Peggy Healy Stearns Ph.D.

Resources for Teachers & Parents

In this section you'll find a variety of resources to support teachers and parents who seek to enhance children's learning. There's more to come, so be sure to check back from time to time.

Activities
State & National Standards
Literature Connections
Web Sites
Professional Organizations

Activities

Create a 3D Town & Nurture Young Explorers
Build your own 3D model town! Let this motivating play and learning environment serve as a springboard for investigating real world maps. Click here for the activity plan and printable downloads.

Inspiring Gratitude: Free Stationery for Thank You Notes Inspire both avid and reluctant writers with our FREE downloadable stationery. Also includes step-by-step directions and tips for inspiring young writers. Click here for complete activity, including printable downloads.

Message Center! Children create their own message pads and practice important communication skills. Click to download message pad and activity directions.

Check out Stationery Studio to learn how you can customize your own writing paper for letters, stories reports, note pads, cards, envelopes and more!

Solve a Mystery! In this fun group activity, students interpret graphs and use logical thinking skills to solve a mystery. Click to download activity directions and four clues.

Discover the easy interactive way to create your own graphs with The Graph Club.

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Standards

Click to see state and national standards for the following programs:

Graph Club
Neighborhood MapMachine
Community Construction Kit
Stationery Studio [download PDF document]

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Literature Connections

Children's books provide a motivating context for introducing and reinforcing concepts and skills across the curriculum. When ideas are presented in context, they make better sense. Children are more likely to retain the knowledge and are better able to transfer it to new situations. The following reading lists provide a few suggestions for using children's books to introduce and support lessons in math and social studies.

Connect Literature and Graphing: There are literally hundreds of children's books that provide meaningful opportunities for introducing and reinforcing math skills. Here are a few you can use to introduce basic graphing skills.

Anno, Mitsumasa. Anno's Counting Book. New York: Philomel Books, 1983.
This wordless counting book provides many opportunities for sorting, categorizing and graphing.

Archambault, John. Counting Sheep. New York: Trumpet Club, 1989.
A silly animal tale that reinforces counting, graphing, sorting and classification.

Gray, Catherine. One, Two, Three, and Four. No More? Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988.
This catchy story provides several opportunities for students to count, sort and graph.

Hutchins, Pat. The Doorbell Rang. New York: Greenwillow, 1986. Read and find out what happens when children learn to divide their cookies evenly after each consecutive person rings the doorbell and joins the group.

Kitchen, Bert. Animal Numbers. New York: Dial Books, 1987. Number concepts are highlighted in this book of animals and their offspring.

Lionni, Leo. Inch by Inch. New York: Astor-Honor, 1960. A unique twist is presented in this story of a quick-thinking inchworm who saves his life by offering to measure the birds who want to eat him.

MacCarthy, Patricia. Ocean Parade. New York: Dial Books, 1990. Ocean life is creatively portrayed in this unique counting book.

Connect Literature and Geography : Here are a few children's books that provide a fun and meaningful way to introduce and reinforce mapping skills.

Burton, Virginia Lee. Katy and the Big Snow. Houghton Mifflin, 1943.
Katy, a huge snow plow, saves the people of Geopolis when a winter storm threatens to shut the entire city down. Included is a map of Geopolis.

Carle, Eric. The Secret Birthday Message. Crowell, 1972.
A young boy receives his birthday gift in the form of a secret map and must follow the directions in order to find his present.

Hartman, Gail. As The Crow Flies. Bradley Press, 1991.
This book takes a look at different geographical areas from the perspectives of an eagle, rabbit, crow, horse and gull. These images come together to create a picture map.

Helldorfer, M.C. The Mapmaker's Daughter. Macmillan/Bradley Press, 1991.
This fairy tale for our time finds a strong heroine, a mapmaker, who is eager to have adventures of her own and brave enough to meet the challenges head on.

Rockwell, Anne. The Way to Captain Yankee's. Macmillan, 1994.
Miss Calico sets out to visit her friend Captain Yankee, and it is a good thing she brought her map. could she be lost?

Winter, Jeannette. Follow the Drinking Gourd. Knopf, 1988.
By following the directions in the song the old sailor taught them, runaway slaves journey north along the Underground Railroad to freedom in Canada.

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