When we study animals, we always cover these elements: Morphology: the physical characteristics of animals, including body parts and adaptations. Life cycles: how animals are born, live, and reproduce. Habitats: the places where animals live. Relationships with humans: how humans affect the animals and how they affect us. Some of… Continue reading
There are three obvious directions to go with the idea of rainbows: weather, colors, or the symbolism of rainbows as signs of good fortune. Rainbow colors classroom ideas Use rainbows to look at colors with a bright classroom theme: Rainbow of Possibilities Fadeless Rainbow bulletin board paper Garden Mama’s Waldorf… Continue reading
“The Princess and the Pea” is another tale by Hans Christian Andersen, though he himself said that it was a story he remembered from his childhood. The Brothers Grimm included a similar story in one of their collections in the 1840s, but removed it when they found that Andersen had… Continue reading
A circus theme is perfect for summer, and festive for back to school, too. While this theme is most obviously suited to preschool and early elementary classrooms, older classes could look at Picasso’s circus paintings, learn some circus skills, or do research on the history of the circus. It’s easy… Continue reading
“Chicken Little” is a very good story for young students, with its high level of repetition and simple, cumulative story. But I also like it as a lead-in to disaster preparedness issues for the older ones. “Chicken Little” is also sometimes called “Chicken Licken.” It is even sometimes called “Henny… Continue reading
From preschoolers who love to play with toy trucks to high school students discovering all the jobs involved in logistics and freight transport, everyone can learn something from a good lesson about trucks. Scroll down to find lessons at different grade levels. Preschool and Kindergarten Read books about trucks: My… Continue reading
Throughout our history, we humans have wanted to go from one place to another, and to take things from one place to another, so a lot of our ingenuity has gone into transportation. We have a number of relevant classroom themes and lesson plan collections already posted: Trucks lesson plans… Continue reading
Whether you’re kept inside by winter storms, need something for fast finishers, or are just in the mood for some fun, these resources will give you fun stuff for Christmas and Chanukah. Just a note: we’ve noticed that a search for “free printables” turns up some shady sites that… Continue reading
Spiders make a fascinating subject of study for preschool and kindergarten students. Young students should know some spider rhymes: The eensy weensy spider went up the water spout Down came the rain and washed the spider out Up came the sun and dried up all the rain And the… Continue reading
All of the things we make are made from materials of one kind or another. Sometimes they’re made from raw materials, and sometimes we have to make the materials first before we can make objects from them. The science of materials at its simplest is suitable for preschool classes,… Continue reading
