August Curriculum Connections + Spotlights

As you start preparing for back-to-school this month, keep this list of BrainPOP movies handy! You’ll find curriculum tie-ins for all kinds of important August dates in history. Check our online Curriculum Calendar for more.

♦ August 4: Happy birthday, Barack Obama! Celebrate with a little Presidential Power. Plus, jazz it up a bit: Louis Armstrong was also born on this date.

♦ August 5: On astronaut Neil Armstrong’s birthday, show our Apollo Project movie and find out about the mission that first put a man on the moon. For K-3, there’s BrainPOP Jr.’s Moon movie.

♦ August 6: The bombing of Hiroshima took place today in 1945. Explain what happened with our World War II and Nuclear Energy movies. “Searching” for something else? The Internet made its debut today in 1991.

♦ August 8: Learn more about Richard Nixon on the anniversary of his 1974 resignation.

♦ August 12: Adolescence may be a time of change for teens everywhere, but on International Youth Day, our movie about it is a constant. Also, on the anniversary of the T.rex Sue’s 1990 discovery, do something BIG … like watching our Dinosaurs or Fossils (K-3) movies.

♦ August 13: The border between East and West Berlin officially closed on this date in 1961. Get the back story with our Communism movie. Farther back in history, Hernán Cortés helped put an end to the Aztec Empire when he conquered Tenochtitlan today in 1521. Find out more with our Conquistadors and Mexico (K-3) movies.

♦ August 14: Show our World War II movie on the anniversary of the Japanese surrender.

♦ August 15: The famed Woodstock Festival began today in 1969. Show our 60s Folk movie – it’s pretty groovy. Then, don’t get a complex, but Napoleon Bonaparte was born today in 1769.

♦ August 18: Meriwether Lewis was born on this date in 1774. “Explore” with our Lewis and Clark and Lewis and Clark Expedition (K-3) movies.

♦ August 23: On the International Day for Remembrance of Slave Trade, our Slavery and Harriet Tubman (K-3) movies can help explain this ugly institution.

♦ August 24-25: Hurricane Andrew hit the southeastern U.S. on 8/24/92; the storm Katrina became a hurricane on 8/25/05. Help kids make sense of these natural disasters with our Hurricanes and Fast Land Changes (K-3) movies.

♦ August 26: Today marks Women’s Equality Day. Rock the vote with BrainPOP’s Women’s Suffrage movie, and, for K-3, Susan B. Anthony.

♦ August 28: “I have a dream …” Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famed speech on this date in 1963. We’ve got
BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. movies on the civil rights leader to help put his words in context.

♦ August 30: Do a little “Monster Mash” today. Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, was born on August 30 in 1797.

♦ August 31: It’s Blog Day – get the “write” stuff on BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr.

This month, we’re also spotlighting our Back to School resources. BrainPOP topics cover everything you’ll need to get your new batch of students off to a great start: Book Reports, Bullying, Cyberbullying, Getting Help, Online Safety, Reading Skills, Research, Stress, Test Prep, and more. For K-3, there’s Kindergarten, School, Book Reports, Bullying, Friends, Washing Hands, Internet Safety, Listening and Speaking, Capital and Lowercase, Adding On, and Making Observations. Check out back-to-school graphic organizers and lesson plans, as well.

We’re also spotlighting Natural Disasters. Help kids understand topics like Avalanches, Earthquakes, Floods, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Tsunami, Volcanoes, and more.