I taught for 33 years and I have my MST in the teaching of Social Studies. In 1988, I was awarded the Elementary Social Studies Classroom Teacher of the Year Award from both the New York State Council for the Social Studies and the National Council for the Social Studies. My shop contains mostly social studies materials including web quests, and reader's theater scripts on famous people in history, science and literature.
I taught for 33 years and I have my MST in the teaching of Social Studies. In 1988, I was awarded the Elementary Social Studies Classroom Teacher of the Year Award from both the New York State Council for the Social Studies and the National Council for the Social Studies. My shop contains mostly social studies materials including web quests, and reader's theater scripts on famous people in history, science and literature.
FAKE NEWS! We hear this phrase almost every day. Teaching Digital Critical Literacy is more and more important. Use this freebie , an interactive notebook activity to open a discussion on techniques to determine whether a story students read or hear is real or fake.
This is part of my resource on FAKE NEWS, Developing Digital Critical Literacy with Kids(INA): Click here to learn more: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/fake-news-developing-digital-critical-literacy-with-kids-possible-interactive-notebook-activity-11806581
Additionally, my resource on the history of April Fool’s Day has LOTS of materials which could also be used to develop digital literacy with your students: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/april-fools-day-reading-passage-and-more-11809047
Great for an Interactive Notebook Activity. Have students do some of the extension activities.
Covering Black History Month? Check out these resources:
• Check out my twelve fact-packed Black History Month Webquest/Extension Activities:
Check out my Reader’s Theater Script on Bessie Coleman:
Check out my fact-packed Webquest on Martin Luther King/Extension Activities:
Check out my Reader’s Theater Script on Harriet Tubman:
Check out my Reader’s Theater Script on Rose Parks:
Check out my web quest on First Lady Michelle Obama:
Have your students learn about Charles Dickens,one of the most famous writers of all times! 8 informative web questions. Additional activities/links,too. It is said Dickens used an amazing 4.6 million different words in his writing! Skills include:reading for information and using research/computer skills.
I also have a Reader’s Theater Script on Charles Dickens.
Use this informative Reader’s Theater Script to learn about Harriet Tubman, ex-slave who became the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad, a Union Spy and women’s suffrage advocate. The fun/informative play uses the format of three historians being guests on Ms. Bie Ografee’s talk show and the studio audience asks questions to the Historians to learn about the life of Harriet Tubman. Great for Black History Month,unit on the Civil War,or Women’s History Month. Comprehension questions/extension activities, key. Kids get a chance to “ham” it up and try out their acting skills!
Covering the Ancient Greeks? This unit on Ancient Greece includes notes, lots of activities and resources I used with my students. Did you know that the ancient Greeks played with a yo-yo about 3000 years ago or that in the city of Athens, ancient Greeks sold snow cones that were mixed with honey and fruit?
Also, check out my Greece(A Country in Focus Webquest).
Do your students ask why more women aren’t mentioned in history books?This web quest contains informational text on 15 women who have made contributions to our world. Elizabeth Blackwell,Clara Barton,Amelia Earhart,Susan B Anthony,Sally Ride,Rosa Parks,Jane Goodall,Eleanor Roosevelt,Marie Curie and Sacagawea.Extension links/activities,key. Reading for info research/computer skills. Great for any time of the year or specifically during March(Women’s History Month).
Learn about the country of Brazil with this informational web quest. There is also a map skill activity and fun facts. Additionally, there is a teacher page with extension activities and additional links.
Although the map skill/webquest can be completed in one session, if you opt to do the extension activity, additional days could be used.
If you live where there is snow, you have probably built a snowman. The snowman has been around for quite a while. In fact, the earliest drawing of a snowman was found in a book dating back to 1380! The book,"Book of Hours" was found in a library in the country of the Netherlands. This resource has four snowmen reading passages:
1. Famous sculptor, Michelangelo, was hired to make a snowman for a wealthy person in Florence, Italy.
2. A snow man is used each April,to help predict the weather during a festival in the country of Switzerland.
3. One of the earliest written comments about snowmen dates back to 1690. Two snowman were left to guard Fort Schenectady, in New York, during a blizzard with very tragic consequences!
