Classroom subject areas
The Colosseum, built between 70 and 78 AD by the Emperor Flavian, was an astonishing triumph of engineering and architecture, and continues to amaze visitors today. See our favorite Colosseum lesson plans below. Online resources: Our Ancient Rome lesson plans will lead you to a 3-D rendering of the Colosseum… Continue reading
Do your students think that Ancient Egypt happened and then Ancient Greece happened and then Ancient Rome happened — and so on? We love teaching history and geography in units, but we don’t like the way students learn to think of civilizations and time periods as completely distinct from one… Continue reading
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
Studies of food can enrich your social studies lessons. 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
The idea of traveling through time has fascinated people for centuries. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells continues to be a popular example of science fiction and fantasy dealing with this possibility.You can read it online. In this book, a time traveler from 1895 goes into the very distant… Continue reading
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island and many more great stories, as well as some of the most popular children’s poetry. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a good, well-respected man. Mr. Hyde is a monster — in… Continue reading
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a fun ghost story by early American writer Washington Irving. Read the whole story online at Project Gutenberg. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad includes Disney’s terrific cartoon version, voiced by Bing Crosby. It makes a great choice for Hallowe’en party entertainment, or… 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
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
