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Community Scavenger Hunt
Watch our video exploring our neighborhoods, and then send your students out with a worksheet to find contrasts in their own neighborhoods. Continue reading
Category: social studies
Chocolate Lesson Plans
Chocolate is worth studying, and it can be a great classroom theme all year round. The very first thing to do, when you first start thinking about using the theme, is to write off to the chocolate companies explaining that you plan to do this in your classroom. They… Continue reading
Halloween Lesson Plans
Do you observe Hallowe’en in your classroom? Some do, with parties and costume parades and all, and some don’t. Maybe you (or your district, parents, community leaders, administration…) disapprove of Halloween and would rather not bring it into the classroom at all, but you feel like you spend the whole… Continue reading
Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15th to October 15th is National Hispanic Heritage Month. We made a simple center with leftover fiesta bulletin board border. We put events from the history of Mexico onto craft sticks and had students put them in order. It works just as well to alphabetize Spanish words, sort Hispanic… Continue reading
Dia de Los Meurtos Lesson Plans
Celebrate the Day of the Dead in your classroom this year. The celebration, popular in Mexico and in some parts of the U.S., falls on October 31 and November 1st and 2nd, and is related to our Halloween. The focus of the holiday is the celebration of the lives… Continue reading
Vampire Lesson Plans
For Halloween, for a new way to get reluctant readers to enjoy the classics, or just for fun, try some vampire lessons. English Start with vampire literature: Vunce Upon a Time is a heartwarming story from the illustrator of Olive, the Other Reindeer. Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots is part… Continue reading
Google Earth and Your Community
Google Earth is a wonderful free tool for the classroom. Use it for studying your community. Click on the link to download it. A couple of years ago I asked Josepha how she used Google Earth and she said that she looked at stuff and said, “Ooooh!” This is… Continue reading
Neighborhood Art Classroom Idea
Do you have public art in your town? We live in towns with plenty of public art, and you may, too. Here are some forms of neighborhood art: statues fountains murals art installations If you can’t think of any examples like this from your town, look a little further… Continue reading
Community Helpers/Careers Lesson Plans
Community helpers and careers plans go together. For younger students, you may focus more on the community helpers aspect, recognizing the grownups in their neighborhoods, while older students may focus more on the jobs they might choose to hold when they grow up. We think it’s a continuum, with an… Continue reading
