U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service apple.gif Teachers Resources
Billie Button  The Story of My Life by Billie Button   Billie
Button Life History:  Hand out copies of The Story of My Life by
Billie Button and assign one student reader to each of the
excerpts marked.  Introduction: This story was published as a
promotional advertisement for the Wisconsin Pearl Button Company
of La Crosse sometime between 1910 and 1920. The language used
was standard for that period of history. The story is told from
the perspective of a button. This is an example of
anthropormorphism (attributing human characteristics to
something not human).  Following are comments and/or
demonstrations/simulations which can be used after each excerpt
is read to enhance understanding (referenced by excerpt number).
The students could also be provided a copy of the mussel's life
cycle to keep track of which stage of the mussels life cycle is
being discussed. Billie Button excerpts 1 and 2 Click for larger
scale Billie Button excerpts 3 -7  Click f