Do you think you could have lived in a medieval castle? Did you know that moats were sometimes used for dumping raw sewage? Since these moats might contain sewage, it deterred enemy soldiers from trying to swim across them.
Did you know that most candles were made from hardened animal fat? Oil lamps burned liquid animal fat. Only the very wealthy and churches used beeswax candles because of the expense.
Floors were made of dirt, and were never swept. To clean the floors, layers of straw were added to them. It didn't matter if there was food, sewage, feces, or anything else on the dirt floor. It was covered with straw, and that's how the floors were cleaned!
If you've ever wondered what it was like to live in a medieval castle, then you'll want to read
Ye Castle Stinketh. Available this fall from Enslow Publishers, and available in both library and paperback versions, this title, and the rest of the titles in the
Ye Yucky Middle Ages series, will keep your reluctant reader students interested. These titles also have a huge gross-out factor!
Land hermit crabs are unusual pets. In the wild, when they get too big for the shell they are currently living in, they look for larger empty snail shells. They communicate by tapping each other's shells.
Baby Animals of the Ocean - Grades 1–3
Counting in the Oceans - Grades 1–3 
Would you like to make some crafts to get into the spirit before watching the new movie? Then check out Pirate Ship Adventure Crafts, written for the elementary reader.
Middle/High School series focus on language arts topics of high interest, especially for struggling learners 
Her friend, who is an animal expert, brought along some cool animals including a ferret, hissing cockroaches, a chinchilla, a degu, a dove, and some turtles. As you can see from the picture, the kids were intrigued!
"Drop Everything And Read Day," an annual event that occurs on April 12th, encourages families to spend at least thirty minutes in a reading activity. The day's organizers envision the day as an opportunity for children, in particular, to read something of their own choosing, rather than "required" academic reading. For kids looking for a way into exploring a blended world of the imagination and fact-based context, we suggest a title from Enslow Publishers' Historical Fiction Series. These 160-page books, such as Hannah Pritchard: Pirate of the Revolution, offer compelling narratives and vivid characters woven together with author Bonnie Pryor's accessible, age-appropriate writing style. Accelerated Reading scores for these books range from 4.7 to 7.0.
African-American Soldiers in the Civil War: Fighting for Freedom, by Carin T. Ford.
