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Lesson Plans - By Month

Thomas Edison for Kids

To explore the scientific knowledge behind some of Thomas Edison’s inventions and the impact that his work has had on society and history.

Story of Silk

Students will learn the steps in the silk-making process. They will arrange sequencing cards to illustrate the steps. Later students will unravel a silkworm’s cocoon.

So Many Inventions!

Students listen to two books about Chinese inventions. Then they make a simple compass. Later students look at home for Chinese inventions, bring them to school, and make a display

Timelines and Texts: Motivating Students to Read Nonfiction

Students’ success at reading documents (in this case, timelines) is imperative if they are to develop and update knowledge of events through the integration of ideas.

The first typewriter patent was awarded in 1868.

The invention of the typewriter led to the keyboards on the computers of today. Show your class a computer and a typewriter or two if you can find significantly different typewriters, such as a manual one and an electric one. Begin an inquiry-based study that compares typewriters to computers. Students can talk about everything from the appearance of the two tools to the way that one gets the final, finished product (a piece of paper with alphanumeric figures on it) to the different ways that they might use the two machines if they were composing a paper. As a conclusion to the project, ask students to hypothesize about how the shift from typewriters to computers changes the way that work is done.