September 2017

How Did It Happen?

For years, scientists have worked to recreate exactly how the Titanic sunk. Here’s a video of James Cameron and his team creating new CGI of how the ship sank. They explain what’s happening, so your students will understand.

Baby On Board

Students will be interested to know that at 2 months old, Millvina Dean was the youngest passenger to board the Titanic, and to survive its sinking. It’s been written that passengers on the Carpathia lined up to hold baby Millvina for a few minutes at a time.

Titanic Town

Let your students know about Titanic’s connection to Ireland: The ship was built in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, over three years. It took 15,000 workers to build it! It’s not hard to figure out why Belfast got the nickname “Titanic Town.”

Titanic, the Sequel

A billionaire from Australia named Clive Palmer is currently building a replica of the original Titanic that will launch in 2018. The ship is called—what else?—The Titanic II. Passengers will get to wear costumes that look just like the clothing worn back in 1912. One big difference between this ship and the original: more lifeboats this time!

An Expensive Cracker

With your Storyworks Jr. subscription, you get access to past content, including this short nonfiction text about a cracker that survived the sinking of the Titanic. You’ll never guess how much someone paid for it!

Learning Extensions

Keep the learning going in your classroom! Check out this collection of learning extensions we've created on the Storyworks Ideabook.

Reading Workshop Minilesson

Our education editor, Rebecca Leon, created this fantastic minilesson to go along with this story.

Dave's Illustrative Process

Dave Wheeler was the illustrator for this story. Have students take a closer look at the opening illustration on page 14. Dave actually built that robot out of stuff he had at his house and photographed it as part of his unique collage style! Dave says: “I was happy with the result but, unlike the robot in the story, it doesn’t clean my studio.”

Robots in Action

Check out this video from our friends at Scholastic News—you’ll see all kinds of robots in action!

One of Us! One of Us!

Watch this cool video of meerkats examining and accepting a robot meerkat into their gang.

Taking Credit

Hold a class discussion about Max’s early decision to take credit for something he didn’t do. Ask: Have you ever gotten credit for something you didn’t do? How did you feel?

Human Processing

Your students will love this video of a speedy chess match ending in under two minutes between two humans. Yes, technology is great, but it's no match for the human brain!

A Funereal Extravaganza

Fun fact: Over 2,000 years ago the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, spent most of his reign creating one of the world’s most extravagant tombs. It’s more than 38 square miles wide! The emperor filled the tomb with as many as 8,000 life-sized clay men, built with actual weapons and armor, and clay horses. Why would he do this? To protect himself in the afterlife. (Show this cool picture.)

An Honest Look

This play—and our fiction story, “Clean Start”—both deal with themes of honesty. Ask your students: Did you ever take credit for something you didn’t do? What happened? And if you have an example from your own childhood, maybe you’ll want to share it...

Science Extention

For a fun science learning extension, plant several seeds with your class. Make sure one or two are boiled and see what happens when you care for them exactly the same way you care for the non-boiled seeds.

Meaningful Blooms

Quick cultural lesson: Flowers were important to the Emperor because flowers are a big part of Chinese culture. Certain flowers have important meanings. For example, the lotus represents perfection; chrysanthemums, elegance; peonies, richness and honor; and orchids, intelligence.  

Roses in Motion

Watch this fascinating time-lapse video of roses growing from its seed. Your students will be so inspired they’ll want to grown their own flowers.

Burger Vs. Taco

For a fun activity, have your students survey their classmates to find out who prefers hamburgers (or cheeseburgers!) and who prefers tacos, and turn it into a bar graph.

Americanized Cuisine

Ask your students if they can think of any other foreign foods that have become staples of American cuisine. You can prompt them with some examples, like pizza from Italy or hummus from the Middle East. Maybe some of your students even have foods from their own cultures that are becoming popular in America.

Inventor Controversy

We say in “Hamburger History” that other people besides Walter Anderson claimed they invented the hamburger. Two of those people are Charlie Nagreen, who said he served the first hamburger at a Wisconsin State Fair in 1885, and Frank Menches, who said he invented the hamburger and the ice cream cone!

"At Taca-Taca-Taco Bell!"

