Teachers' Guide Samantha (American Girl) [Paperback]

Roberta Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Series: American Girl | Publication Date: December 1996

Learn how to make 16 crafts with Felicity's Craft Book, a kit that includes helpful instructions. Materials are included for three of the projects.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Pleasant Company Publications (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562472380
• ISBN-13: 978-1562472382
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,695,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Over priced because of collectability, May 19, 2007

By 

David F. Pocai "rpocai" (DFW area, Tx) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teachers' Guide Samantha (American Girl) (Paperback)

My opinion on these guides- If you want these for educational purposes and pay more than $30 you have paid too much. There's NOT $30 of teaching material in one (some would even say there is less than that)
Not to bash the book completely, but I've seen used American Girl Teachers Guides go for $120; for just one guide!
If these were commonly priced under $30 used I would give it more stars.
Each contains (if mint):
An Overview section (8-10 pages, this section is too short!)- book summaries of the six main books for the subject, a short description of the history of the era. A few paragraphs about the author. a section about historical fiction, short directions on how to use the map, tips for introducing vocabulary, and blackline masters for the map.
Meet "insert girl's name" section- The longest section. Contains plot summaries and Themes for each main book, vocabulary words (only 8-10 per book), and only 4-5 pages of uninteresting worksheets for each book.
Then the last section contains project ideas (roughly 5 per guide). Only a few of which are really interesting and imaginative.
Am I missing something here? Unless your a collector there is no reason to pay over $30 for one of these books.
An inventive educator can come up with a more interesting set of projects and worksheets for far less than $120 per American Girl.

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for independent study or homeschool co-ops, August 24, 2010

By 

Suz (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teachers' Guide Samantha (American Girl) (Paperback)

This review was written for the Samantha teacher's guide, but comments are equally valid for all American Girls teacher's guides.

This would make a perfect unit study for a homeschooling family or a co-op. I've been homeschooling my kids for four years and am a self-admitted curriculum junkie/snob. The American Girl teachers' guides are among the best, and one of my personal favorite parts is that it requires very little preparation on the teacher's part. We homeschooling parents are busy, especially when teaching multiple children at multiple levels, and having quality lesson plans clearly spelled out with no advance prep is a real godsend. It could be used for a broad age range of children from advanced second grade through 6th graders who still love American Girl. Since the questions are almost all open-ended, even the youngest can come up with something to answer, while the olders can get more detailed.

--The historical context is long enough to be informative but not too long for elementary students. Along with the written text, it includes a timeline for a nice visual, interesting side bars, as well as suggestions for using, and questions to answer about, the included picture map. Random questions include, "Do you think it was a good idea for the Larsons and Singing Bird's families to live so close to a stream? Why or why not?" and, "Make a list of three things in Maryville that you see in your own town. Make a list of three things that are in Maryville that you do not see in your town today."

--Includes a list of vocabulary words and suggested fun activities for helping to learn them

--Questions to answer before, during, and after reading. These are thought-provoking questions that are well-suited to paragraph responses or group discussion. For example, "Do you think it is smart of Kirsten to keep her friendship with Singing Bird a secret? Why or why not?" "What kind of activities might occupy pioneers during the winter?"

The book also discusses important literary concepts such as theme and plot, and introduces figures of speech such as idioms and metaphors. Hands-on activities include step-by-step directions and other suggestions for such activities as: Give a Tour of Kirsten's World, Make a Model of a Frontier Building, Create a Handbill, and more. An answer key and a list of suggested books about the given era round out the book.

If your kids love American Girl books, or you want an interesting, literature-based approach to history, or if you need to teach a co-op class and are at a loss as to what you could teach that would be fun, educational, and not time-consuming, these guides are well worth the price. Anyone who homeschools knows all too wellthat curriculum is pricey, and $30 for a unit study that covers six weeks or more is very reasonable. Since these books are out of print but American Girl remains wildly popular, if you treat the books with care, you can re-sell them and get most, if not all, of your money back. I myself made a nice little profit on the ones I bought used and sold when we were through.