FOR TEACHERS
& PARENTS
LATEST NEWS!
Beginning in September, 2021, A Buss From Lafayette Teacher's Guide will be available from major online retailers (and orderable from any bookstore) through the Past Times Press imprint. As a result, the price for this complete guide for using my award-winning historical novel in the school or home classroom will be coming down.
As we start gearing up for the BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION of Major General Lafayette's 1820s Farewell Tour of America, A Buss from Lafayette is currently the only historical novel set during his historic visit on the market for young adults and middle school readers The story illuminates this Revolutionary War hero's crucial role in our fight for independence.
Stayed tuned for developments!
A Buss from Lafayette eBook
on Sale at Overdrive this Fall!
From August 16th – September 30th, 2021, OverDrive, the eBook retailer for town and school libraries, is including A Buss from Lafayette, in its Back to School Sales Event. Overdrive carries both the e-book and audiobook editions of this historical novel for readers aged 10-18.
The Bicentennial of Lafayette 's 1824-5 Farewell Tour of America is coming soon. This story about a troubled teenaged girl meeting the world famous Revolutionary War hero will help young readers understand who Major General Lafayette was and what he did to help us win our independence. Great for fans of HAMILTON!
Here's a link to OverDrive.
Dear Teachers and Parents:
As a former teacher and current (grand)parent myself, I love to help "make the past come to life" in classrooms and homes. This site is chock full of information and resources for you to use in your classrooms (or homes) to accomplish this, as well as to help students learn more about the writing process.
Resources
There are pages within this website with resources relating to people, places, events, & things mentioned in my historical novels about the American Revolution, A Buss from Lafayette and The Riddle of Penncroft Farm, as well as my unique rhyming history, Liberty-Loving Lafayette. Links are posted under each book's title below.
Resources include:
1) Pictures and documents about people, places, and events in my historical fiction (and nonfiction).
2) Videos (readalouds, blogs, interviews, background information, classroom visit excerpts).
3. Audios (speeches, music, podcasts)
Note: since there is no audiobook available for The Riddle of Penncroft Farm, I have recorded readaloud videos of the first eight chapters. (I will be doing more eventually.)
Virtual Visits to Your Classroom
If you have read any of my works with your class, I would be happy to "beam" into your classroom via Skype, FaceTime, or Google Hangouts (gratis) to answer questions students might have (schedule permitting). To set up a classroom e-visit, contact me at dorotheajensen@gmail.com.
Reader Spotlight
If any of your students create art, video, or other pieces about any of my books, please send them (or links to them) to me at jensendorothea@gmail.com and I will post them on the Reader Spotlight page.
Other Info
There is also much information available on my social media sites, especially:
Bublish: hundreds of explanations about where my ideas come from and my writing process. (It's had nearly 300,00 hits!)
Pinterest: additional pictures related to my books
Have fun helping your students visit the past!
Regards,
Dorothea
Liberty-Loving Lafayette: How "America's Favorite Fighting Frenchman Helped Win Our Independence
A number of notable reviewers have recommended my unique short rhyming history's use in the classroom and other educational events.
They have also pointed out that this is an homage to Lin-Manuel Miranda's HAMILTON (an aspect that will certainly appeal to Hamilton fans among your students).
Find more reviews, honors, and buy links for this unique work here.
This book has had many excellent reviews referring to its use in helping kids understand life as a teenager in early nineteenth century America, as well as to learn about Major General Lafayette's key role in the American Revolution. Below are a few of these.(For more reviews, and to learn about the honors this book has won, click here.)
So happy that Buss is on this list!
A Buss From Lafayette Teacher's Guide
A Buss from Lafayette Teacher's Guide is a complete "lesson plan" for using A Buss from Lafayette as a springboard for teaching about the American Revolution and Lafayette in 5-9+ grade classrooms. I co-authored this with a fellow former teacher, Sienna Larson. For more reviews and buy links, click here.
Ever since it was first published in 1989, this book, an IRA (now ILA) Teachers' Choice selection, has been used in classrooms across the U.S. to enrich the study of the American Revolution. Many dedicated teachers have posted quizzes, lesson plans, unit plans, and reviews online. Below I have included some of these, as well as some teacher comments made directly to me. For more reviews, honors, and buy links, click here.
Below is a very short intro I made for The Riddle of Penncroft Farm. If it does not display properly on this page, use the link it below to watch it directly on Vimeo!
Riddle Resources Links:
(readalouds, blogs, interviews, background information, classroom visit excerpts)
This was published by Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich soon after The Riddle of Penncroft Farm was originally released. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has allowed me to scan and post a printable/downloadable version of it here!
I found this on the internet. It has some interesting ideas for using The Riddle of Penncroft Farm in the classroom!
This is a 10 page (!) list of chapter by chapter study questions that I found online, apparently written by a teacher. I couldn't find an author listed, and when I click on the web address, it simply downloads the document. If anyone out there has information about where this came from, please write me at jensendorothea@gmail.com
Anyway, these are excellent, detailed questions about my first historical novel. I'm not sure I can answer all of these myself without going back and reading The Riddle of Penncroft Farm again!
I have posted it on my Google drive for direct downloading. (Just click on the blue title above.)