Theme:  Amazing Places can be used to introduce your students to poetry, social studies and geography.

Poetry: Introduce your students to writing poetry. Give examples of poetic forms. Do they rhyme or not rhyme? How do you feel when you read the poems? Would you write a happy or a sad poem? Help students choose a topic for their poem.

Pre-reading: Show the students the cover of the book and read the title. What is an anthologist? Ask them what they think the book will be about. Next show the illustrations as you turn the pages. Now what do they think the book will be about?

Reading: As you read and show the illustrations, have the students look closely at the drawings. What details can they find in the pictures? Have them look closely at the expressions on the faces of the characters. As you read through each poem, which words repeats themselves.

Geography: Using a United States map, find a landmark designation in one of the 50 states. New York is the state with the most landmark designations (267), and New York City, with 113 designations, is the city with the largest number of designations. Of the states, North Dakota has the fewest designations with six. Three cities (New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston) have enough listings to warrant lists separate from their respective states.

A small number of designations have been made outside the 50 states. Most of these appear in United States possessions. The Virgin Islands have five listings, Puerto Rico has four, and island possessions in the South Pacific have six. Five listings are found in Pacific island nations with which the U.S. has established a free association agreement, and one listing, the American Legation in Tangier (the nation’s first foreign public property), is found in the unaffiliated Kingdom of Morocco.

You can find out more information about state and city landmarks by clicking HERE.