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| Aliens of the Deep |
| Grade Levels: |
5-8 |
| Theme(s): |
Exploration; what sustains life and whether there is life on other planets |
| Subjects: |
Science, English/Language Arts |
| Activity Highlights: |
Students examine the planet Jupiter’s moon Europa, and, using science and their imaginations, speculate as to what sorts of creatures might inhabit Europa. |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| This educator’s guide contains five “Explorations” for teachers and students and encourages students to see themselves as explorers, people who seek to understand the everyday mysteries in the world around them. |
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Go to the Aliens of the Deep home page |
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| Around the World in 80 Days |
| Grade Levels: |
3-6 |
| Theme(s): |
Journey to new places all over the world through summer reading |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Social Studies |
| Activity Highlights: |
Students create and fill in a summer reading passport with countries they ‘visit’ through their summer reading, and research the authenticity of statements from the film using their summer reading books. |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| Reproducible worksheets have been created so students can use them on their own during the summer, primarily as motivation for summer reading in a “passport” format to record summer reading activity. |
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Go to the Around the World in 80 Days home page |
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| Because of Winn Dixie |
| Grade Levels: |
2-5 |
| Theme(s): |
Friendship, understanding other people’s stories and one’s own story |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Visual Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics |
| Activity Highlights: |
Keeping a writing journal to write regularly about the content of Winn-Dixie and one’s responses to it, imagining you have eaten a Littmus Lozenge, your own neighborhood and its comings and goings. |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| Designed to encourage students to write about the experience of reading and seeing Because of Winn-Dixie. |
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| Activity Guide |
| Focuses in greater depth on story themes and the importance of reading and reading aloud to others. It features excerpts from the NEA’s report Reading at Risk on why it is crucial that students learn to love literature. For a copy of the NEA report, please see: www.nea.gov/chairman/index.html. |
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Go to the Because of Winn Dixie home page |
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| Bridge to Terabithia |
| Grade Levels: |
5-8 |
| Theme(s): |
Learning about where Katherine Paterson got some of the ideas and characters in Bridge to Terabithia |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Visual Arts |
| Activity Highlights: |
Creating a “Terabithia” of your own |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| This poster offers insights into Katherine Paterson’s writing and includes her discussion of theme and character. |
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Go to the Bridge to Terabithia home page |
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| Charlotte's Web |
| Grade Levels: |
K-4 |
| Theme(s): |
Friendship, loyalty, caring for others |
| Subjects: |
Language Arts, Science, Visual Arts, Theater |
| Activity Highlights: |
Using cut-outs of characters from Charlotte’s Web found un the Educator’s Guide, students improvise their favorite scenes from the story. |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| Describes for educators how E.B. White, some fifty years ago, envisioned a form of animation to best bring his story to the screen, one that can finally be realized today. For students the guide offers six activities --from vocabulary to writing an essay about who is a true friend as Charlotte was to Wilbur. |
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Go to the Charlotte's Web home page |
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| City of Ember |
| Grade Levels: |
5-8 |
| Theme(s): |
Creative problem solving; Understanding how things work; Group project learning |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Visual Arts |
| Activity Highlights: |
Students learn to build light bulbs and hydropower generators and create coded messages. |
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| Welcome to Ember |
| Get acquainted with City of Ember! The welcome pages include information on the Books of Ember, national standards information, and a letter from author Jeanne DuPrau. |
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Let There Be Light (Bulbs) |
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Activities introduce students to how light bulbs and electrical circuits work - and help them to create their own! |
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Blackout! |
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The people of Ember live in intermittent darkness, with the lights threatening to go out forever. In this activity, students learn about a real blackout and are invited to write their own "blackout survivor blog," putting themselves in the shoes of a regular person on the day the lights went out. |
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Navigating Ember |
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Using clues from the book, students navigate a map of Ember to steer Lina to her sister, Poppy. |
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Living Underground |
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Could people really live underground? After learning about real-life “underground cities,” students are invited to design their own underground city, tackling both traditional city planning challenges and those that come from building in a place with no naturally occurring fresh air or sunlight. |
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Building Ember |
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How do skyscrapers stay up at those heights? In this activity, students learn and use basic principles of physics to construct their own towers – out of spaghetti and marshmallows! |
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Power For Ember |
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Ember is powered by a hydropower generator. In this activity, students learn about converting water to electrical energy and build their own small generator. |
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Secret Messages |
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Lina works to decipher secret message she finds. In this activity, students are introduced to cryptography, using what they learn to create and read coded messages. |
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Time Capsules |
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The city of Ember has existed, relatively unchanged, for more than 200 years. What would our world look like to an observer 200 years in the future? Students will learn about the evolution and purpose of time capsules before creating their own. |
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Go to the City of Ember home page |
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| Ghosts of the Abyss |
| Grade Levels: |
5-8 |
| Theme(s): |
Exploration, uncovering the past through advances in technology |
| Subjects: |
Social Studies, Science |
| Activity Highlights: |
