Trees are an essential element of our ecosystem. Get ready for Arbor Day by learning about trees, or just refresh your classroom with a sylvan theme. Dress your bulletin board with a Classroom Tree bulletin board set, and use a good tree saying: “We’re TREEmendous!” “Having a TREEriffic Year!” “Our… Continue reading
Many of your students may be unfamiliar with the Marshall Islands. While many Marshallese people live in the United States, particularly in Arkansas and Hawaii, the Marshall Islands are a small nation. Let’s start with some basic background information: Find background information about the Marshall Islands. Here are some useful… Continue reading
The story of The Blind Men and the Elephant is a simple one: a group of unsighted men have their first encounter with an elephant. Since they approach the beast from different perspectives, they all end up with different impressions of the elephant. The man who feels the elephant’s side… Continue reading
Feelin’ groovy? Why not pick a groovy classroom theme? Carson Dellosa has Paisley Power. Get your ’70s groove on with tie dye bulletin boards and psychedelic flowers. You can grab an old sheet and a vat of fabric dye and make your own. Pinch a bit of the fabric and… Continue reading
Embrace geek chic with a Doctor Who classroom theme! The Doctor is an alien being in a popular BBC TV show, the last of the Time Lords, who goes traveling through time and space in his Time and Relative Dimension in Space (tardis for short). As you can imagine,… Continue reading
“Lazy Jack,” or “Foolish Jack,” is a “noodlehead tale” found in many different countries. The basic story is of Jack, a foolish and lazy fellow who goes out to find work. He is paid each day in various goods. When he is paid in money, he loses it, and his… Continue reading
When I was a child, we had a poem which was often recited at the dinner table: The Goops, they lick their fingers, The Goops, they lick their knives, They spill their broth on the tablecloth. They lead disgusting lives! We liked to say this last line in a dramatic… Continue reading
Happy Juneteenth! June 19th has been celebrated as African American Independence Day since 1865, when people in Galveston, Texas, celebrated the Emancipation Proclamation. You will have noticed that it was by that time a couple of years late. There are many different theories about why it took so long for… Continue reading
Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens may be the perfect introduction to classical music for children, and the Maestro Classics edition is specifically intended for that purpose. The CD and the accompanying booklet have lots of background information about Saint-Saens, who was a musical child prodigy. Kids will enjoy… Continue reading
Everyone needs to study plants at some point. Here are lesson plan ideas for elementary students. K-2 Tops & Bottoms is a very fun book by Janet Stevens. I sort of want to read the whole story to you, and I think you’ll feel the same when you see the… Continue reading
