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“Black History Month is
every month. I asked a
group of 100 plus people
at a conference, ‘What
month has 28 days?’ and
without missing a beat the
group replied ‘all of them.’
Black history is all of the
world’s history ...”
—Shane W. Evans, author-illustrator
Holiday
Month/Week/Day/World Celebration
February
2016
Birthday Celebration
SUNDAY
MONDAY
1
Library Lovers’ Month
Send a valentine to a librarian
who has made a difference in
your life. Get more ideas at www.
librarysupport.net/librarylovers.
14
Valentine’s Day
Make a virtual valentine for a
favorite literary character: http://
tinyurl.com/pt2poxx.
21
Are you looking for a
tool similar to Goodreads for your
students? Check out Bookopolis:
www.bookopolis.com.
28
National Pancake Day
Download a colorful activity kit
for Lady Pancake and Sir French
Toast: http://tinyurl.com/ndlabn4.
8
Groundhog Day
Host a groundhog-themed story
hour. Read aloud Groundhog’s
Dilemma by Kristen Remenar and
Groundhog Weather School by
Joan Holub. Visit NEA’s website
for lesson plan ideas: http://
tinyurl.com/puq4rj6.
9
Chinese New Year
Visit Scholastic for reading lists,
research projects, and interactive
activities to help your students
celebrate the Year of the Monkey:
http://tinyurl.com/cbdbl2g.
15
22
Happy book birthday
to Fenway and Hattie
by Victoria J. Coe!
16
Presidents’ Day
Read aloud Hanoch Piven’s
What Presidents Are Made Of.
It is a hit every time!
 Full Moon
George Washington’s
Birthday
Did George Washington really
wear wooden teeth? Find out at
http://tinyurl.com/k5ax6o5.
Check out Newbery medalist
Kwame Alexander’s new book
Surf’s Up!
23
Plan a program or a lesson
around the history tool
WhatWasThere: www.
whatwasthere.com.
29
Leap Day
Calculate how many times a
person born on February 29,
1980, has celebrated his or her
birthday on February 29.
Women Inventors Month
28 • LibrarySparks • Feb 2016
2
Black History Month
Each day this month, share an
entry from Charles R. Smith Jr.’s
28 Days: Moments in Black History
That Changed the World.
7
TUESDAY
|
National Pet Dental Health Month
|
|
FEBRUARY
2016
WEDNESDAY
3
“Love is the only force
capable of transforming
an enemy into friend.“
—Martin Luther King Jr.
10
Use FlipQuiz to review
concepts taught during
a unit: http://flipquiz.me.
17
National Pet Dental
Health Month
Share Dr. Sheldon Rubin’s
tips for taking care of a pet’s
teeth: www.youtube.com/
watch?v=wB3GIAgrTPE.
24
World Read Aloud Day
“Read aloud. Change the world.”
Use Skype to connect with
schools, authors, and illustrators
from around the world:
www.litworld.org/wrad.
THURSDAY
4
Rosa Parks’s Birthday
Read “The Story behind the Bus”:
http://tinyurl.com/yv2pe7.
11
David Wiesner’s Birthday
AASL named Wiesner’s Spot
one of the best book apps for
teaching and learning: http://bitu.
com/spot/.
12
Women Inventors Month
Create an interactive display that
highlights the inventors featured
in Catherine Thimmesh’s Girls
Think of Everything: Stories of
Ingenious Inventions by Women.
18
25
|
Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday
Take a look under
President Lincoln’s famous
hat: www.underhishat.org.
American Heart Month
Encourage kids to get active with
the Healthy Challenge Scavenger
Hunt: http://tinyurl.com/nha7fgh.
Watch Charles R. Smith Jr. read
about Martin Luther King Jr.
and Malcom X, from his book
28 Days: www.youtube.com/
watch?v=lKrcRdcTscw.
“Picture books are the soul and
foundation for who we become.
Reading them with a child on
our lap is one of the best ways
to share our values. Every picture
book is an opportunity.”
—Marc Brown
27
Pistachio Day
Serve pistachio ice cream and
read aloud Probably Pistachio
by Stuart J. Murphy.
Library Lovers’ Month
“Not a Box and Not a Stick are
the precursors of Wait. All three
are books where it’s my intention
that the concept resonates more
than the text. The words create a
superstructure for the pictures to
tell the story.” —Antoinette Portis
20
26
Play hide-and-seek with copies
of Jennifer Chambliss Bertman’s
The Book Scavenger: http://
bookscavenger.com/hide-findbooks/.
6
SATURDAY
13
19
Celebrate the Clifford books
series by letting your students
play games on his fun websites:
http://tinyurl.com/2ecbqw and
www.scholastic.com/clifford/.
American Heart Month
5
FRIDAY
|
Introduce a Girl to
Engineering Day
Promote local businesses
and universities that are
celebrating this important day:
http://www.discovere.org/ourprograms/girl-day.
Black History Month
Feb 2016 • LibrarySparks • 29