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For a short month, February has lots going on. As promised, the first blog post this month will give you some quick snapshots of national days, holidays, and interesting birthdays to work into the terrific teaching you are already doing.
For starters, February is National Library Lovers Month! We actually feel like we could celebrate this every month, but February is the official observance. 😊 We’ve got a little “neat” non-fiction title series going on our Twitter page and have committed to tweeting a different title that may be new to you each day. You can also get the entire month’s calendar of titles here.
And, although we’ve passed it, the first week of February is also National Children’s Author & Illustrator week, which includes World Read-aloud Day, so mark your calendars for next year!
What else is going on in February?
February 11th
February 11th brings us Inventor’s Day and Thomas Edison’s birthday (coincidence? 😉). A fun research project for you and your students to embark on is to find out the story behind some of your favorite inventions. Our favorite place to start doing that is Enchanted Learning. They have an AMAZING collection of inventions listed A-Z. Reader’s Digest has a fun list of the best invention by state. See what your state is famous for! There are also some great books about inventions. One is: Mistakes that Worked by Charlotte Jones.
February 17th
President’s Day is the 17th and a favorite way to include “Presidential Did You Know?” fact on your classroom door or near your calendar. Each day you can post a few interesting facts about our nation’s presidents. The folks at Classroomhelp.com have a page full of presidential tidbits such as pets that lived in the White House (and there were some crazy ones), salaries, nicknames, and more. It also includes facts about First Ladies (pssst, there’s a terrific book about First Ladies on the calendar mentioned above – go check it out!). A terrific title about Washington, D.C., in general is: Capital! Washington D.C. from A to Z by Laura Melmed. We even learned some things!
The 17th serves double-duty this year as Random Acts of Kindness Day. Brainstorm with your students about acts they can perform in your school or your community and take action on a few. Megan at Coffee Cups and Crayons offers a giant list of things kids can do easily. Obviously, keep safety at the forefront of any acts you take on. These cost nothing, or almost nothing, but have great value to those who are on the receiving end.
February 27th
Digital Learning Day occurs on February 27th and there are educators all over the world celebrating. There’s an interactive map on DLD’s site where you can post your celebration, see where others around the country are doing the same, and get a boat-load of activities, ideas, online resources, and lessons to help your digital learning celebration soar beyond the day itself.
February is also full of interesting birthdays, and each, depending on what that person is famous for, opens up new learning possibilities – even if the day itself has already passed.
Here are a few highlights:
February 3, 1894- Norman Rockwell
February 5, 1744 - John Jeffries, America's first Weatherman, 1934- Hank Aaron
February 6, 1895- George Herman "Babe" Ruth, 1911- Ronald Reagan
February 7, 1812- Charles Dickens
February 10, 1950- Mark Spitz
February 13, 1873- L.L. Bean
February 14, 1859 - George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., invented the Ferris Wheel
February 15, 1564- Galileo Galilei, 1820- Susan B. Anthony
February 17, 1963- Michael Jordan
February 22, 1857- Lord Robert Baden Powell, founder of Boy Scouts
February 26, 1829- Levi Strauss
February 28, 1940- Mario Andretti
As always, we hope you’ve found some inspiration here. Have fun this month!
