When a war comes up Charley shots a man but he's not aloud to. At a confederate base he meats a man named Jem. He goes to the army to be a drummer boy or a bugler. She often co-writes with John Luis Beatty She taught Writing Fiction for Children at several branches of the University of California. After graduating from college, she taught high school English and history, and later held various positions as a science and technical librarian, and also as a children's librarian. Patricia Beatty was born in Portland, Oregon, and was a longtime resident of southern California. Her works continue to attract readers of all ages." A committed feminist, Beatty featured both heroines and heroes who engage in dramatic, absorbing, and credible conflicts that involve questions of morality and courage. Critics cite her strong sense of humor, as well as a sharp sense of place, as strong points of her fiction. Reflecting her interest in meticulous research, which she likened to detective work, her stories recreate past times for modern readers. To interest others in their work, the students printed over 600 luminous bumper stickers prod aiming "Firefly for State Insect." They also kept up their letter-writing campaign, asking legislators to vote "yes" when the bill.From Contemporary Authors Online: "Patricia Beatty's historical children's fiction invites readers to share in her fascination with the past. The children also learned that they needed support from voters in their area, and so they circulated a petition and obtained more than 2,000 signatures. Undaunted, the 26 children in the class wrote more than 250 letters-203 to the House, 50 to the Senate, and 2 to the governor and his wife. The children learned that their next step would be to persuade other legislators to support their cause. The legislator discussed the process of introducing a bill to the state legislature and advised the students about how to proceed. The lawmaker was impressed by the children's enthusiasm toward their special project, and subsequently visited Mrs. Holzwarth's youngsters spent many a summer night catching "lightning bugs." (The children had been taught that to catch a firefly and let it walk over their hands for a while is "okay," but to hurt the insect in any way is wrong.)Īfter the children voted for the firefly as their choice for state insect, they approached their district legislator with their proposal for a state insect. The children also liked the fact that summer evenings sparkled with the soft glow of hundreds of these insects Mrs. The major reason for their selection seemed to be that the scientific name of one firefly species, Photuris pennsylvanica, closely resembled the name of their state-Pennsylvania. The firefly emerged as their clear choice. After weighing the merits of each, a class vote settled the matter. The students explored the pros and cons of such bugs as the praying mantis, dragonfly, ladybug, and grasshopper. Several insects were nominated each nominee became the subject of careful study. Holzwarth explained that it was a state matter, they directed their efforts to their district legislator in Harrisburg (the state capital).īefore they did so, however, the children decided to conduct their own democratic election to determine what the state insect should be. The students began the process by looking up information about Pennsylvania in various books and pamphlets they learned that Pennsylvania had a state flower, a state song, a state tree, a state nickname, and various other official state symbols, but no official "state bug." At first they wanted to write to the President of the United States to have him declare a state bug. Holzwarth's class on one of the most rewarding social studies learning adventures it had ever tackled. The idea of a state insect captured the students' interest and provoked them to ask whether Pennsylvania also had a state insect. Holzwarth's 4th-graders in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, were about to wind up a thematic unit on their state when Naisha brought in a newspaper story about the state of Maryland having recently adopted the monarch butterfly as the state insect.
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