By filming the Titanic’s remains with 3D cameras, students examine the nature of exploration itself, travelling into the interior of the Titanic and learning about important considerations in deep-ocean work. |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| The guide is designed to lead students to insight into the challenges that faced a crew of scientists as they explored the world’s most famous shipwreck, the Titanic. |
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Go to the Ghosts of the Abyss home page |
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| Holes |
| Grade Levels: |
5-8 |
| Theme(s): |
Perseverance, loyalty, and courage, acceptance of the outsider |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Science, Social Studies |
| Activity Highlights: |
Students learn facts about amphibians and reptiles, examine the use of flashback as a narrative device in HOLES, and examine several conflicts in the story. |
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| Educator’s Guide |
Educator’s Guide reinforces lessons learned from the novel and the film, and serves as a bridge to understanding the adaptation of a book to the screen. |
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Go to the Holes home page |
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| Hoot |
| Grade Levels: |
6-8 |
| Theme(s): |
Taking a stand, acting on behalf of wildlife and nature, effects of expanding human populations on nature |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Science |
| Activity Highlights: |
Students student habitat, wildlife and the impact of development on the habitat of burrowing owls, and learn how they can get involved with protection of natural habitats as the characters of HOOT do. |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| The HOOT Educator’s Guide draws on the writings of Henry David Thoreau and shows students why contact with nature is important in something called “an education.” |
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| Activity Guide |
| The Activity Guide incorporates age-appropriate activities about burrowing owls from The National Wildlife Federation’s RANGER RICK Magazine. |
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Go to the Hoot home page |
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| How to Eat Fried Worms |
| Grade Levels: |
3-6 |
| Theme(s): |
All about worms, both inside and out |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Visual Arts, Science |
| Activity Highlights: |
An interview with Thomas Rockwell about writing the book, completing a crossword puzzle using worm-part words |
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| Educator’s Poster |
| Designed to introduce a whole new generation of students to HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS, and includes a series of activities students can do on their own to heighten their appreciation of the story’s (yucky) merits. |
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Go to the How to Eat Fried Worms home page |
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| I Am David |
| Grade Levels: |
5-9 |
| Theme(s): |
The courage to care |
| Subjects: |
Social Studies, English/Language Arts, Geography, Visual Arts, Character Education |
| Activity Highlights: |
Tracing David's escape route across 1950s Europe |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| This guide is designed to help teachers integrate the film and book I Am David into the classroom. It was produced with the assistance of Walden Media’s partners on this film, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. |
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| Gameboard |
Adapted from materials provided to Walden Media by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this gameboard is designed to help give students a glimpse into what it's like to be a refugee. |
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| Story Context |
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Gives background on the time period in which I Am David is set, during which there existsed a system of forced labor established by the Communist regime in the Soviet Union.
Go to the I Am David home page |
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| Journey to the Center of the Earth |
| Grade Levels: |
3-8 |
| Theme(s): |
Science Fact & Fiction; 3D; Earth Science |
| Subjects: |
Science, English/Language Arts, Social Studies,Geography, Visual Arts |
| Activity Highlights: |
Hands-on 3D and Geology Activities |
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| Activity Guide |
| This guide is designed to help students and teachers "Dig Deeper" into the facts, fictions, and ideas presented by Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth and the movie inspired by the book. Our partners, the American Geological Institute (AGI) and the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English (ALAN), have helped to create activities that will encourage kids to respect our planet Earth and dig into it's imaginative possibilities. |
| Go to the Journey to the Center of the Earth home page |
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| Jim Thorpe: Original All-American |
| Grade Levels: |
5 and up |
| Theme(s): |
Overcoming obstacles, understanding a mixed blessing |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Social Studies |
| Activity Highlights: |
Learning about the Carlisle School, understanding the beginnings of football as a sport |
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| Educator’s Poster |
| A motivating springboard for discussing Jim Thorpe’s life and legacy. Its photos, four central themes and selected passages from the book will inspire student to re-discover a hero for all generations. |
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Go to the Jim Thorpe: Original All-American home page |
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| Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium |
| Grade Levels: |
2-5 |
| Theme(s): |
Creativity, Inventiveness, Playfulness |
| Subjects: |
Language Arts, Science, Visual Arts, Theater |
| Activity Highlights: |
Having read about several famous toy inventors, students are then challenged to invent a toy, something that Mr. Magorium might sell in his “Wonder Emporium.” |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| Offers students four activity panels designed to encourage creativity and engagement with one’s world in the spirit of Mr. Magorium, who enjoins, “Life is an occasion, rise to it.” |
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Go to the Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium home page |
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| Narnia: Prince Caspian |
| Grade Levels: |
Grades 4 and up |
| Theme(s): |
Understanding the elements of fantasy, imagination, creativity, character development and adapting a book to the screen |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, Visual Arts, Theatre |
| Activity Highlights: |
Timeline to help students understand the time differenece between time in Narnia and time in England, and an essay contest for students to participate. |
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| Educator’s Poster |
Activities in this poster allow students to explore the worlds of Narnia and England as well as the characters in Narnia. This poster includes a student essay contest about "who is your Dr. Cornelius." |
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| Online Educator's Guide - Student Activities |
These activities invite students to delve into the Narnia of Prince Caspian, meet the story's many species and characters, and consider how they interact to drive the narrative.
