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 Hope You're Enjoying Your Summer!
I am! Just returned from a two-week trip to Korea with my family. Great food, great history, great culture. The Korean people are very hospitable. Course, if you know me at all, you can guess that I had a hard time with the heat and humidity! On the way home, we spent a night in San Francisco and got to visit the World War II submarine the USS Pampanito and the Victory ship, the SS Jeremiah O'Brien. Always so good to be able to experience a bit of history firsthand. Here are a few of the things I learned this month:
Did You Know: In August 1945, Life photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt took the famous picture of the kissing couple in Times Square on V-J Day, but failed to capture the subjects' names. Edith Shain, who claimed to be the nurse in the photo, died recently at the age of 91.
Did You Know: V-J Day means Victory over Japan Day (but is also known as Victory in the Pacific Day or V-P Day). The term has been applied to both August 15, 1945, the day on which the announcement of Japan's surrender was made in Japan, and to August 14, the day the announcement was heard in the United States due to time zone differences.
Did You Know: Parent-child book clubs are on the rise, which is good news for our students! For great tips on how to start and maintain a parent-child book club visit PBS Parent click here.
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| Readers
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Readers:
Teachers say "Yes" to The No-No Boys
The No-No Boys is my most requested book by teachers. Besides telling an engaging story, it also offers multiple teachable lessons for modern students and opens up great discussion on topics such as civil liberties and actions in times of war. Click Here
To Hear More Personal Accounts from Japanese Camps
Visit the Densho website. Densho is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the testimonies of Japanese Americans interned in the World War II camps. It also provides historical images and resources for teachers. You can spend hours on this site listening to the oral histories!
Home-Front Heroes Bundle
For great summer reading for your kids, consider my current bestseller, The Home-Front Heroes Bundle. You can get all three copies of my Home-Front Heroes books for only $20! These are page-turning novels that teach World War II history through true stories.Click here to purchase.
Homeschoolers
Check out my ad in the summer issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I'm happy to be working with such a great resource for homeschoolers! Click here on The Old Schoolhouse Magazine to visit their site. |
Writer Tip:
Teresa's Quote of the Month:
"You may have been born to write, but you were not born a writer."
Learning to write well takes years of practice. Though some writers were born with an extra helping of talent, all writers must put in time, sweat, and tears in order to master their craft.
Great Writer Organizations to Join:
Take a look at this list of writing and publishing organizations to learn more about your craft and to network with other writers. This is by no means a complete list, but these are some of the better-known organizations. Some I belong to myself. Click here! |
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Educators
and Students
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Student Activity:
Imagine & Write
Imagine that it is the 1940s. You are going to be evacuated (or moved) from your home for safety reasons. You may or may not know where you will be moving.You only get one suitcase to carry all of the clothes and belongings you will need to last 12 months.Click here to find some writing prompts on this topic.
A Word To Learn
Ration means the governmental allocations of scarce resources and consumer goods, usually adopted during wars, famines, or other national emergencies.
n. A fixed portion, especially an amount of food allotted to persons in military service or to civilians in times of scarcity.
Read the Home-Front Heroes Series this summer! Can you find on which pages the Hershey's Bars are noted in each of the three books? Write to Teresa at www.teresafunke.com and let her know where you found them!
Mind Bender
Keep a look out each month for a mind bender. It could be some sort of activity or a trivia question. Check out the next month's newsletter for the answer. Good luck and have fun!!
Answer to Last Month's Mind Bender
Bucket of Water:
20 degrees centigrade. 20 degress fahrenheit, is below the freezing temperature of water (32 degrees fahrenheit). 20 degrees centigrade is equal to 68 degrees fahrenheit. |
Educators:
Let's Ration: Classroom Activity
During World War II, clothes were rationed because materials like wool and cotton had to be imported. Manufacturing clothes took up valuable factory time, which was better spent on the war effort.Click here to find a great activity that allows your students to experience what it was like to decide how to ration and recycle their belongings.
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| News
and Events
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Events:
Check out my "Events" page on my website to see where you can catch me in upcoming weeks. Summer Reading Program Update
The program is wrapping up. I'll be delivering prizes to the Boys and Girls Club and the Northside Aztlan Center on July 28, as well as notifying the winners from Old Firehouse Books and Reader's Cove. I'm eager to see the writing and art work produced by participants!
Special thanks to our prize donors: Best Buy (which provided our grand prize iPod), Hewlett Packard, Fort Fun, Reader's Cove and Old Firehouse Books.
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That Book Inside You Workshop:
Back by Popular Demand: Saturday, August 7. Fall workshop dates to be announced July 30.
It all starts with an idea--a middle-of-the-night brainstorm or a concept that's been building--and you know you've got a book inside you. But how do you begin? Click here for more information on this one-day workshop and to sign up. |
Save the Date!
Come see my popular one-woman show, Dancing in Combat Boots, on October 3 at the Senior Center in Fort Collins. Show time is 2:30 - 4:30 and will include a question and answer session and a meet-the-author reception where doughnuts and coffee will be served in honor of the Doughnut Dolly character in the show. To learn more about the performance click here. |
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Teresa Funke & Company provides books, programs, and resources to Readers, Writers, Teachers and Students. Teresa is a Speaker, Presenter, Writers coach and author of five books based on true stories from World War II. To learn more, please visit www.teresafunke.com |
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