Geography lessons come to life when you narrow your focus to a single country. Let’s use Italy as an example. One great way to organize a country study is with the Five Themes of Geography — and when you’ve applied them to one country, your students will understand the… Continue reading
Rome was at first a village providing a central space for shepherds and farmers living in the hills of what is now Italy. By 753 BC, the city of Rome had come into being, named for its first king, Romulus. There were kings until about 509 BC, when the Roman… Continue reading
Frankenstein is the story of a man, Victor Frankenstein, and a monster, who is never given a name. It was written by Mary Shelley, who began creating the tale when she was just 19. Read it online at Literature.org. Having read and enjoyed the book, choose from the cross-curriculum connections… Continue reading
Haunted houses are part of mythology and urban legends in many places and times. They make a good topic for lessons with art, social studies, and writing. Depending on your population, you can put them together with ghost stories for a great genre lesson, use them for Halloween or architecture… Continue reading
We’re getting ready for Ask a Stupid Question Day. It used to be National Stupid Question Day, but we hear that it is now observed in the UK as well as in the US. Ask a Stupid Question Day is the day for freely asking those questions you hesitate… Continue reading
We’re amazed by some of the books for kids and young adults which have been often banned and challenged. S-Collection has another list of challenged and banned kids’ books. A definitive list isn’t possible, simply because there isn’t a central banning and challenging agency or process. Some books may… Continue reading
The “digital divide” refers to the difference in opportunities between those who have access to digital technologies like the internet and those who do not. In the classroom, it comes down to the difference in school preparation between kids who have computers and those who do not. In the 21st… Continue reading
Sandwiches are awesome enough to deserve their own day, and November 3 is that day, the birthday of the Earl of Sandwich. According to the story, said Earl didn’t like to leave the card table to get a meal, so he devised the sandwich as a quick pick me up… Continue reading
When you listen to the track “Serengeti” from Wild Child, you’ll be invited to close your eyes and imagine the Serengeti, with zebras and lions. “Sunrise in the Jungle” lists a wonderful assortment of African animals. “Rita the Cheetah” is in first person, bragging “I’m bigger than anything you’ve… Continue reading
There are both good and bad reasons to use Microsoft PowerPoint in the classroom. Here are some, in descending order of value: A good reason: you want to convey information that is best grasped with visual input, such as maps, graphs, or photos. A fairly good reason: you want to… Continue reading
