Classroom subject areas
One particular day stands out in my mind when I think of junior high teaching. I was presenting a lesson on prehistoric tools. Force and motion, mostly, but a good dose of archaeology and anthropology, too. It’s a fun lesson, and I had a lot of hands-on elements. I was… 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. Jerry Pinkney has done a beautiful picture book version. Janet Stevens created 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
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in your classroom! Hold the margaritas, obviously, but otherwise it’s fiesta time! The first thing is to be sure not to call May 5 “Mexican Independence Day.” Mexico has an Independence Day in September. Cinco de Mayo is a day to celebrate the victory of a… 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
Sounds are caused when an object vibrates, causing vibrations in the medium through which it travels (generally air), which in turn cause vibrations in the ear drum of a listener. Faster vibrations create higher pitched sounds than slower vibrations. To learn about pitch, you can approach the question from… Continue reading
Think of all the people involved in taking care of your teeth! Here’s a lesson plan that works for career day, community helpers lessons, or dental health lessons. It’s intended to help students move beyond the most obvious career choices (such as dentists) and realize how many different jobs… Continue reading
Need some good books for Earth Day? Here are some fine ones. Check your library. Earth Day: An Alphabet Book The EARTH Book by Todd Parr is simple and straighforward. The Earth and I by Frank Asch is a sweet book about being friends with the Earth. It’s Earth… Continue reading
Just for fun (and early math practice), a spaceship counting worksheet for your class. We have different numbers of items, some all alike and some mixtures, and different arrangements, so there’s a little bit of challenge even though the numbers are small. Click to download the pdf file. count-spaceships Continue reading
Pluto used to be the ninth planet in the solar system. For a while it was the eighth planet. Now Pluto has been demoted and is no longer a planet at all.You can read the official announcement made in 2006 and see that there are three criteria for planethood,… Continue reading
