O, Say Can You See?

Title: O, Say Can You See: America's Symbols, Landmarks, and Inspiring Words
Author: Sheila Keenan

Illustrator: Ann Boyajian
Type: Non-Fiction
Approximate Interest Level: 5th-12th
Publisher: Scholastic

Date of Publication: 2004
ISBN: 978-0439424509

Synopsis: A nonfiction compilation of the important places, interesting objects, inspiring words, and holidays that contribute to, or comprise American culture.  Each item is explained in detail using student-friendly language and illustrations.  The book includes a glossary, an index, and suggestions for further reading.

Lesson Plan link

Possible Teaching Points: 1) American symbols, 2) American history, 3) American holidays

Lives

Title: Lives: Poems about Famous Americans
Author: various (selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins)

Illustrator: Leslie Staub
Type: Poetry
Approximate Interest Level: 3rd-12th
Publisher: Harper Collins

Date of Publication: 1999
ISBN: 978-80060277673

Synopsis: A collection of poems about famous Americans.  Poems include: This Bell Rings for Liberty (Paul Revere), A Song for Sacagawea, Abe (Abraham Lincoln), Walt Whitman, The Whippoorwill Calls (Harriet Tubman), American Wizard (Thomas Edison), Till (Helen Keller/Annie Sullivan), Eleanor Roosevelt, When Babe Ruth His His Last Home Run, Dreamer (Langston Hughes), The Many and the Few (Rosa Parks), JFK, Martin Luther King Day, First Men on the Moon (Neil Armstrong/Buzz Aldrin).

Possible Teaching Points: 1) poetry, 2) famous Americans: Paul Revere, Sacagawea, Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, Harriet Tubman, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller/Annie Sullivan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Langston Hughes, Rosa Parks, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin