To my fellow citizens…

for their happiness and learning…

for their moral and religious elevation…

and for the glory of my country…

~Noah Webster

Why did Noah Webster devote his entire life to understanding the empowering qualities of the written word – all words? Why did he scour all corners of this glorious earth to discover the etymology of each and every word in the master lexicon? And why did Noah Webster believe that uniting the language of a new colony of people would unify the new nation? Because of his words posted above –  the dedication he scripted in his ever-so-famous Webster’s Dictionary.

Noah Webster & His Words (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012) commemorates the linguistic passion of a humble, yet highly brilliant man to whom the act of syllabification was synonymous to a celebration. Author Jeri Chase Ferris shares Noah’s passion for education through the CCSSI Annotated Discussion and Activity Guide offered to all on her website. Not only is this guide brimming with in-depth discussion questions, manipulative word games and historical treasures, each activity is aligned with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts – something of which Noah Webster would undoubtedly find to be fascinatingly delightful.