Here’s a Taco Bell commercial from the 1970s—we predict your kids will get a chuckle out of it!

Meat Inspection

You might tell your students more about the laws that protect us from unsafe meat. In 1906, journalist Upton Sinclair wrote a book called The Jungle which uncovered the unsafe and unsanitary practices of the meatpacking industry. After Sinclair’s book was published, the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was passed to ensure that all meat was properly inspected before being sold.

Titanic Today

Your students will be fascinated to see what the wreck of the Titanic looks like today, over 100 years since it sank. This video shows footage shot at a expedition to the wreck. We recommend starting at the 0:53 second mark, as the first minute is full of scientific jargon that will go over kids’ heads. Be sure to pre-screen it to make sure it won’t be too scary for your students!

A Ship in the First Person

We asked poet Irene Latham why she wrote her poem from the perspective of the ship itself. You can share her response with your students: “One of the challenges when writing about something about which much has already been written, like the Titanic, is to find a fresh angle from which to approach the subject. So I started thinking about perspective – whose perspective had been overlooked in previous stories about Titanic?  What voice could I assume in my poem? The answer became almost instantly obvious. BE the ship! So that's what I did. And it gave me an opportunity to use imagination and empathy, two of a poet's best tools.”

Curious...

Some of your eagle-eyed students might have noticed that the date in the title of the poem is not the date the Titanic actually sank. Ask: Thinking about what poet Irene Latham said above, why do you think she made that choice?

Don't Say We Didn't Warn You

Gross-out warning! Check out this video of a fulmar chick in all its vomiting glory. Watch at your own risk: Seriously, it’s gross!

Stinky Info

This fact will keep your kids laughing: A skunk’s gross spray comes from glands in its bottom! The spray can shoot as far as 12 feet away.

Where Do They Live?

Here’s a cool map that shows in pink where hyenas are likely to be found. Hyenas are the most common carnivore in Africa and can live in a range of habitats from grasslands to deserts!

Playing Dead

Check out the opossum’s temporary but deadly defense mechanism in this video! When an opossum feels threatened its body shuts down and makes it look as though the opossum is dead to avoid being eaten by predators.

Fidget Spinner Association

If your students minds’ were blown by the fact that there’s really a fidget spinner championship, show them the official site!

Why Fidget?

As we mention in the story, toys and gadgets known as “fidgets” have been around for a while. Some of your students may use them—they’re items such as chewable pencil tops and toys that are meant to be squeezed hard or stretched. If you’d like to help your class better understand their purpose, you might explain that for some kids, fidgets can calm the part of their brain that has trouble focusing. When kids get to use their fidget, their brain lets them concentrate on other things, like what they need to do in class. 

Fad Toys

Show your students this article about fad toys. Which ones have they played with? Which ones did you play with back in the day? You can also use this opportunity to talk about what a fad really is—something that explodes in popularity, and usually fades away just as quickly. Do they think fidget spinners are a fad, or are they here to stay?

Debates in the Classroom

This teacher’s hands-on, creative approach to teaching our debates is simple, doable, and super-fun! Check it out on the Storyworks Ideabook.

Jesselyn in Action

As soon as our Assistant Editor Anna saw the New York Times Op Doc about Jesselyn, she knew she had to write about her. Watch it with your students to see Jesselyn in action!

Sporty Stereotypes

Jesselyn told Anna that it was very important that readers know she’s a nice kid and gets good grades. Have a class discussion: Why might people think Jesselyn is a troublemaker or not smart because she plays a tough sport? Have any of your students who do these kinds of sports come up against these stereotypes?

Laila Ali

This story is the perfect opportunity to talk about female boxer Laila Ali, daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. In this video, which aired after Muhammad Ali’s 2016 death, Laila describes what happens when she first told her father that she wanted to follow in his footsteps and be a boxer as well. We recommend watching the first minute; the rest, while not inappropriate, is less relevant.

Gendered Activities

For an interesting class discussion, ask your students if they have ever tried or wanted to try a sport that is traditionally associated with the opposite gender. Have your girls tried football or hockey? Have your boys tried ballet or cheerleading?