Carlo Collodi (pen name of Carlo Lorenzini) wrote his Adventures of Pinocchio in 1883. The book told the story of a wooden puppet who dreamed of being a real boy. American students usually are more familiar with Walt Disney’s 1940 animated film version of Pinocchio. In either version, the… Continue reading
Introduce a study of force and motion. Give each group of students a toy car and some other objects, such as a magnet, a rubber band, or a fan. Challenge the kids to find different to make the toy car move. As you learn more about force and motion, use… Continue reading
Butterflies are a common symbol of growth and change — a great classroom theme! There are some ready-made items for your bulletin board: Scholastic’s clever 3-D Butterflies! Bulletin Board Mini Bulletin Boards- Butterflies & Moths from North Star You can also make butterflies from circular coffee filters. Have students… Continue reading
“Head, thorax, abdomen, Abdomen! Head, thorax, abdomen, Abdomen! One, two, three, four, five, six legs, Head, thorax, abdomen, Abdomen!” Continue reading
In Aesop’s fable of The Ant and the Grasshopper, the ant works hard all summer while the grasshopper plays. Not only does the grasshopper play, but he actually taunts the hardworking ant. Come winter, the ant has plenty to eat and the grasshopper dies. The moral is clear: work hard… Continue reading
The national science standards mandate a set of topics for all studies of organisms: Their morphology — that is, their form, body parts, and other physical characteristics. Their lifecycles. Their habitats. Their relationships with humans. What are the relationships among insects and humans? When you think of insect interactions… Continue reading
The honeybee is our state insect, but it’s a great theme even if you don’t have that connection. A bee theme lets you be Busy Bees or The Bee’s Knees, to ask What’s the Buzz? or to Bee All you Can Bee, and to have Bee-Attitudes. You can get your room… Continue reading
“There was an old lady who swallowed a fly…” goes the traditional song. “I don’t know why she swallowed a fly. Perhaps she’ll die.” The old woman goes on cheerfully enough to swallow a spider “that wriggled and jiggled and ticked inside her” and then a bird, a cat, a… Continue reading
Seven at One Blow or The Brave Little Tailor is a Grimm’s fairy tale about a tailor who swats seven flies at once, and is so proud of himself that he boasts to everyone that he has killed “seven at one blow.” When his listeners think he means that he… Continue reading
Many teachers have a favorite Back to School Lesson Plan to kick off the new school year. Heather McDonnell from Walter Turnbow Elementary suggested an unusual one. She studies skylines. Heather’s mission, she says, is “to bring the world to my classroom.” So she uses the Dr. Seuss bookOh,… Continue reading
