Showing posts with label Titanic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Titanic. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

My School Library - Getting Ready for the Year


I have been waiting all year to do a bulletin board on the Titanic and NOW I DID IT?  WHAT DO YOU THINK!  I'm actually not done.  The real problem is that I have a whole bunch more stuff to put up..... hmmmmm, what to do?  Create a second board????  Maybe or do a 3 fold mat board below! :)

You may already know that the Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on the night of April 14, 1912 and sunk just over two-and-a-half hours later, but do you know the following ten facts about theTitanic?
  1. Canceled Lifeboat Drill
    Originally, a lifeboat drill was scheduled to take place on board the Titanic on April 14, 1912 - the day the Titanic hit the iceberg. However, for an unknown reason, Captain Smith canceled the drill. Many believe that had the drill taken place, more lives could have been saved.
  2. Only Seconds
    From the time the lookouts sounded the alert, the officers on the bridge had only 37 seconds to react before the Titanic hit the iceberg. In that time, First Officer Murdoch ordered "hard a-starboard" (which turned the ship to port -- left). He also ordered the engine room to put the engines in reverse. The Titanic did bank left, but it wasn't quite enough.
  3. The Titanic's Newspaper
    The Titanic seemed to have everything on board, including its own newspaper. The Atlantic Daily Bulletin was printed every day on board the Titanic. The newspaper included news, advertisements, stock prices, horse-racing results, society gossip, and the day's menu.
  4. Lifeboats Not Full
    Not only were there not enough lifeboats to save everyone on board, most of the lifeboats that were launched off the Titanic were not filled to capacity. For instance, the first lifeboat to launch, Lifeboat 7 from the starboard side) only carried 24 people, despite having a capacity of 65 (two additional people later transferred to Lifeboat 7 from Lifeboat 5). However, it was Lifeboat 1 that carried the fewest people - only seven crew and five passengers (a total of 12 people) despite having a capacity for 40.
  5. Only Two Bathtubs
    Although most passengers had to share bathrooms (only the two promenade suites in first class had private bathrooms), third class had it rough with only two bathtubs for more than 700 passengers.
  6. Another Boat Was Closer for Rescue
    When the Titanic began sending out distress signals, the Californian, rather than theCarpathia, was the closest ship; yet the Californian did not respond until it was much too late to help. At 12:45 a.m. on April 15, 1912, crew members on the Californian saw mysterious lights in the sky (the distress flares sent up from the Titanic) and woke up their captain to tell him about it. Unfortunately, the captain issued no orders. Since the ship's wireless operator had already gone to bed, the Californianwas unaware of any distress signals from the Titanicuntil the morning, but by then the Carpathia had already picked up all the survivors. Many people believe that if the Californian had responded to theTitanic's pleas for help, many more lives could have been saved.
  7. Two Dogs Rescued
    With the order for women and children first into the lifeboats, plus the knowledge that there were not enough lifeboats for everyone on board the Titanic to be saved, it is a bit surprising that two dogs made it into the lifeboats. Of the nine dogs on board the Titanic, the two that were rescued were a Pomeranian and a Pekinese.
  8. The Fourth Funnel
    In what is now an iconic image, the side view of the Titanic clearly shows four cream and black funnels. While three of these released the steam from the boilers, the fourth was just for show. The designers thought the ship would look more impressive with four funnels rather than three.
  9. A Royal Mail Ship
    The R.M.S. Titanic was a Royal Mail Ship, a designation which meant the Titanic was officially responsible for delivering mail for the British postal service. On board the Titanicwas a Sea Post Office with five mail clerks (two British and three American). These mail clerks were responsible for the 3,423 sacks of mail (seven million individual pieces of mail) on board the Titanic. Interestingly, although no mail has yet been recovered from the wreck of the Titanic, if it were, the U.S. Postal Service would still try to deliver it (the USPS because most of the mail was being sent to the U.S.).
  10. Corpses Recovered
    On April 17, 1912, the day before survivors of the Titanic disaster reached New York, theMackay-Bennett was sent off from Halifax, Nova Scotia to search for bodies. On board theMackay-Bennett were embalming supplies, 40 embalmers, tons of ice, and 100 coffins. Although the Mackay-Bennett found 306 bodies, 116 of these were too badly damaged to take all the way back to shore. Attempts were made to identify each body found. Additional ships were also sent out to look for bodies. In all, 328 bodies were found, but 119 of these were badly damaged and thus were buried at sea.


Clifford and the Gang


Pooh Bear and Friends from the Hundred Acre Wood


Kindergarten Bins, for the first semester, or until after Christmas.  I don't let the Kindergarteners check out books until they have learned to alphabetize better.  They use themed bins and then move to alphabetized bins, by authors last name and can read them while at the library.  We practice lots of ABC's... til Christmas.


