South Carolina Stories

I am teaching South Carolina History this year and have been compiling a list of some books about South Carolina. I wanted to find some books that will help kids enjoy the history and rich culture of their state. Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order.

You can click on the picture to view the book on Amazon. (affiliate link)

 

Palmetto: Symbol of Courage

Why is the Palmetto Tree on the South Carolina flag? What is so important about it? This book tells the story of how the Palmetto Trees helped the colonialists during the American Revolution. 

Dave the Potter

This is a beautiful story about Dave, who was a poet and craftsman, but also a slave. He would engrave lines of his poetry into his pots, and some are on display at the State Museum. 

Let My People Go

This is a longer book, and one that doesn't sugar coat the terrible reality of slavery. Each chapter starts with a story of a freeman and his daughter. As she asks questions about the injustices she sees, and wonders about the way life is, he brings her to the truth found in the Bible. Don't forget to read the author's and illustrator's note on this one. They both offer some valuable background that make you appreciate the story more.

The Story of the H.L. Hunley and Queenie's Coin

After reading this book, be sure to check out the replica of the H.L. Hunley at the State Museum! It starts as a story of how the Hunley was created, but then ends on a more factual note as it shares how the submarine was finally recovered!

Freedom Ship

While the family in this story is fictional, the story of Robert Smalls daring journey to freedom is very much true! Also check out Seven Miles to Freedom for a story that shares more of Robert Smalls' story!

Carolina Shout

Listen to the sounds of Charleston street vendors in this wonderful book! A little girl takes a walk around Charleston shares all the sounds and sights. 

Hey, Charleston!

The true story of Daniel Joseph Jenkins and his orphanage band. These kids helped to start "rag" music and traveled around the US and to Europe sharing their music and helping to raise money for their orphanage!

First, You Explore

The laser display at the State Museum makes so much more sense after reading this story! This story definitely encourages kids to explore their world and ask questions! Charles Townes was always interested in the world around him and inventing new things. His most famous contribution was the laser, which has certainly impacted our lives today!

Let Them Play

Kids who love baseball will especially connect with this story of a group of little league boys. This is an important story that will help kids see the injustice and inequality African American's faced and how terrible it was. But as they make their way to the Little League World Series, they do find support with the fans. This is a story that will help kids see that while laws and decisions in South Carolina were very wrong, they can make a different choice.

A Sweet, Sweet Basket

This is a sweet story that celebrates the impact the African American culture has had on South Carolina and how important it is to learn the traditions and pass them on. Sweet grass baskets are everywhere in Charleston and this story gives a glimpse of the work that goes into them.

Shackles

This story is set on Sullivan's Island where several boys are digging for buried treasure in their backyard. Instead of treasure they uncover some chains and with the help of their neighbor, learn about the painful truth behind them. It discusses the cruelty of the past, and how we need to combat that with kindness and goodness.

The Pink House

A story that celebrates family and the way South Carolinians like to spend their vacations at the beach! Its a fun read and makes you want to head to the beach immediately!

P is for Palmetto

A great overview of all things South Carolina! You can read the simple rhythmic text, or take time to read the paragraphs on the side that offer more information about each letter.

Net Numbers

Count your way through South Carolina and find out lots of interesting facts in the mean time!

Charley's Columbia Backyard

This is a fun book to read to make sure you experience all the fun things Columbia has to offer! 

Rosebud Roams Charleston

This is a fun one to learn more about the city of Charleston through a horse's perspective.

Books for Babies:

We can't forget the little ones! 

Here are two sweet board books you can read with little and not so little kids!

Little South Carolina

This one is full of fun riddles that teach kids about some of the state symbols.

Good Night South Carolina

Wake up with the shrimp boats and say good night in the Blue Ridge Mountains! Travel around South Carolina in this sweet board book.

If you are looking for chapter books, I would check out Idella Bodie. She wrote a whole series about famous South Carolinians during the Revolutionary War, along with several other books that take place all around the State!

Any great ones I missed? What are your favorite South Carolina books?

A Sale and A Giveaway! {now closed}

We have finished our first week of school! It was pretty crazy trying to get all the kiddos out of the house, but I loved being able to peek in on each one throughout the day!

