South Carolina

We enjoyed reading about many interesting South Carolinians (see book list), and learning about South Carolina's environment and culture, including Gullah Culture.

Books:

• South Carolina by  Barbara A. Somervill 

• P is for Palmetto: A South Carolina Alphabet by Carol Crane

• Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill

• Mary McLeod Bethune by Eloise Greenfield 

• The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just By: Mélina Mangal

• This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration by Jaqueline Woodson

• Long-Armed Ludy and the First Women's Olympics by Jean L.S. Patrick

• The King of Bees by Lester L. Laminack

• Let Them Play by Margot Theis Raven

• Circle Unbroken by Margot Theis Raven

• Ron's Big Mission by Rose Blue

• Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles by Philippe Cousteau

• The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls by Louise Meriwether

• The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O’Connor

• The President Sang Amazing Grace by Zoe Mulford

• Catching the Fire: Philip Simmons, Blacksmith by Mary E. Lyons

• The Butter Tree by Mary E. Lyons

• Hey, Charleston! The True Story of the Jenkins Orphanage Band by Anne F. Rockwell

• America’s Tea Parties by Marissa Moss

Art Project:

Loggerhead Sea Turtles 

The kids chose to depict Loggerhead Sea Turtles (the state reptile) on the South Carolina shore. They were inspired by the book we read: Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles by Philippe Cousteau. The art work was completed with colored sharpie (for outlines / details on the sea turtles), oil pastel (sand, waves, turtles), and water color (water, sky).

Rhode Island

The kids' favorite thing they learned about for Rhode Island was definitely Providence's Waterfire celebration. They are really intrigued. 

Books:

• R is for Rhode Island Red: A Rhode Island Alphabet by Mark R. Allio

• Rhode Island (A True Book: My United States) by Nel Yomtov

• Finding Providence: The Story of Roger Williams by Avi

• Mill by David Macaulay

• Blizzard by John Rocco

• Birth of the Cool: How Jazz Great Miles Davis Found His Sound by Kathleen Cornell Berman

• The Bravest Woman in America by Marissa Moss

• Nickommoh!: A Thanksgiving Celebration by Jackie French Koller

• The Wampanoag by Janey Levy

• Article on Annie Smith Peck: https://kids.kiddle.co/Annie_Smith_Peck 

• Article on Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones: https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Matilda-Sissieretta-Jones/633226 

• Buddy Cianci: https://kids.kiddle.co/Buddy_Cianci

Art Project:

Waterfire

Not surprisingly, they chose to depict Waterfire for their Rhode Island art project. Made using colored sharpie (for outlines, small details), oil pastel (moon, wall, fires, boat, ripples), and water color (water and sky).

Pennsylvania

 Pennsylvania had so much to learn about from American history, to a huge variety of people who changed history. We also really enjoyed learning about Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

Books:

• They Called Her Molly Pitcher by Anne Rockwell

• A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution by Betsy Maestro 

• Leaders Like Us: Bayard Rustin by J.P. Miller

• Beautiful Shades of Brown: The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring by Nancy Churnin

• Dropping In On Philadelphia

• Gettysburg National Military Park (Rookie National Parks) by Moira Rose Donohue

• Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring by Jan Greenberg & Sandra Jordan

• K is for Keystone: A Pennsylvania Alphabet by Kristen Kane

• Pennsylvania (A True Book: My United States) by Karen Kellaher

• Saving the Liberty Bell by Megan McDonald

• The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh

• Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin by Gene Barretta

• The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies

• Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World by Laurie Lawlor

• Betsy Ross and the American Flag by Kay Melchisedech Olson

• Raising Yoder’s Barn by Jane Yolen

• Fallingwater by Marc Harshman

• The Leather Apron Club by Jane Yolen

• The Mutter Museum by Anna Dhody

• Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge by Erica Dunbar

• William Penn, Founder of Pennsylvania by Steven Kroll

• Taylor Swift: Pop Star by Katie Lajiness

• The Daring Nellie Bly: America's Star Reporter by Bonnie Christensen

• A Race Around the World: The True Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland by Caroline Starr Rose

• Andy Warhol (Little People, Big Dreams) by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

• Uncle Andy's: A Faabbbulous Visit with Andy Warhol by James Warhola

• Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song by Gary Golio

• Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford

• Chocolate by Hershey : a story about Milton S. Hershey by Betty Burford

• Who Was Milton Hershey? by James Buckley

• The Polio Pioneer: Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine by Linda Elovitz Marshall (Salk was from NY, but we missed him then, and he did his research in PA)

• Quakers and Anti-Slavery Movement: https://web.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/speccoll/quakersandslavery/

Art Project:

Liberty Bell

For PA, the kids decided to depict the iconic Liberty Bell. Materials include: colored sharpie, oil pastel, and water color.

Oregon

For Oregon the kids especially enjoyed learning about the fabulous Beverly Cleary, and playing the old-school Oregon Trail computer game. 

