home. Not Wallace Bleff. He was supposed to visit his Aunt Fern. Instead, Wallace insists, he was carried off by cowboys and taught the ways of the West--from riding buckin' broncos to roping cattle. Lucky for Aunt Fern, he showed up at her house just in time to divert a stampede from her barbecue party! Perfect for back-to-school read-alouds, here's a western fantasy with sparkling illustrations and enough action to knock kids' boots off!

This book introduces a thematic approach to social history that connects the past to the daily lives of students. Historical overviews of vacation and manners spanning from the ancient world to twentieth century United States provide detailed context for the teacher, emphasize issues related to social class, sex and gender, and popular culture, and examine the methods of social historians. Four unique primary source sets, reading guides, and essential/compelling questions for students are provided that encourage inquiry learning and the development of critical literacy skills aligned with the Common Core Standards for Literacy and the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards. Each themed chapter includes suggestions for extending each theme to current events, the local community through placed-based education, and across content areas for interdisciplinary instruction. The final chapter provides guidance on how to research additional historical themes, locate relevant primary sources, and prepare themed lessons and units.

Do you love riding on planes, trains, and automobiles but get restless on the way? If the answer is yes, take along The Everything Kids' Travel Activity Book and you'll be there before you know it! Packed full of puzzles, activities, quizzes, and games, this book provides hours of nonstop fun that can be done alone or shared with other kids. There's cool stuff to do, like: Create your own postcard Invent a new automobile Play detective The Everything Kids' Travel Activity Book also gives you answers to all sorts of crazy questions: What makes your foot "go to sleep"? Why does your sister cough? Why do we daydream? On top of all that, you can draw caricatures, test your memory, and even keep a weather diary. The traveling fun is so endless you'll never ask "Are we there yet?" again!

Do Less, Live More, Get Accepted What if getting into your reach schools didn’t require four years of excessive A.P. classes, overwhelming activity schedules, and constant stress? In How to Be a High School Superstar, Cal Newport explores the world of relaxed superstars—students who scored spots at the nation’s top colleges by leading uncluttered, low stress, and authentic lives. Drawing from extensive interviews and cutting-edge science, Newport explains the surprising truths behind these superstars’ mixture of happiness and admissions success, including: · Why doing less is the foundation for becoming more impressive. · Why demonstrating passion is meaningless, but being interesting is crucial. · Why accomplishments that are hard to explain are better than accomplishments that are hard to do. These insights are accompanied by step-by-step instructions to help any student adopt the relaxed superstar lifestyle—proving that getting into college doesn’t have to be a chore to survive, but instead can be the reward for living a genuinely interesting life.

The creators of You Are My I Love You pen an ode to students and their teachers, just in time for back to school No one captures the essence of our most cherished relationships quite like Maryann Cusimano Love and Satomi Ichikawa. Whether parent and child or grandparent and grandchild, Maryann's tender, playful text and Satomi's childlike, colorful illustrations are nothing less than odes to these universal bonds. Now the two shine their spotlight on students and teachers, enriching each other through storytelling, art, music, and of course, guidance. Perfect and reassuring for the youngest of students, You Are My Wonders is sure to be a hit at story time at home or in the classroom.

Investigating Family, Food, and Housing Themes in Social Studies asks students to critically examine their own culture by contrasting it with the daily lives of average people in the past. What people ate, where people lived, and the functions of families are examined and contrasted to subjective, cultural ideals prescribing what families, food, and housing ought to have been. The relationship between housing, food, and family and social class, status, and gender are emphasized. Each chapter includes essential questions to focus student inquiry; historical overviews focused on changes in family, food, and housing from the pre-industrial era, through its transformation during the Industrial Revolution and into the twentieth century; learning activities; and primary source documents and images. This unique approach to teaching history and social studies supports thematic instruction, culturally responsive teaching, place-based education, and literacy in the elementary, middle, or secondary classrooms.