On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean. Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico鈥檚 Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PT. This is the last solar eclipse we will be able to view for twenty years.
When I was in grade school, I remember working with a few other students to build a聽pinhole camera out of cardboard. We stood with the sun at our back while trying to look at the projected image on a second piece of cardboard. Here are some more modern ways to get students engaged with the eclipse.
Invite students to look at and about eclipses throughout history. Then, compare that coverage with the news we see today. What is the same? What has changed? Students can record the similarities and differences as a or in a .
The Library of Congress’s include materials for general or scientific audiences, books for young readers, titles for educators, Library of Congress digital collections, Library of Congress videos and blog posts, as well as internet resources.
“” is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury that was first published in March 1954. The story is about a class of school children on Venus, where it rains constantly and the Sun is visible for only one hour every seven years. Invite students to make connections from the short story to this current eclipse. If you would like to engage more with the text, check out from ReadWriteThink.org.
ReadWriteThink.org also offers , which has students listen to and discuss poetry that pertains to the study of astronomy and write their own poems to enhance their learning of the subject. As a final project, students use the to compose original poetry books about astronomy.
What makes a shadow? Do shadows change? These and many other questions provide the framework for students to explore their prior knowledge about shadows as fiction, informational texts, and poetry. In , language arts skills are linked to the learning of science in a literacy-based approach to the study of shadows.
Will you be able to watch the eclipse? What are you planning to do with your students?
Curious about the 楼凤天堂 and Library of Congress connection? Through a grant announced by 楼凤天堂 Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick, 楼凤天堂 is engaged in ongoing work with the Library of Congress and 鈥渨ill connect the ELA community with the Library of Congress to expand the use of primary sources in teaching.鈥� Stay tuned for more throughout the year!
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Lisa Fink is an 楼凤天堂 staff member, a former elementary teacher, and a current university instructor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She can be reached on Twitter聽.