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
When it’s time to study marsupials, a teacher’s mind turns lightly to thoughts of Australia. Don’t forget the North American marsupial, the possum! Our possum lesson plans include a little science, Native American folklore, and picture books. If you haven’t talked about marsupials before, explain that marsupials keep their babies… 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
Strego Nona, or Grandma Witch, is an original story by Tomie de Paola that has the feeling of a folktale. In the story, Strega Nona is a witch who helps the people of her town with things like getting rid of headaches and warts, and she makes love potions “for… Continue reading
The story of Aladdin comes from The Arabian Nights or The 1,001 Nights, a collection of traditional stories from the Middle East. In the story, a young boy is approached by a man who claims to be his uncle. Actually a powerful magician, the supposed uncle leads Aladdin to a… Continue reading
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
“Cinderella” is one of the best-known and best-loved of all fairy tales, and for good reason. It’s a dramatic story with a strong moral. The story tells of a virtuous, hard-working young girl who is mistreated by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters and forced to sit among the ashes and… 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
