Jeff Rivera’s books paint a picture of what happens when things go down the toilet that can make a fun introduction to the idea of wastewater treatment. Here are our favorite lesson plans for Um, Mommy, I Think I Flushed My Brother Down the Toilet and Um, Mommy, I… Continue reading
What’s a rain garden? It’s a lowered garden bed planted with deep-rooted plants which will enjoy being watered by the standing water that pools when it rains hard. They can be planted in areas that already form puddles, or rain that collects on a roof or a paved area can… Continue reading
With December here, you’ll have to change your calendar. And that means that you might as well change the bulletin boards. And that means that it is time to decide: do you have Christmas in the classroom or not? In our state, Thanksgiving is in the frameworks, so there’s no… Continue reading
In studying exploration, we tend to focus on the conquistadors of Spain and the great explorers of Italy: Columbus, Magellan, Da Gama, Vespucchi, and Cortez. When we’re thinking of exploration in North America, though, we should remember the French explorers. There were French explorers during the Great Age of… Continue reading
Enjoy some imaginative learning fun with Trout Fishing in America’s song “Big Trouble,” a song expressing the trepidation a kid feels when he thinks about his parents coming home and finding the mayhem caused when “the monsters came to my house to play.” The monsters may be fantasy and fiction,… Continue reading
Stomp is a high energy dance/percussion ensemble loved by kids and adults alike. Use their dazzling performances to explore questions in art (check the dance education standards), even if your class can’t attend a performance. Download Stomp’s PDF and try some of our ideas below. Stomp provided a video… Continue reading
The Ozark Folk Center is a state park in Mountain View, Arkansas, where a mountain town has been recreated as living history. Here visitors can get a greater understanding of the life of American pioneers. Certainly, most of the people in a town like this in the 1800s would… Continue reading
Once you have something to say, it’s time to organize the information and get it written down. Use the Pirate Writing Organization Sheet top explore several different ways of organizing information: Chronological order makes sense when you’re telling a story or describing events that happened in time. Smithsonian’s story… Continue reading
The first step for writing really is having something to say. Begin with an outline and a rubric. You can download our Pirate Adventure writing sheet as a starting point. You can also download our KWL sheet, also focused on pirates. Visit our Pirate Theme page for links and… Continue reading
Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics by John Feinstein is a young adult novel set at the London Olympics and the run-up to them. The main character, Susan Carol Anderson, is a competitive swimmer. She learns firsthand, as she prepares for the competition, that it’s easy for a… Continue reading
