The Couch Potato is a picture book by Jory John and Pete Oswald. It’s about a potato. Not a small potato, a sweet potato, or a mashed potato, but a couch potato. “I spend all my free time sitting in this exact spot,” the potato admits. “If the most important… Continue reading
Taino Tales: The Secret of the Hummingbird contains just one Taino Tale. In the story, a Taino girl falls invoke with a Carib boy. The Taino and Carib, bit Caribbean indigenous peoples, were traditional rivals. Here’s background information on the two groups: What Became of the Taino? Taíno: Indigenous… Continue reading
Bring Hispanic Heritage Month to your cowboy classroom by learning about the connection between cowboys and the Hispanic Heritage of the United States. In the picture above, the Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma are waiting for Columbia, the spirit of the United States, to sew their stars… Continue reading
“This is Matilda, and this is Matilda’s dad,” begins this fun book by Lizzy Stewart. Matilda and her dad set out to look for treasure one day. It’s an adventure, for sure. Matilda gets frustrated by her dad’s fun-loving but disorganized approach to the treasure hunt…even though he points out… Continue reading
Snails are mollusks, and they are very different from most of the animals we’ve written about here at FreshPlans. For one thing, you can easily bring snails into your classroom. Get some live snails to observe. Snail food will keep your snails in the pink. Create a terrarium for your… Continue reading
Juan Ponce de León (1460-1521) was the first conquistador to visit Florida. He was the first Governor of Florida and of Puerto Rico. But he may be best known for his quest to find the Fountain of Youth. Juan Ponce de Leon was born in Spain and grew up to… Continue reading
If there’s ever been a year that cried out for inspiration, 2021 is it! We think this is the perfect year for a Great Quotations classroom theme, starting out with inspiring words on the walls. There are plenty of ready-made bulletin board and poster sets. You may have your own… Continue reading
South Africa is a diverse country in the Southern Hemisphere, so Christmas falls in the summer. Schools are closed for a month, businesses often close for a month as well, and many people go camping. Just as in Australia, Christmas in South Africa is often spent on the beach. Christmas… Continue reading
One of my favorite Thanksgiving books is Eileen Spinelli’s The Perfect Thanksgiving. JoAnn Adinolfi illustrated it with bright colors and primitive drawings with mixed media collage. It is the story of two different Thanksgiving celebrations: the perfect holiday of Abigail Archer, and the imperfect one of the narrator. “Abigail Archer’s father… Continue reading
Mermaids have captured our imaginations, and they make a fresh classroom theme. Start your bulletin board with an ocean backdrop. Add a scaly border. Mermaid tails are an alternative. Mermaid cutouts set the theme. We like to add iridescent bubbles. Carson Dellossa’s “Dive into Learning” set brings in divers… Continue reading
