Reading collection
January 4 reading ideas
Finding reading ideas for this date…
Finding reading ideas for this date…
Observe World Braille Day with a biography of Louis Braille and a classroom story about a tactile map. A separate Utah reading explores the transcontinental railroad and Promontory Summit. Enjoy a playful story in which a family spaghetti dinner takes an unexpected turn. January 4 is also the birthday of Jacob Grimm, who studied stories and language.
Special date
World Braille Day is observed on January 4, Louis Braille’s birthday. Read his biography and a classroom story about making a tactile map, then discuss how touch can make information easier to access.
4 reading resources
Explore this topic through Accessible Design Reading Passages.
Explore this topic through Dots That Speak: Louis Braille and the Language of Touch.
Read passageLearn about Louis Braille and the reading system he developed.
Read passageFollow a fictional classroom project to create a tactile map and discuss how touch can support access to information.
Read passageSpecial date
Utah became a U.S. state on January 4, 1896. Explore its capital and natural landmarks alongside readings about regional history. The geography readings provide context rather than accounts of statehood itself.
4 reading resources
Learn how workers built the transcontinental railroad and how the project affected communities along its route.
Read passageExplore Utah’s capital and its setting between mountains and the Great Salt Lake as regional context for Utah Statehood Day.
Read passageExplore Zion’s canyon and the forces that shape it as a geography connection to Utah Statehood Day.
Read passageDiscover a Utah landmark and explain how weathering and erosion shape rock over time.
Read passageSpecial date
Enjoy a playful story in which a family spaghetti dinner takes an unexpected turn.
Follow the story’s spaghetti dinner and explain how the surprising problem is resolved.
Read passageOn this date in history
Jacob Grimm was born on January 4, 1785, in Hanau. Read about his work with Wilhelm collecting and editing tales, and his separate research into language.
Jacob Grimm was born on January 4, 1785, in Hanau. Read about his work with Wilhelm collecting and editing tales, and his separate research into language.
Read passageYour topic. Your level.
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World Braille Day recognizes Louis Braille’s contribution to access to reading. Dots of Independence: The Story of Louis Braille tells his story, and Sixth Graders Build Tactile Map for Geography Fair imagines students building a tactile map. Invite readers to compare how touch and print can communicate information.
Building the Transcontinental Railroad explores the railroad at Promontory Summit. Locate the Utah setting on a map and ask how a new transportation route can change travel.
Enjoy a playful story in which a family spaghetti dinner takes an unexpected turn. Read The Great Spaghetti Snafu and follow the story’s spaghetti dinner and explain how the surprising problem is resolved.
Salt Lake City: Capital Between Mountains and Lake: Explore Utah’s capital and its setting between mountains and the Great Salt Lake as regional context for Utah Statehood Day.
The River That Shapes Zion: Explore Zion’s canyon and the forces that shape it as a geography connection to Utah Statehood Day.
The Story Written in Delicate Arch: Discover a Utah landmark and explain how weathering and erosion shape rock over time.
January 4 is also the birthday of Jacob Grimm, who studied stories and language.
Jacob Grimm: A Life in Stories and Language connects his work collecting and editing tales with his research into the histories of words. Discuss why collecting an existing story is different from inventing it.