This year I added on some afternoon classes at our homeschool academy, so we have two full days there and we are adding in more structure to our days at home because Alex is in kindergarten. Its sometimes hard to wrap my head around all the different things I need to cover, so I am so thankful to have Teachers pay Teachers around to look for resources for kindergarten AND third grade literature, writing and history! TpT is such a great resource for the classroom, homeschool, enrichment, almost anything you can think of. I love looking through the freebie options, but there are lots of great paid resources as well!

I was so excited to find out TpT was having a BONUS, one day sale, so I could purchase all of those resources I didn't realize I needed before! :) Even more exciting is that TpT gave me a $10 gift card to give away!! 

Pretty AMAZING right! It is easy to enter and there are lots of ways to get bonus entries! A winner will be chosen tonight and a e-gift card sent to you so you can have fun shopping at the sale tomorrow. Be sure to enter before 10:00pm eastern time tonight! You can use the gift card in any store, and it never expires so use it during the sale or save it for another time! Also if you fill in the last entry and tell me your favorite resource in my store, I will send it to you if you are the winner! 

*Giveaway is now closed!*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click on the picture to head over to TpT to see all the great resources!

Earning TpT credits!

Are you all ready for the big Teacher Pay Teacher's sale coming??

I mean saving 28% is FABULOUS, but I hope that you are also saving some extra dollars by taking advantage of TPT credits! I was talking to someone the other day who didn't know what that was, so we quickly went to teacherspayteachers.com and I walked her through it.

Every time you leave feedback on a purchased product, you earn credits that then translate into dollars off your future purchases! Here is how you do it:

1. First go to MY PURCHASES under your my TpT tab.

2. Under Paid Purchases, sort your purchases by NEEDS FEEDBACK. 

Go through and leave feedback on all the paid purchases that say provide feedback. Once you do, it will say "Thanks for providing feedback.... " like in the picture.

It's always wonderful if you leave feedback on your free downloads as well because that helps the sellers rating!

3. Next open the My TpT tab again and this time go to TpT Credit Balance.

4. Once you open that you will see how many credits you have saved up! You can use them when you check out if you have at least 20!

5. During the checkout process be sure to redeem those TpT Credits! 

Its a great way to add to your savings during the site wide sales!

Be sure to take time to do that tonight so you can spend your time shopping tomorrow!

Teacher Planners!

Hi. My name is Katie and I loved to be organized. I'm the type of person that gets a little giddy when I see the new planners at Target. Even if I DON'T need one. Weekly calendar dry erase boards, post-it notes and checklists all make me smile. Add in a new set of colorful pens and I'm definitely in my happy place!

It certainly doesn't take much to make me happy! ;)

This year I decided to do away with a personal planner completely. It was also important that I keep my plans for Alex at home organized along with my plans for school, the calendar and all other important life things all in one place. I knew it would be too hard to keep up with too many planners/calendars! 

This year Will requested one too so I took out some of the "cuteness" factor to make it more high school/male teacher friendly! 😉

I always think about what worked or didn't work from last year's planner, then work on adding and updating things to make it easier and more efficient! 

What is it about colored pens that make everything so much more fun?

What I love about putting together my own planner is being able to choose how many of each page I want! Last year I had way too many meeting notes pages so this year I only printed a couple!

Lots of room to write in the calendar and I have months up through July 2018 available. Also 1 page month spread in case you don't need so much space.

Got to love To-Do list!  I printed off our state standards to add for easy access too.

Lesson plan pages!! I have lots of varieties and can customize them for you to meet your needs! I'm old school and like to write them, and have used several different versions depending on the year and what I am teaching.

For my current school I plan the whole unit out because I'm only planning for two days a week.

Below are my plan pages for Alex at home. I have weekly one page or two page options. He gets his own section in my planner. ;) 

Here is a glimpse of Will's.

He has to do lesson plans online, but still wanted pages to write notes, keep up with what he had covered, and have a place for big picture unit stuff. Of course, since I am me, I had to color coordinate the cover and divider pages with his school colors. :) 

If you want one too you can click here or on the picture below to check them out! My planner is the colorful one. There are multiple options for the covers/dividers.

The best part was I pretty much printed the whole thing for free! I had to get a new printer this summer and enrolled in Hp instant ink which is AMAZING! You get 3 free months when you sign up with a new printer (also check for other promotion codes too!) and if you use my referral code we will both get a free month: http://try.hpinstantink.com/frmbq

Happy Planning!