4. The world's record for the largest snowman, Olympia, was constructed in 2008. 13 million pounds of snow were used to make the amazing snow-woman! As of 2015, the record still stands.
Each short reading passage includes following directions to identify answers. There are also several extension activities and a Did you Know? section.
Use this freebie to introduce students to fun facts about Pi. Four pages with activities for students to do after reviewing the information .
Please consider following my TES Store especially if you are looking for history, science and language arts materials. :-)
Looking for a reading about math? Check out this reading passage on Hypatia, the first known female mathematician: Hypatia
Other Math/Science related resources:
Reader’s Theater Script on Katherine Johnson, the Computer that Wore Skirts:
Reader’s Theater Script on Albert Einstein:
Reader’s Theater Script on Galileo:
Reader’s Theater Script on Sir Isaac Newton:
Reader’s Theater Script on Marie Curie:
Hypathia
Ada Lovelace
During the American Revolution, Tories supported the British in the war. Loyalists, the King’s Friends and Royalists were other names for those that took sides with the British. Students will learn about what it was like to be a Tory during the American Revolutionary War. Joshua Crabtree(fictitious character) is a guest on Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show where studio audience ask questions . 10 questioners, Did You Know? section, comprehension questions, teacher page with extensions,key and more.
Other resources:
1. Revolutionary Female Spies: American Revolution/ Revolutionary War: Studying the 13 Colonies? This resource would work great for such a unit of study. Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee’s Reader’s Theater Scripts, this play about the Culper Spy Ring and specifically, Agent 355, one of the female member of the organization! During the Revolutionary War, the Culper Spy Ring was organized to work to defeat the British. Agent 355 and other members of the spy organization were very important in the colonists being victorious in the War for Independence from England. Although Agent 355’s real name remains a mystery, she was one of the women spies who showed that patriotism has no gender! Secret codes, invisible ink, LAUNDRY used to communicate messages, what spies did during the Revolutionary war, lots of information is weaved into Agent 355 being a guest on Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show
with the studio audience asking her questions. Also great for an activity during Women’s History Month or any time you are looking for a fun/informative play to use with your students! Lots of extension activities, links, a Did You Know Fact section, comprehension questions and the key are also included.
2. Use this Reader’s Theater Script to learn about our 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson. Using the format of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Series, Jefferson is a guest on the show and audience members ask questions of her guest, Thomas Jefferson. In addition to lots of interesting information, there is a Did You Know? section, comprehension questions and a teacher page with extension activities, additional links and the key. The resource can be a one day activity or over several
days if you decide to do some of the activities:
3. Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee series of plays, this Reader’s Theater Script is on the “Father of the Constitution”, James Madson(1751-1836), and his sharing with students the history of the writing of the Constitution. Madison who would become the 4th President of the United States(1809-1817)), played a very important role in the forming of our US Constitution. In addition to being a delegate, he introduced the first additions to the Constitution(amendments) which came to be known as the Bill of Rights. With 13 audience questioners, a Did You Know Section, comprehension questions, a Teacher Page with extension activities, key and additional links.
Want a fun and informative activity to teach your students about the history of Thanksgiving?This webquest has 11 informative text questions on the history of Thanksgiving(including the Macy’s Day Parade). TURKEY facts,too!
Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Series: Students learn about George Washington Carve,the Wizard of Tuskegee, with this informative Reader’s Theater Script. As a guest on Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show, Carver answers questions from the studio audience about his life. Carver was an early believer in recycling and believed in the importance of respecting nature. Includes:Comprehension questions,Did You Know?, Teacher page with extension activities.
Other plays in the Ms. Bie Ografee’s Talk Show Series: Thomas Edison, Jacques Cousteau,Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Sacagawea, Sequoia, Michelangelo, DaVinci, Tuskegee Airmen, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Blackwell, Interview with Simon-victim of the Black Death,William Shakespeare, Love Brewster(one of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower), interview with McSean, a leprechaun, interview with Sarsaparilla,a groundhog.More to be added…
Use this activity with students during Chinese New Year 2025 which starts on January 29th and is the year of the SNAKE.
Please consider following my store if you like this resource. Thank you!
Gail Hennessey
Studying Egypt? Want to share with kids some fun mummy facts? Check out this Amazing Mummy Facts FREEBIE.
I also have an internet activity on mummies of the world, a reading on Hatshepsut, a reading on Ramses, a unit of study(with notes, links, activities AND an internet Activity) and a review activity on vocabulary on Ancient Egypt.
World Water Day is March 22nd. Use this freebie to give to students which includes several fill in the blanks and You Turn ideas.
Check out these related resources:
Studying the ocean? Looking for a resource for Earth Day or World Ocean Day? Introduce your students to Jacques Cousteau with this informative Reader’s Theater Script. Oceanographer, photographer, scientist, inventor, writer and filmmaker, Cousteau spent his life studying the oceans and the marine life that lived in the oceans. Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee Talk Show Series where Jacques Cousteau is a guest on her talk show and answers questions of her studio audience. There are 10 audience questioners, a Did You Know? section, comprehension questions, a teacher section with extension activities, links and the key: Jacques Cousteau, A Reader’s Theater Script
Exploring the Ocean Blue: A Web quest, will introduce students to our oceans. There are nine informative web questions. Fun Facts, comprehension questions,extension activities and links are also provided as is the key. Exploring the Oceans, A Webquest
Learn about Earth Day and our planet Earth, with this informative web quest! In 2018, the theme for Earth Day is “Environmental and Climate Literacy”. Although this resource could be used for Earth Day, it really could be used throughout the year. There are 15 web questions as well as comprehension questions and a Did You Know? fun fact section. The teacher page includes extension activities, the key, and additional links. Earth Day, A Webquest
PLEASE CONSIDER FOLLOWING ME. CHECK OUT MY TES STORE FOR LOTS OF BIOGRPAHICAL PLAYS ON FAMOUS PEOPLE IN HISTORY, SCIENCE AND LITERATURE AS WELL AS MANY INTERNET ACTIVITIES AND SHORT READS IN THE AREA OF SOCIAL STUDIES.
Use this free resource during your discussions of the famous games which began in ancient Greece or during a unit of study on the Ancient Greeks. The 2024 Summer Games will be held in Paris, France.
PLEASE CONSIDER FOLLOWING MY TES STORE. Thank you!
Check out my other resources:
Learn about the History of the Famous Games of Ancient Greece with this fun/informative webquest: History of the Ancient Games of Ancient Greece
Learn about the country of France, host country of the 2024 games with this webquest.
Learn about the country of Greece, where the famous games originated with this webquest. There are also comprehension questions and extension activities:Learn about the country of Greece!
Oyez, Oyez, Let’s Learn about the Supreme Court! The Supreme Court begins its new session the first Monday of October. Used to call the Supreme Court to order, the word OYEZ means “Hear Ye”. The word originates from the Latin word which means “to hear” The Supreme Court hears a number of cases each year in which questions to the Constitution are raised. Use this web quest to learn about the highest court of our land…the Supreme Court! There are 13 informative questions, a Did You Know? section, comprehension questions, a Teacher page with extension activities/links/key.
November is Thanksgiving time and most of us will be celebrating with a turkey dinner. Did you know that the Native American Indians were raising turkey as far back as 1000 A.D. ? Did you know that the Aztecs, of Mexico, were raising turkeys even earlier, about 200 B.C. ? Twenty Factoids, extension activities: FREE!
Studying the Age of Exploration? This fun and informative webquest will be a great resource to use with your students(grades 4-8) There are 14 questions and lots of extension activities and links. There are also comprehension questions to use after the completion of the web quest. Skills include:reading for information and using research/computer skills.
Grades 5 and up
With 15 informational web questions, this resource is just the thing to use as a learning tool about the holiday of Halloween. Bats, Owls, pumpkins, the human skeleton, the origin of Halloween, superstitions, and famous stories in literature, are covered. There are comprehension questions, lots of fun facts, extension activities(including writing in the content area), and additional links for teachers.