Benjamin Franklin loved to read and write.  His older brother, James, had his own newspaper, the New England Courant.  One day, James found a funny letter under his door that was signed by a Mrs. Silence Dogood.  James printed the letter and all of the future letters that he recieved.  Mrs. Dogood was actually Ben.  He was a published writer at the age of 16.  When he was 22, Ben opened a print shop and printed the Pennsylvania Gazette.  He was very successful.  He also wrote Poor Richard's Almanack.  It contained all kinds of facts, weather forecasts and sayings.  He published his Almanack for many years and it was very popular with people in the colonies.

Your task is to design and write a modern day almanac for second grade students modeled after Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack.  Your almanac will contain the following sections:  advice for second grade students, a pet page, book review, restaurant guide, entertainment page, places to visit in Illinois, math problems to solve, current events, Whose Who and modern day sayings.

1. 1.  In your assigned colonial groups,  look over your group copy of Poor Richard's Almanack.  Identify the different sections and become familiar with the organization of an almanac.   Richard's Almanac 

1. 2.  Design a cover for your almanac.    The title should include your name.  Unless your name is Richard, that name should not appear on your cover.  For example, if your name is Ken your cover would read:  Poor Ken's Almanac for Second Graders.  Your cover should show some of things that interest you.  Example:  If you like sports, you would draw pictures of soccer balls, hockey equipment etc. 

1. 3.  Advice for Second Graders Page:  This page should be written as a guide for any new 2nd grade students or to first graders who will be entering second grade next year.  You want to help them prepare for some of the new activities and work that they will do in second grade.  Example:  We have a spelling test on Friday.  You need to study the word lists.  We do a unit on insects.   Be prepared to observe them.

1. 4.  Pet Page:  Write about your pets at home.  Tell what kind of animal(s), it's name and what makes him/her special to you.  If you don't have a pet, write about a pet you would like to have and why you would choose that animal for your pet.

1. 5.  Book Review:  Write about one of your favorite books.  Give a brief summary of the book.  (Don't retell it)  Give reasons why you recommend it.

1. 6.  Restaurant Guide:  Select two of your favorite restaurants.  Only one can be a fast food restaurant.  Tell about your favorite meal at each one of them,  and why you would recommend it to your friends.

1. 7.  Entertainment Page:  What are some of the good movies you have seen recently, what are some of the games (board or video) you enjoy, what TV shows do you watch, what music you like to listen to now, and what team sports do you like to play.  This page tells about what you like to do for entertainment.

1. 8.  Places to visit in Illinois:  If I were a tourist in Illinois, what are some of the sites that you think I should see in our state.  Examples - museums, parks, landmarks.  The places you tell about MUST be in Illinois.  Places to visit of interest in Illinois 

1. 9.  Math Problems:  This page must have ten math problems to solve.  Four of the problems must include regrouping, two of the problems must be story problems and the remaining four problems are your choice.

1. 10.  Current events:  This page tells about what is happening in the world  and/or things happening at Fierke. 

1. 11.  Who's Who: All you have to do on this page is fill in the blanks with your response to the questions.

1. 12.  Modern Day Savings or Your Version of Ben Franklin's Words:  A penny saved is a penny earned, early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise, eat to live, not live to eat, fish and visitors stink in three days and half a truth is often a great lie.  Examples:  Early to bed, early to rise is not fun.  I call the doctor when I have a virus, who do I call when my computer has one?

Describe to the learners how their performance will be evaluated. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Stated Objective or Performance	only vaguely relates to the page topic has little or no details has major grammar, spelling and mechanics errors	may have unrelated ideas to the topic on the page details used to explain are not fully developed contains many grammar, spelling, and mechanics errors	topic is stated clearly  provides details to explain, but may not be fully developed contains a few grammar, spelling and mechanics errors	focuses on topic uses adequate supporting details to explain each page contains few grammar, spelling, and mechanics errors

This lesson can be adapted for special needs students or as an enrichment activity.  I would recommend that the special needs students be assigned fewer pages to complete.  A talented student could complete a colonial alamanc writing about events, native American groups, customs etc. after doing research on a specific colony.  The products would be a "keepsake" from the second grade colonial unit.

Thanks to Liberty's Kids. Archive. Poor Richard's Almanac for the use of the picture of the almanack.
Thanks to www.school-for-champions.co for the picture of Ben Franklin.

Franklin, Benjamin, Poor Richard's Almanack, A Peter Pauper Press Book
Usel, T.M., Benjamin Franklin, Bridgestone Books 1996
d'Aulaire, Ingri & Edgar, Benjamin Franklin, Doubleday & Co., 1950