Did you know that November 3rd

is national sandwich day?

December 7th is national letter writing day,  and January  7th is national bobblehead day.

Click on the red link for each these days and write a few sentence telling us about each

one.

What day do feel deserves to add to the list of national celebrations?

Pickle day? Nope, that won’t work. It’s already observed on November 15.

How about National fuzzy sock day?

 Wear your cozy socks and keep your feet toasty warm all day long!

That won’t work. It’s already a day people celebrate it on December 21st!

What would be a day that you would LOVE to celebrate? Start brainstorming to think of a special day. When you have a list of several choices, do research to find one  that is not already observed.

When you find one that can be your very own, create your own informational apple clip project about your day.

Include this information:

The name of your day and 5-10 facts about your topic.

Why it is important enough to be a national day?

How people can celebrate this day?

Add color and illustrations to your clips.

Share your project with your teacher or the EY coordinator in your building.

Why do homophones seem to get all the attention?  A homophone, as you probably know, is a word that sounds the same as another word, but with a different meaning or spelling.  For example, their, they’re and there.  Or no and know.

But do you know what a homograph is?  A homograph is a word that looks the same, but has different meaning and perhaps different pronunciation.  Here is a sentence that uses the homograph “dove.”

The dove looked elegant as it dove underneath the tree branch to catch the bug.

Here is a sentence that uses the homograph “bank.”

After swimming at the river bank, we went to the bank to get some money to buy ice cream.

Some more examples of homographs are bow, book, subject, duck, wound, tear, contract, and model.  There are many more!!!

In the comment section below, write a sentence using a homograph with both of its meanings like I did in the examples above.  For an EXTRA challenge, write a sentence that uses two homographs with both of their meanings.

If you enjoyed this reading enrichment, take a look at Reading Enrichment #10 which is also about homographs.

Many years ago, it was common for students to regularly be assigned the memorization of a poem or part of a historical document.  Today, that does not happen in schools as regularly.  But, did you know that memorization is good for you???

Here are three big ways that memorization will improve your reading and speaking skills.  First, reciting a piece that is memorized will help you learn to articulate your words (speak clearly).  Second, memorization has been shown to increase your vocabulary because you familiarize yourself with words that you may have not otherwise come across.  Lastly, increasing your vocabulary has been shown to increase your reading comprehension.  Wow!

What should you memorize?  Anything that interests you!  Go to your school’s library and check out some poetry books.  There are funny poems, serious poems, silly poems, informational poems—I’m sure you can find one to interest you.  The following link has some more suggestions of what to memorize AND gives some pointers on how to memorize.

https://www.mensaforkids.org/read/a-year-of-living-poetically/

The EY Coordinator at your school would love to get a recording of you reciting a poem or part of a historical document.  Are you up for the challenge?

Word squares are grids of letters that cross horizontally and vertically. In the puzzle below, the word TRAP is located in the top row and left-most column; ROME can be seen in the second row from the top and the second column from the left; AMEN is found in the third row from the top and the third column from the left; and PENT occurs in the bottom row and in the right-most column. All the words cross each other in a perfect square arrangement. (taken from Psychology Today)

Take a look at this one.  DEN is spelled vertically and horizontally in the first column and row respectively.  EYE is spelled vertically and horizontally in the 2nd column/row, and NET is spelled vertically and horizontally in the 3rd column/row

Try These 3 Word Squares

If you’re really up for a challenge, try creating the Word Squares from these given clues!  Use this sheet to record your answers.  When finished, show your teacher or EY Coordinator.

1. 3 X 3 Square

• young male
• a natural mineral
• an affirmative answer

2. 3 X 3 Square

• to allow
• a time period
• a key on a computer

4. 4 X 4 Square

• place to sit
• repetition of sound
• greeting used by sailors
• playthings

5. 4 X 4 Square

• something that we want to achieve
• an evil giant
• region
• to show the way

6. 4 X 4 Square

• story
• to assert something as a fact
• intense feeling of affection
• large jug with a wide spout

7. 5 X 5 Square

• competitive pastime
• material on which we write
• the art of Giuseppe Verdi
• repeat of a TV show or series
• prefix meaning across or beyond

 image taken from https://pixabay.com/photo-162026/

Did you know A queen bee can lay 800-1,500 eggs per day or that The world’s termites outweigh the world’s humans about 10 to 1?

Read about more interesting facts like these at Snapple.com.  Use the record sheet linked below to find 4 interesting facts.  Record the facts on the sheet and then do some further research on one fact.  Check with your librarian for books, magazines, and other useful tools that can help you find out more about your fact!  Finally, display your researched fact on a Pic Collage, Haiku Deck, or other digital tool.  Send your final copy to the EY Coordinator at your building.  At the end of October, 3 lucky winners will be selected receive a bottle of Snapple!

Click here for the Snapple record sheet

What are Fairy Tales?  According to Merriam-Webster, a fairy tale is “a story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings (as fairies, wizards, and goblins) – called also fairy story”.  

“Beauty and the Beast”, Disney’s most recent movie version, premiered recently.  Have you already seen it?  I know I have!  The original Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête) is a traditional fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins (The Young American and Marine Tales).

1740 is a long time ago, and that made me wonder how old fairy tales are!

If you’re curious about this as well, please visit this Wonderopolis entry: How Old are Fairy Tales?  Read the article, then test your knowledge by clicking on “Did You Get It” and taking the quiz!  Take it a step further by checking out the “Try it Out” section!

Comment below by telling what your favorite part of this Reading Enrichment was!