Partner with the History Channel’s Take a Vet to School Day Program and StudentPublishing.com to make FREE books for Veterans!
Make a “Freedom” or “Thank You” Classbook
for visiting Veterans!
(Recommended for Elementary Students)
Overview:
Lead students through discussions about service and sacrifice, then use StudentPublishing.com’s special Take a Vet to School Day Free Classbook program to create a book to present to visiting veterans and choose students to read excerpts at your event!
How the Program Works:
Each student writes and illustrates 1 or 2 pages in a hardbound Classbook which the class will receive for free! Books can be created online using our fun and easy book-making tool, or pages can be printed out, created and mailed-in to StudentPublishing.com. The school or parents can purchase extras in paperback, soft-cover, or hardback! Note: It will take 2-3 weeks to publish your book so plan accordingly.
Ideas for your FREE Classbook:
Poetry: Each student picks a service related word to create an acrostic poem and then draws a picture to pair with their poem. Suggested words: VETERAN, FLAG, FREEDOM, AMERICA, SERVICE, SACRIFCE, ARMY, NAVY, MARINES, SOLDIER, DEFEND, HONOR, MARCHING, FIGHTER, UNIFORM, LIBERTY, INFANTRY, PEACE
ABC’s of America: Assign a letter to each student and write an ABC’s of America book and then have students draw a picture for their page. Example: A is for America. B is for Bravery….
Thank You Book: Discuss what freedoms we have because of our soldiers and then have each student identify what freedom they are most thankful for and write a page which starts with “I am thankful to the soldiers and veterans because…”
Fun Idea: Buy an extra copy for the Library and have visiting veterans sign a blank page in the back.
The possibilities are endless! Click here to read “Our American Heroes” by Mrs. Dominquez’s First Grade class…
Ready to get started on your classbook?
- Register as a teacher by clicking the green “Teacher Login” button to the left.
- On the registration page click “Continue” then click “Setup” for a “Free Internet Classbook Program” or for a “Free Mail-in Classbook Program” (click “Learn More” to see the differences of the programs)
- Click “Continue” to set up your project and (either now or later) get started setting up your students!
http://www.Veterans.comTake a Veteran to School Day is a national program developed by HISTORY to link veterans with students. Schools and communities invite veterans of all backgrounds to share their stories and receive thanks for their years of service. Teachers, register your Take a Vet to School Day event today and we’ll send you 30 free Take a Veteran to School Day wristbands while supplies last. Click here to register!Launched in 2007, thousands of schools nationwide have participated in Take a Veteran to School Day. From single class visits to all-school assemblies, these events provide a way for students to learn more about the history of Veterans Day and about the experiences of veterans from all backgrounds and walks of life. Inviting veterans to share their stories connects generations while helping our young people learn about the past. View and download the resources on this site to get started organizing your event! The How-To Guide in the Teacher Resources section is a great starting point.
Questions?
Email us at veterans@aetn.com
or learn more at http://www.Veterans.com
(Recommended for middle or high school students)Overview:
Break into small groups and assign passages from recommended biographies and readings about veterans and war (see History Channel’s suggested readings list). Have students identify things they liked about the passages, i.e. the emotional impact, active voice, descriptive language, etc.. Lead discussions about why it is important to preserve history in written form and have each student identify a veteran or active military person they know; if students do not know anyone, assign them one of your visiting veterans (get clearance from the veteran first). Use StudentPublishing.com’s biography worksheets (link here) and have each student write and/or illustrate a biography on the person to be presented to them on the day of the event.How the Program Works:
The teacher decides (based on age and skill level) whether his/her students will be writing 12, 16, 24, or 32 page biographies. Students conduct interviews and create their books using StudentPublishing.com’s easy and fun online book-making tool. The tool has free-hand drawing tools and hundreds of paintable backgrounds and stickers to help with illustrations or students can upload scanned-in hand drawings or photographs. When completed, each student will receive a FREE paperback copy of their own story to keep or give to the Vet! The school or parents can purchase extras in paperback, soft-cover, or hardback. Note: It will take 2-3 weeks to publish your book so plan accordingly.
Other ideas for the FREE Internet Storybook Program:
Poetry: Have students write poems in different forms around Veterans Day themes and compile them into a “American Poetry” book. Have each student read one of their poems at your event.
Narrative: Draw epic battles out of a hat and have each student study the event and its key people. Have them create a historically-accurate narrative tale from the point of view of one of the important people.
Fun Idea: Have each student create an invitation to your Veterans Day event for the subject/person of their biography.
Click here to read “A Soldier’s Story” which 5th grader, Dominic, wrote about his neighbor Phil…
Ready to Get Started on your storybooks?
- Register as a teacher by clicking the green “Teacher Login” button on the homepage.
- On the registration page click “Continue” then click “Setup” for a “Free Storybook Program”
- Enter the code VETERAN in the “Partner Code” section to get started setting -up your students!
Special Bonus: $1.00 of each extra copy ordered by the school or parents will be donated to support the American Vet Dogs! Learn more about this charity at http://www.VetDogs.org
