American Revolution
Great Men and Women
These 4 books are the easiest practice readers that we could find on this interesting lady.
Teachers might want to use the three short biographies as the basis for 'book reports' since the books are short and present their information in a form that children can easily handle. The fourth fictional volume would be an excellent book to share, either one-on-one for homeschoolers, or with an entire class, as it's appealing story can lead to discussions of the colonial era.
In general, the four books suffer a bit from their brevity. There just isn't enough space to discuss both Betsy, colonial America and the American Revolution, so it's absolutely necessary for these books to be used in conjunction with other material, even if it's only a casual history lesson.
Artwork. All have good art. The factual books use pictures and/or classic images. Stephanie Greene's book has nice, colorful drawings; and I wouldn't say that one was superior to the others in this regard.
Betsy Ross (First Biographies)
by Jan Mader
One of the non-fiction books, Mader's book gives a concise introduction to Mrs. Ross and the American flag legend**.
**all of these books reflect the current academic debate about the authenticity of the story about Betsy Ross sewing the first flag.
Structurally, there is artwork on every left page with a paragraph in large text on the opposing right page.
This is the only book that includes a timeline.
Reading info:
**all of these books reflect the current academic debate about the authenticity of the story about Betsy Ross sewing the first flag.
Structurally, there is artwork on every left page with a paragraph in large text on the opposing right page.
This is the only book that includes a timeline.
Word Count: 207
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading level: 2.0 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 112204
Lexile: 330L
-- amazon
Betsy Ross
by Helen Frost
Since my local library doesn't carry this volume I had to resort to the GoogleBooks preview to get an idea of what it was like.
Structurally, it appeared very similar to the Mader and Mara books. Art on one side, opposed by large text on the other page.
You can see the preview yourself here.
Structurally, it appeared very similar to the Mader and Mara books. Art on one side, opposed by large text on the other page.
You can see the preview yourself here.
Reading info:
Word Count: 197
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading level: 2.2 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 68102 -- amazon
Betsy Ross
(Rookie Biographies)
by Wil Mara
I really like this
book although it presents less information about Betsy than the others.
Where it shines, in my estimation, is that it talks more about the flag
and the Revolution. For example, it describes the new flag and why it
had 13 stripes and 13 stars. There is also a page with a map that shows
the original 13 colonies.
This book is also the only one that mentions Betsy's other war efforts.
This book is also the only one that mentions Betsy's other war efforts.
Reading info:
Word Count: 328
Page Count: 32 pages
Accelerated Reading level: 2.5 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 103560 -- amazon
Betsy Ross And The Silver Thimble
by Stephanie Greene, art by Diana Magnuson
Not universally
loved at GoodReads, I happen to really like this short book that takes a
fictionalized, kid-friendly approach to our heroine. I think the great
value of this book is that it shows children what life in the colonial
period was like.
The colorful artwork by Diana Magnuson is nice, and although the language is a little stilted for second grade text, it tells a good story that most children will like.
Reading info:
The colorful artwork by Diana Magnuson is nice, and although the language is a little stilted for second grade text, it tells a good story that most children will like.
Word Count: 491
Page Count: 32 pages
Accelerated Reading level: 2.3 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 59782
Lexile: 190L -- amazon
--this is a popular item several
readers have purchased. Currently less
than a dollar.
compiled by Pam T