A closer look.  


Our rules.  



               Shelf sticks, with student numbers and teachers.  These are their "library cards" and are used to mark the shelf where they are looking at a book.  Just scan the stick when they are ready to check out a book and scan the book and you are done!

More to come!


Monday, June 18, 2012

Library Lesson on Fiction vs. Non-Fiction

LIBRARY LESSONS: October
October Week 1:  Fiction vs. Non-Fiction (and a bit about References)

Theme: The Titanic or any other topic of your choice.
Grade:  K-6th grade
Library Objective:  The student will ask pertinent questions based on a nonfiction book.
Title:  KWL with nonfiction books about the Titanic or other topic.
Resources:  Nonfiction books about the Titanic: Nat Geo Kids Titanic, Finding the Titanic, Inside the Titanic, and Explore Titanic.  Fiction books about the Titanic, such as Tonight on the Titanic, a Magic Tree House book or Titanic Cat.
Introduction:  Have the topic "The Titanic" and a KWL chart on the white board (Know/Want to Know/Have Learned).
Vocabulary:  Question words such as who, what, when, where, why.
Activity:  Explain that we will look at a book that will teach us something.  Our job is to learn something new from this book. Tell what the book is about, and ask student to list 3-5 things that they already know about this topic.  List on board unker K - tell students that stands for what we "already know."  Ask students to give you 3-5 questions that they want to know about the topic.  Write those on the chart under W and tell students that stands for "want to know."  Read or share parts of the book, emphasizing that it is a nonfiction book and that nonfiction books are true.  Fiction books however, are stories that are made up by the author.  They didn't really happen.
Ask students to give 3-5 things that they learned.  Write them on the chart under L - tell students that stands for "what we learned."

Go back and look at the W part of the chart.  Did you find the answers to those questions?  Where else could you look to find those answers?

Closure:  Review what was learned about the topic, and what else they might want to learn.

Show them all the books available on the subject in the display and tell them that next week I will allow check-out!

Opt:  Play music from the movie, "The Titanic" quite low in the background as children browse the library.



(Revised from a Hanover County, Virginia, library lesson.)

Friday, April 13, 2012

Books & Lesson Plans: Remembering the Titanic

This weekend marks the 100 year anniversary of the sailing and then subsequent sinking of the Titanic.  This British ship sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after hitting an iceburg during her maiden voyage from Southhampton, England to New York City.   When the Titanic went down, it caused the deaths of 1,514 people in one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her voyage. There were 2,224 passengers on board.  These included some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as over a thousand emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, Scandenavia and elsewhere.  They were seeking a new life in North America. The ship was designed to be the best in comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and stunning cabins.  Though she had "advanced" safety features such as watertight compartments and doors, she lacked enough lifeboats for all of those aboard. Due to outdated safety regulations, she carried only enough lifeboats for a third of her total passenger and crew capacity - 1,178 people.  It is reported that only 706 people survived.  Sadly, many of the lifeboats were not filled to capacity. 

What a perfect opportunity we have as parents, teachers and librarians this year to remember and teach about the acts of heroism that occurred that horrific night!  The examples are numerous, from the musicians who played hymns as the ship sank lower and lower, to crew members who gave their lives to save others.

Here's a great website for teachers or librarians that's jam packed full of lesson plans all about the Titanichttp://www.theteachersguide.com/Titanic.html

Here are just a few of my favorite books on the subject which document this event with both touching photos and honesty:

The Titanic:  Lost and Found (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4) by July Donnelly





Inside the Titanic (A Giant Cutaway Book)  by Hugh    Brewster, Ill. by Ken Marschall









National Geographic Readers: Titanic by Melissa Stewart
(I love the text features and the vibrant colored pictures that will surely draw in young children.)
  

Tonight on the Titanic (Magic Tree House, No. 17) by   Mary Pope Osborne  She also wrote  Magic Tree House Research Guide:  Titanic, which she calls "a nonfiction companion" to this book.  I bought it and love it, with it's real photos, sketches, "Fact Files" and snippetts of biographies.

Titanic, Book One (of a Series of 3) by Gordon Korman
This is a historical fiction series which tells the story of four children's experiences that fateful night!




882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the Titanic by Laurie Coulter and Hugh Brewster (Jan 1, 2012)
This is a great reference book, full of almost anything you would ever want to know about the Titanic! 




The Titanic:  An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose Books) by Bob Temple.  In this book, the reader can choose life or death for the ending!

Titanic Sinks!:  Experience the Titanic's Doomed Voyage in this Unique Presentation of Fact and Fiction by Barry Denenberg

 

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