For Earth Day, we certainly want to teach the three Rs: reduce, re-use, recycle. Unfortunately, many schools only actually do the third of these. We’ve gotten pretty good about recycling our paper and we’re proud of our can drives, but there are ways we can do more. Here are… Continue reading
Probably the best thing to do for classes on Earth Day is to get out of the classroom and enjoy the beauty of the earth, or perhaps clean up a bit. You may not have that option. It’s not too late to plan a classroom lesson. Here’s a nice… Continue reading
Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass is a perennial favorite, and for good reason. In the story, Alice falls down a rabbit hole and ends up in a marvelous world full of frankly irritating creatures and surprising events. The story continues with Alice’s adventures as she… Continue reading
Making cookies shaped like your state is an easy, multisensory geography lesson. You can use paper or whole wheat bread instead of cookies, but we find that people remember the lesson better with gingerbread. Start with a state-shaped cookie cutter. Have students use it to cut out cookie dough or… Continue reading
The Fungus Kingdom offers opportunities for hands-on science with living things. Continue reading
Once I found myself engaged in a conversation about what really needs to be taught. Strictly speaking, I have found myself engaged in conversations on this topic many many times, but I am thinking of one particular occasion. Shakespeare had crept into the discussion. Shakespeare, one speaker claimed, was… Continue reading
Conditional statements are “if-then” statements. If A=B, and B=C,then A=C. If you complete all your homework and study for the tests, you will pass the class. If a shape is a square, then it is also a rectangle. We use them all the time, and they can be phrased in both English… Continue reading
The story of the big turnip shows that cooperation allows us to do things we couldn’t do alone — with some math and science lessons, too! Continue reading
