January E-Newsletter for Playbooks Reader's Theater

New Playbook® story - Third in The Great Rhyme Travel Machine Series
Saving Planet Earth (with inspirational song)
Story includes an educational song that kids can learn and sing to help share a global message!

(plays automatically if Windows Media Player
and ActiveX Control are installed)
* If the video does not play, install Windows Media Player.

If the video above does not play for you,
click here to listen to the song in .wav format!

Just released, The Great Rhyme Travel Machine Presents: Saving Planet Earth is accompanied by a song entitled "I'm Going GREEN" which suggests practical and easy things kids (and their parents) can do to be kind to the environment, and how to share this information with others. The book set comes with a DVD recording of the song performed with kids with on-screen lyrics to help students learn the song.

A message from Playbooks® Kids!

"We know that we’re just kids,
but we want to save the earth!
We’re here to spread the message,
telling people what it's worth.
So listen to our song, as we spell it out for you,
and we hope you'll want to be
a greener person, too!"

G.R.E.E.N.
G is for thinking Globally
R is for Recycling
E is for the Energy you have inside
E is for Every drop of water you conserve
N is for your Neighbors to pass on
the global dream

Inspirational Reader's Theater Series Coincides With "Make Your Dream Come True Day"
Playbooks, Inc. announces the return of our 'rhyme traveler' friends with the third installment in the series, The Great Rhyme Travel Machine Presents: Saving Planet Earth. The new adventure teaches a lesson pertinent to the problems facing our planet today-- how everyone, including kids, can help preserve our home by treating the earth with respect. In this fascinating series, sixth grade students learn about history first-hand as famous people from the past travel to the present through a school Invention Fair project, a big shiny box called the Great Rhyme Travel Machine. These kids from the past who grow up to do great things show Melinda, Marcus, and Kelly that they, too, can reach their goals and make a difference in the world.

In the new story, Miss Chalk's class travels to the beach only to discover that previous visitors have left a mess! The litter not only obscures the beauty of the seaside but also poses a danger to the animals who make their homes there. Marcus is especially upset at the sight, but when the kids discover that Miss Chalk has brought along the Great Rhyme Travel Machine for their field trip, hope arrives as well. Young protectors of nature, Rachel Carson and John Denver, teach Marcus, Melinda, and Kelly that if they work together to save the environment they really can help solve the problem. Readers will learn why it is important to protect the earth and will get excited about doing their own part!

January 13th, 2009 is Make Your Dream Come True Day, a holiday for recognizing how to reach your goals and dreams! Reading The Great Rhyme Travel Machine series in your classroom is a great way to get kids thinking about the potential they have for their futures. In the first two books, the kids meet Thomas Edison, Amelia Earhart, George Washington Carver, and Shirley Chisholm, all who grew up to accomplish feats beyond their dreams! Kelly discovers she can be class president--- or a real president some day--even though she can't find any female presidents with brown skin like hers in her U.S. history book. Finally, in the newest Rhyme Travel tale, the kids learn that they can achieve something important to both themselves and the rest of the world--- they can save planet earth!

Rachel Carson, the celebrated nature writer, marine biologist, and leader in the environmental movement, as a young girl.

(Image) Rachel Carson

(Image) John Denver

Inspirational song writer and admirer of nature,
John Denver, as a boy.

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(Image) Teacher's Reader's Theater Dream

This Month's Featured Story - NEW!

This Month's Special

Save $10 on any
multi-story Grade Level Kit

(Image) Save $10 graphic
Use the following
Coupon Code on your Purchase Order:
January-Save-10

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(Image) Rhyme Travel book cover

The Great Rhyme Travel
Machine Presents:
Saving Planet Earth

An Original Playbook® Story

Content for Grades 3 - 6
Reading Stages 2 - 5

Written by: Gregory Brown
Illustrated by: Liliane Grenier

Story Synopsis: Miss Chalk’s elementary students are about to become true caretakers of Planet Earth. They’re en route to their very first ocean field trip! Twins, Melinda and Marcus, along with their best friend Kelly, can hardly wait! Following close behind their activity bus is Mr. Scrubit, the school custodian. His old pickup truck carries a special surprise … courtesy of Miss Chalk. However, things do not go as planned. Upon arrival to their destination, the classmates discover that the beach has been trashed. Marcus witnesses more disrespectful visitors tossing garbage on the sand, and he is disappointed. To renew his faith in saving the planet, Miss Chalk reveals a secret: The Great Rhyme Travel Machine and the silver rhyme book are close at hand! Excitement escalates when childhood versions of Rachel Carson and John Denver are transported through time to the present. Motivating the kids with their talents and knowledge, the two nature lovers also get a peek at their own historic legacies! Using dialogue filled with Science and Social Studies themes, this script teaches a valuable lesson on practical ways kids can help our planet. Filled with meaningful rhymes and a catchy new song, it will have readers “Going Green” with pride!

Click here to view summary and image of each character.

Reader's Theater Exercise 14:
Help Your Students Gain 'Multiple Literacies' With
Reader's Theater and Visual Arts

(Image) Painting a Story With Pictures and Words

Last month, our Reader's Theater exercise allowed students to write and perform their own Reader's Theater dialogues in the form of a song, strengthening their reading fluency with the rhythm and melody of familiar tunes. This month, Reader's Theater Exercise 14 will showcase the relationship between reading, writing, and drawing and the importance of visual thinking in comprehension.

We are all familiar with illustrations usually found in children's books, which both entertain and help to explain the events of the story, but just looking at pictures is not the only way for students to benefit from visual arts. The act of drawing a scene (or a person or object) gives the learning students a fuller perspective and imagination of the event or object being shown.

According to Dr. Susan Rich Sheridan, drawing is an innate ability and the first step children take towards literacy. Young children use drawing to represent their thoughts and ideas before they are able to read and write. Literacy is not really just about words; it is about conveying meaning through visual symbols, including words, pictures, and numbers. The use of "multiple literacies" gives us the highest potential for thinking. Incorporating visual arts into Reader's Theater increases the fun students already have with the activity and therefore improves attention and interest even further.

This month's free classroom activity asks students to read short Reader's Theater excerpts and imagine what will happen next in the story. The students will then draw pictures showing what they think will occur. Finally, they will write a brief extension of each scene, telling the story of the events they already drew. Having students draw before writing will help them to visualize details in their minds that they can later include in the written form of the story--details they may not have thought of without being guided to draw their ideas!

Click here to get this month's free Reader's Theater exercise for helping students build multiple literacies!

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