Books:

• Oregon (A True Book: My United States) by Josh Gregory

• B is for Beaver: An Oregon Alphabet by Roland Smith & Marie Smith

• Just Like Beverly: A Biography of Beverly Cleary by Vicki Conrad

• A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir by Beverly Cleary

• Beavers by Gail Gibbons

• Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains by Deborah Hopkinson’

• Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen

• If You Were a Kid on the Oregon Trail by Josh Gregory

• Coyote in Love: The Story of Crater Lake by Mindy Dwyer

• They Call Me River by Maciek Albrecht

• Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers

• Thunder rolling down the mountain : The Story of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce by Zimmerman, Rusty

• https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-white-history-racist-foundations-black-exclusion-laws/ 

• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-largest-organism-is-fungus/

• The Oregon Trail by Mel Friedman

• The Oregon Trail by Laura Murray

• Minnow and Rose: An Oregon Trail Story by Judy Young

Art Project:

Crater Lake

For our art project the kids chose to depict Crater Lake. Materials used: colored sharpie, oil pastel, water color. 

Oklahoma

We really enjoyed learning about Cherokee and other Native American cultures in Oklahoma, as well as a variety of famous Oklahomans. The kids also enjoyed a science lesson about the makings of the Dust Bowl.

Books:

• The First Strawberries By Joseph Bruchac 

• Wilma's Way Home: The Life of Wilma Mankiller (A Big Words Book) by Doreen Rappaport 

• Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Smith

• We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell 

• We Are Still Here by Traci Sorell

• Fry Bread: A Native American Family by Kevin Noble Maillard 

• Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell

• Unspeakable : the Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford

• Tallchief: America’s Prima Ballerina by Maria Tallchief

• A Primary Source History of the Dust Bowl by Rebecca Langston-George

• S is for Sooner: An Oklahoma Alphabet by Devin Scillian

• Oklahoma (A True Book: My United States) by Tamra B. Orr

• Tornadoes by Seymour Simon

• Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin

• Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley

• Blue Willow by Doris Gates

• The Buffalo Soldier by Sherry Garland

• Will Rogers: An American Legend by Francis Anthony Keating

• I Have Heard of a Land by Joyce Carol Thomas

• Leah’s Pony by Elizabeth Friedrich

• Jim Thorpe's Bright Path by Joseph Bruchac

• Sprouting Wings: The True Story of James Herman Banning, the First African American Pilot to Fly Across the United States by Louisa Jaggar

• Woodie Guthrie: Poet of the People by Bonnie Christensen

• Elizabeth Warren: Nevertheless, She Persisted by Susan Wood

• Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma Sit-ins

Art Project:

Tornado on the prairie

For Oklahoma the kids chose to depict a tornado over the prairie. We had a lot of fun with this project which was completed using oil pastels on watercolor paper.

Ohio

We really enjoyed learning about so many interesting Ohioans who changed history. There were too many to choose a favorite, so check out the book list for ideas!

Books:

• Ohio (My True United States) by Marty Gitlin

• Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Rookie National Parks) by Joanne Mattern 

• Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner by Janice N. Harrington

• The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game by Nancy Churnin

• Unbound: The Life and Art of Judith Scott by Joyce Scott, Brie Spangler, illus. by Melissa Sweet

• Saving Fiona by Thane Maynard

• Watercress by Andrea Wang

• Lebron James by Dan Osier

• B is for Buckeye: An Ohio Alphabet by Marcia Schonberg

• Lentil by Robert McCloskey

• Fly High, John Glenn: The Story of an American Hero by Kathleen Krull

• One Giant Leap: The Story of Neil Armstrong by Don Brown

• One Giant Leap by Robert Burleigh 

• The Unstoppable Garrett Morgan by Joan DiCicco

• Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

• (Wright Brothers - but we just read about them for NC)

• The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton

• Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales and True Tales By Virginia Hamilton

• Who Was Coretta Scott King? By Gail Herman (She was from Alabama, but we didn’t read about her at the time, and she went to college at Antioch)

• Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles by Michelle Meadows

• Article: Cleveland: The True Birthplace of Superman

• Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines by Jeanne Walker Harvey

• Gloria's Voice: The Story of Gloria Steinem by Aura Lewis

Art Project:

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

For their Ohio art project, the kids depicted Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It was completed using sharpie, oil pastel, and watercolor. 

North Dakota

 For North Dakota we especially enjoyed learning about Native stories and traditions from the area. On another front, the book Dinomummy, about a remarkable dinosaur discovery in the area, was also very fun and informative! We also highly recommend this article about the calculation of the geographical center of North America which lies somewhere in North Dakota.

Books:

• North Dakota (A True Book: My United States) by Ann O. Squire

• P is for Peace Garden: A North Dakota Alphabet by Roxane B. Salonen

• Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story by S. D. Nelson

• The Star People: A Lakota Story by S.D. Nelson

• The Range Eternal by Louise Erdrich

• Josie Dances by Denise Lajimodiere

• Bad River Boys by Virigina Driving Hawk Sneve

• River Friendly, River Wild by Jane Kurtz

• Dinomummy - The Life, Death and Discovery of Dakota, A Dinosaur From Hell Creek by Dr Phillip Lars Manning 

• Fly Away by Patricia MacLachlan

• King of the Mound: My Summer with Satchel Paige by Wes Tooke

• The Great Race of Birds and Animals by Paul Goble

• The Standing Rock Sioux Challenge and the Dakota Access Pipeline by Clara MacClarald

Art Project:

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

For North Dakota, the kids chose to depict a scene at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, with bison roaming the landscape. Colored sharpies were used for the outlines, with oil pastels for the bison and landscape, and watercolors for the water and sky.