Go to the Narnia: Prince Caspian home page |
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| Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe |
| Grade Levels: |
3-6 |
| Theme(s): |
Understanding the elements of fantasy, imagination, creativity, and adapting a book to the screen |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, Visual Arts, Theatre |
| Activity Highlights: |
Students try their hand at composing movie music and building a scale-model of a set from their favorite scene from the story. |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| The Educator’s Guide shows students through a variety of activities, how a faithful adaptation of a beloved book moves from page to screen, by examining how actors, designers and directors worked together in creating the production. |
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| Educator’s Poster |
| Activities in this poster introduce students to some of the basic themes of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and include a letter from C.S. Lewis and an invitation to design a shield that attests to their character and virtue. |
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| Educator’s DVD Guide |
| The Educator's DVD Guide combines clips from the movie with their equivalent passages from the book. Questions and activities invite students to examine the similarities and differences between book and movie. |
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Go to the Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe home page |
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| Nim's Island |
| Grade Levels: |
Grades 2-5 |
| Theme(s): |
Understanding the elements of fantasy, imagination, creativity, and adapting a book to the screen |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Visual Arts, adn Character Education |
| Activity Highlights: |
Activities designed to help students understand organisims and their habitats. |
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| Educator's Guide and Informational Poster |
Created in partnership with NOAA's National Marine Sanctury Program and the National Wildlife Federation, this Guide and Poster contain lessons to introduce students to the idea of protecting the ocean the way Nim and her father do, and to understanding the idea of creatures' dependence on their habitat for survival. |
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Go to the Nim's Island home page |
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| Paddywhack Lane |
| Grade Levels: |
Pre-school |
| Theme(s): |
Getting along, becoming friends, sharing |
| Subjects: |
Friendship, measurement, the calendar, making comparisons between things |
| Activity Highlights: |
With the help of parents, children can mark their growth on a growth chart, and count down the number of days until the arrival of spring. |
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| Educator’s Poster |
| The multi-purpose poster can be used as a growth chart or to count down the number of days to spring, and features some of the Paddywhack Lane characters. |
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Go to the Paddywhack Lane home page |
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| Pulse |
| Grade Levels: |
2-9 |
| Theme(s): |
Taking a world tour of music, rhythm, and dance, learning recognize rhythms in the sounds of our everyday lives. |
| Subjects: |
Music, Dance, English/Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies |
| Activity Highlights: |
Students learn about the internal rhythms of their bodies (heart rate, etc.), and, using their hands and feet, create a “rhythmic conversation” |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| Ten activities explore rhythm and music around the world and can be used with the PULSE DVD. |
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Go to thePulse home page |
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Savvy |
| Grade Levels: |
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Go to the Savvy home page |
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| The Seeker: The Dark is Rising |
| Grade Levels: |
5-8 |
| Theme(s): |
Modern Fantasy as a Literary Genre, What is a Quest, Myths and Meaning |
| Subjects: |
Language Arts, Character Education, Visual Arts |
| Activity Highlights: |
Students are invited to acquire the six signs along with Will Stanton as they read The Dark is Rising. |
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| Educator’s Guide |
| Walden Media has collaborated with long-time partner Scholastic to bring you this series of free, standards-based activities to engage students and spark their enthusiasm for and understanding of modern fantasy. |
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| Activity Poster |
| Summarizes and builds motivation to read for first-time discoverers of Susan Cooper’s entire five-book sequence. Also offers an overview of the literary themes found within the Dark is Rising Sequence. |
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| Answer Key |
| An answer key for the Educator's Guide. |
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Go to the The Seeker: The Dark is Rising home page |
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Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper |
| Grade Level(s): |
5th and up |
| Theme(s): |
Learning about several basic physical science/physics principles, e.g. gravity and velocity;
character development: "insiders" versus "outsiders" and being one's own person in the face of peer pressure. |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Science, Character Education |
| Activity Highlights: |
Basic physical science/physics concepts are introduced via a glossary and crossword puzzle;
Famous Physicist Trading Cards playfully present students with short biographies of four famous physicists.
Overview of Knowledge Union to help understand structure and characters.
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| Classroom Discussion Guide |
Provides motivating discussion questions for before, during, and after reading
"Simon Bloom"; introductory activities highlight introductory physics/science principles and guide students
to other related novels and materials to peruse on their own
Go to the Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper home page
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| The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep |
| Grade Levels: |
Grades 3 - 6 |
| Subjects: |
English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, Visual Arts, Character Education |
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| Educator’s Guide |
Poster stimulates interest in reading The Water Horse.
Go to The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep home page |
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The White Giraffe |
| Grade Levels: |
Grades 3 and up |
| Theme(s): |
Learning about wildlife, concern for nature, understanding character motivation |
| Subjects: |
Language Arts, Social Studies, Science |
| Activity Highlights: |
Key passages from the book featured, with corresponding activities to highlight African habitat and wildlife, expanding students’ appreciation of the book’s setting. |
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| Educator’s Poster |
Poster stimulates interest in reading The White Giraffe and in understanding giraffes and the African biome.
Go to The White Giraffe home page |
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