December 26 reading ideas
Finding reading ideas for this date…
Finding reading ideas for this date…
Kwanzaa begins on December 26, inviting discussion of seven community principles. Charles Babbage’s birthday and informal Thank You Note Day provide separate computing-history and practical-writing connections.
Special date
Charles Babbage designed mechanical calculating machines in the nineteenth century. This biography introduces his plans for machines that could carry out calculations, making a useful bridge to algorithms and step-by-step instructions.
5 reading resources
Use Inventions Reading Passages as related background or for comparison.
Open collectionUse Grace Hopper: The Computer Pioneer as related background or for comparison.
Read passageStudents can turn a simple calculation into ordered instructions and discuss how a machine might follow each step.
Read passageCompare Babbage’s planned engine with the account of Lovelace’s notes, identifying their related contributions.
Read passageSpecial date
Thank You Note Day is an informal calendar observance that can prompt a short writing activity.
8 reading resources
Choose more readings about appreciation and thoughtful thank-you notes.
Open collectionExplore this topic through A Thank-You Letter for Aunt Sarah.
Read passageExplore this topic through A Big Thank-You for the Costumes.
Read passageExplore this topic through Thank You, Ms. Davis.
Read passageStudents can draft a note that names one specific helpful action and explains why it mattered.
Read passageRead A Note of Thanks to Mr. Alvarez as a companion to this topic.
Read passageRead Being Thankful Every Day as a companion to this topic.
Read passageRead A Heartfelt Thank You as a companion to this topic.
Read passageSpecial date
Kwanzaa begins on December 26 and continues through January 1. Read about seven principles and varied African American and Pan-African cultural traditions.
Connect the seven principles with concrete examples of community life.
Read passageYour topic. Your level.
Have another idea for today’s lesson? Let Pico create an AI-assisted passage with questions and an illustration. Choose the topic and reading level in the creator.
Read about Babbage’s planned calculating engine and translate a small calculation into ordered steps. Students can discuss why a machine needs instructions in a sequence.
Compare that with Ada Lovelace’s notes to see how related contributions shaped ideas about a programmable machine. Then use the thank-you note example to write about one helpful action and explain why it mattered.
Explore A Note of Thanks to Mr. Alvarez, Being Thankful Every Day, A Heartfelt Thank You, Gratitude Reading Passages. Choose a text or collection that fits your readers and the day’s topic.
Kwanzaa begins on December 26. In Kwanzaa: Seven Principles in Action, match a principle with a concrete community example and explain the connection. Present the kinara gathering as one family example of a cultural celebration, not a religion or a practice shared by every African American family.
