Amberly Media Center

Use Fact Monster to find the answers to these questions.

1. Was there a leap year in 2000? Why or why not?

2. What are your chances of being born on leap day?

3. Precisely how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds does it take the Earth to travel around the Sun?

4. Who first came up with the idea of adding a day every four years to keep the calendar in sync with the Sun?

5. Even if you add a leap year every four years how many minutes and seconds is the calendar off by every year?

6. How does the Gregorian calendar fix this problem?

Kindergarten

• Bynum. Otis.
• Bynum. Pig Enough.

First Grade

• Hatkoff. Owen & Mzee: the Language of Friendship. (599.63)

Second Grade

• Seuss. If I Ran the Circus.
• Seuss. If I Ran the Zoo.

Kindergarten

• Feiffer. Henry.
• Shannon. Good Boy, Fergus.

First Grade

• Cannon. Stellaluna
• Sayre. Vulture View. (598.9)

Kindergarten

• Schoenherr. Pip and Squeak.
• Shannon. Rabbit’s Gift.

First Grade

• Bonning. Snog the Frog.
• Spinelli. Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch.

Second Grade

• Pennypacker. Clementine.

A young newspaper report gets the chance of her career: to tell the untold story of the world’s greatest violin player, Paolo Levi. Levi is known for being difficult to interview and will walk out on any reporter who asks him why he refuses to play the music of Mozart.

But this interview is different. Levi has decided it is time to tell the tragic but inspiring tale of his parents who he learns are survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. His parents survived because they were musicians who were forced to play the music of Mozart to calm their fellow Jews as they arrived at the camps.

This may end up being next year’s Newbery Medal winner. A brief and powerful combination of words by Morpurgo and watercolor paintings by Michael Foreman.

Check out the Yuckiest Site on the Internet: http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/

Try these questions.

1. What is the gunk in my eye?
2. How much gas do I have?
3. What is mouth rot? (hint: look up bad breathe)
4. What is dandruff?
5. How many hairs fall out of your head on average each day?
6. What is spit good for?
7. How much skin does a person shed in a lifetime?
8. How many hearts does a worm have?

Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/k-2/index.html
>Symbols of U.S. Government>Bald Eagle

1.The word “bald” does not mean that this bird has no feathers. Instead, it comes from the word piebald, an old word which means “___________________________________________________________.”

>Symbols of U.S. Government>The Liberty Bell
2. The last time the bell rang was on February 23, 1846 for _____________________________’s birthday celebration.

>Symbols of U.S. Government>The Flag
3. The first U.S. flag was designed in __________________________________.

Mo Willems FAQs (frequently asked questions)
http://mowillemsfaq.blogspot.com/

4. Q. Why did you choose a Pigeon to star in your books?
A. A _________________________________________ wouldn’t fit on the page.

Seussville
http://www.seussville.com/main.php?section=home
>Biography

5. Theodor (“Ted”) Seuss Geisel was born on ___________________________.

Dav Pilkey’s Extra-Crunchy Website O’Fun
http://www.pilkey.com/
>Meet Dav> Almost Completely True Adventures of Dav Pilkey (cartoon version)

6. At the age of 4, Dav was kicked out of “_____________________________” for throwing stuff out the window. (part one)

7. Everybody in Dav’s class thought his stories were really _______________ …except for one person. (part two)

8. For his crimes against humanity, Dav Pilkey was sentenced to four years of _________________________________. (part three)

Kindergarten

• Bloom. A Splendid Friend, Indeed.
• Bloom. Treasure.

First Grade

• Brett. The Three Snow Bears.

Second Grade

• Pennypacker. Clementine.

Third Grade

• Wetherford. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom.

Try these links to learn about Groundhog’s Day.

• The Official Site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club
  http://www.groundhog.org/
• Groudhog Day Quiz
  http://a4esl.org/q/h/mc-lb-ghd.html
• Groundhog Concentration
  http://www.surfnetkids.com/games/groundhog-c.htm

InfoCentre includes links to many web sites that are useful for school projects. 4th and 5th grade students researching biographies of famous Americans often find links to Gale’s Student Resource Center. Here are some questions to practice using this site.

Malcolm X
1. The family moved to ___________________ in 1929….

Rosa Parks
2. She returned to _______________________ in 1959 and took a position as a seamstress.

Sojourner Truth
3. Died November 26, 1883 in _______________________, Michigan.

Berry Gordy, Jr.
4. Gordy originally formed the company in 1959 as the ________________________ Corporation.