Getting First Graders Ready for School

Here are some fun worksheets to help first graders get back into the school groove. They are free to print.

America's Story for America's Children by Mara Louise Pratt-Chadwick

A century ago, Mara L. Pratt-Chadwick wrote numerous popular books for children. The focus of her writing was typically the history of the United States. In America's Story for America's Children, she sought to introduce second grade students to American history.

We have adapted Pratt-Chadwick's lovely little book into a series of workbooks. These offer an introductory history of the U.S.A., from the landings of the Vikings in 1000 C.E., through the Civil War (1861-1865). Native American histories are included in the stories of Montezuma II and of Leaping Wolf. Language, grammar, etc., have been updated for modern readers.

The Northmen: Vikings in North America, 1000

Olaf and Snorri: Vikings and Native Americans

Christopher Columbus, 1492

Montezuma II of the Aztec (1466-1520)

Little Pueblo Prince and Coronado (circa 1540)

Virginia Dare and Roanoke (circa 1587)

Leaping Wolf: Iroquois and French (circa 1600)

Betty Alden and the Puritans (1623-1717)

Hans and Katrina in New Amsterdam (circa 1630s)

Marquette and Joliet Explore America in 1672

Eliza Lucas Cultivates Indigo in South Carolina (1700s)

George III and the American Revolution

The Stamp Act of 1765

The Boston Boys: American Revolution

The Army of Two: War of 1812

The Boy in Grey: U.S. Civil War

The Boy in Blue: U.S. Civil War

These workbooks are wonderful for classroom use, as they contain informational texts, valuable recall questions, handwriting and spelling practice, and much more. They are also valuable as a cherished supplement for those children whose minds desire to stay active.

Learning the ABCs in Time for Kindergarten

This is the time of year when parents start registering their children for kindergarten in the fall. A growing number of schools, particularly in the United States, now require that kids enter the kindergarten classroom knowing their ABCs (reading and writing them) and knowing how to print their names.

With these facts in mind, we have a large number of free handwriting practice worksheets. We even have individualized printables to help students learn to write their first names.

Fairy Tale Units

Fairy tales! Children love them. They are classic and fun and part of the curriculum. But where to find materials for teaching and exploring fairy tales? We have many free fairy tale lesson plans. We put these together to help both teachers who are compiling a unit on fairy tales, and teachers who may need emergency lesson plans for a substitute.

There are classics like Puss in Boots and Cinderella, along with more obscure classics like Riquet with the Tuft and Hans in Luck.

The texts are all in free printable PDF format, and there are worksheets to supplement the lessons.

Summer is nearly here!

In case you haven't noticed, we've been undergoing a major overhaul of the site which will (fingers crossed) hopefully be complete by the start of the 2016-2017 academic year. All of the free printable worksheets, PowerPoints, outlines, games, and activities are still up. We are simply giving the site a facelift, and improving how the educational materials are organized.

For those of you hoping to keep students busy and learning this summer, check out our free worksheets and activities for summer. Of course, most of the site is applicable to each season. But these are a few items which are exclusive to summer. Enjoy!

World History Movie Guides for Teachers

We are completely reorganizing our World History units, which means reorganizing the book and film reviews on each unit topic. We think they look a lot nicer, and are much easier to navigate. You can take a look at the new pages of film guides and reviews for World History-Global Studies here.