Get medieval for inspiring lessons on social studies, science, and art. The Middle Ages lasted from the sack of Rome in 400 AD to the beginning of the Renaissance in the 15th century, so there’s plenty to work with. Let us share our favorite lesson plans for working on… Continue reading
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a fun ghost story by early American writer Washington Irving. Read the whole story online with photos at the website of the Sleepy Hollow cemetery. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad includes Disney’s terrific cartoon version, voiced by Bing Crosby. It makes… Continue reading
The Sea King’s Daughter is a lesser-known fairy tale from a Russian ballad. In the story, a young musician descends to the home of the Sea King and plays for a wild party — which, he learns, sets the seas raging and endangers the ships above. He marries the… Continue reading
Weather mythology is a rich literary genre, with connections to science, critical thinking, and social studies. Here are some of our favorite lesson plans: Compare Thor and Zeus Thor is the Thunder God in Norse mythology. He has a magic hammer, a magic belt, and a cart pulled by a… Continue reading
The story of Atlantis, the wonderful kingdom that sank beneath the ocean, captures student imaginations and provides terrific teachable moments for science, literature, and social studies. The only written record of Atlantis, and the origin of the story, is in the Dialogues of the Greek philosopher Plato, where he writes… Continue reading
A dragonfly was flying along through a jungle in the Philippines, and stopped to rest on the branch of a tree. The monkeys who lived in the tree ran over, chattering, and told her to leave. “This is our tree!” they jeered. “You can’t sit here!” “I am so… Continue reading
The Tortoise and the Hare is one of Aesop’s fables, also done by Jean de La Fontaine. You can read it, and admire one of Rackham’s illustrations for it, here. A shorter and easier version is online here. Here‘s a brief printable version. Here’s a short illustrated one. Here is a… Continue reading
Sharks are fascinating creatures, very different from us and from fish, and they offer just enough scariness to make an exciting classroom study. Here are two of our favorite approaches to the topic. Basic background: National Geographic has several lesson plans about sharks, including Are Sharks as Dangerous as We… Continue reading
In 1936, Sergei Prokofiev wrote Peter and the Wolf to introduce the instruments of the orchestra to children. There is probably still no better way to do it. The story is simple yet exciting: Peter disobeys his grandfather and goes into the woods, where he sees some animals, all of whom… Continue reading
