Social Studies and Tall Tales

A teacher in a classroom near mine just completed a unit on tall tales.

Students learned about the importance of story telling in cultures and history, and then studied the literary genre of tall tales. Student were first introduced to the real story of the characters within tall tales. After reading some historically accurate accounts, students discussed why/how a tall tale might evolve in a culture.

Students read a number of well-know tall tales, and then took time to construct a tall tale of their own.

I love the way this teacher integrated social studies, language arts (reading and writing), as well as some fun art. I was also impressed with how students were stretched to synthesize and apply what they had read and learned about the historical basis for tall tales as they constructed their own!

Cereal Box Book Reports

This super idea came from my field experience teacher.

Each student chose a fictional book of interest on his or her independent reading level. Students were given a week to read their book. Reading was done mostly at home. Some students used extra time in class to get ahead on their reading.

The teacher had a classroom aid wrap empty cereal boxes (brought in by the students) in white butcher block paper. Each student was given a box after they were wrapped.

Each student received a set of forms to be completed, along with a project rubric. The forms were used to help the students capture details from and summarize the stories they'd read.


In the end, each student was asked to create a fictitious "cereal-sounding" name for his or her
cereal that tied in the title or main characters/theme of the story they'd read. Students created an illustration for the front of their box using various art supplies and the new cereal name. On the left side of the box was the "Key Ingredients" which listed the setting, plot, theme, main characters, etc. On the right side of the box was the "Product Summary" which was a short summarization of the book. On the back each student was required to create a cereal box game which incorporated aspects of the story. Some students made crossword puzzles or word searches; others made riddles or jokes based on their books.




Extra credit was given to students who completed the required components and also made a story-linked prize to go in their cereal.


Students spent time practicing how they would advertise their cereal and book to their peers, and then each student presented their cereal box book report to the class. Students had their photos taken with an iPad while presenting and the photos and cereal boxes will be displayed in the classroom.

What a creative way for students to engage with a text, as well as other students. Students thought about the stories they'd read, aspects of advertisement, artistic design, writing, and how to engage their peers.

Art and Math

One thing I really appreciated about my field teacher this semester was her willingness to integrate mathematics and art. I love this because I believe it allows children who may otherwise struggle with the algorithms of math, to make connections to the patterns and beauty that are inherent to the study and understanding of math concepts.

When working on remediation in measuring to the nearest inch and half inch, the teacher had students practice this way:

First they used a ruler to measure by half inch increments along one long side of an 11 x 17 inch paper. Then, they continued that pattern along the opposite long side of the paper. Using the ruler, students then connected the marks they'd made to draw straight lines of half inch width. This process was hard for some and required scaffolding.

Next students made two random curvy lines perpendicular in orientation to the straight lines. The coloring came last, and students alternated two colors to create this impressive design. These also made for a really neat, math-oriented bulletin board display.

Similarly, the teacher gave students a paper with eight dots to begin her unit on faces, vertices, and edges of geometric shapes. The students used rulers to connect every point to every other point and then colored within the shapes formed to complete this beautiful 8-Point Design.

Heroes and Social Studies

Heroes are such an integral aspect of the study of cultures and societies - our values, morals, and beliefs about right and wrong as people groups throughout history. When working with my classroom teacher on a Rosa Parks unit during the month of February, I found it helpful to discuss heroic qualities with my students as way for them to clarify their thoughts in a prewriting exercise. One thing we did together was to create an anchor chart that recorded the students thoughts about what makes a hero.

First students engaged in an anticipatory set in which they took 1 minute to jot their thoughts about heroes on a Post-it note. Then students were given 1 minute to turn to a peer to discuss what they'd written. Students were then given 1 more minute to revise or add to their definition of a hero on their Post-it note.

After a lesson and discussion of heroism as it related to Rosa Parks, students dictated and I wrote their thoughts as we brainstormed the qualities of a real hero to create a classroom anchor chart. The students were then able to add their Post-it note definitions to empty areas of our poster. This anchor chart was used by students as they wrote an essay about why Rosa Parks is an American hero.

Art and Acrostics

Poetry and Art seem a natural fit, and I really thought that a friend of mine who teaches third grade did a neat job integrating the two with her students.








The teacher was doing a unit on different types of poetry, and had
already integrated art into the presentation of diamante poems, cinquain poems, and haiku poems, but was searching for a way for the children to have artistic expression in connection with an acrostic poem. That is when she came across this interesting method of design and decided to have students write an acrostic poem using their names. I think the results were aesthetically appealing, and the students had fun presenting their finished poetry.

Salt Dough Maps

 It was salty madness - I tell you! Arrrrhhhhhggggg! 

Here is a simple, inexpensive recipe that will have you on your way to getting your students aesthetically, kinesthetically, and analytically  involved in whatever content area it is applied - we used social studies - geography.

Making the Dough:  Mix 1 cup of salt, 2 cups of water and 1 cup water (or less) into a pliable dough. If the dough is too sticky, more flour may be added; if it is too dry, add a bit more water.

Dough batches can be sent in by parents to expedite the activity; or just request donations of ingredients from parents if you choose to integrate a bit of math measurement make the dough with the students in class.

You will also want rectangular or square sections of heavy cardboard to build maps upon (the lids of paper boxes work nicely), craft sticks and toothpicks for cutting dough and marking important features, rolling pins, paint (minimum brown, green, blue), brushes, 8.5 x 11 topographical map printouts, index cards and markers for labeling. You should also encourage students to bring any bits and scraps: foreign currency, buttons, small flags, Lego figures, etc. they want to use in representing their country.

Step One: Roll the dough out on top of the cardboard. You will want to leave it pretty thick. An alternative is to press and mold the dough only using your hands. This technique worked really well for one of our groups that tried it - and their resulting topographical map looked very authentic!

Step Two: Lay your printed out topographical map on top of the dough and cut around the perimeter.

Step Three: Remove the printed map and locate significant land forms such as rivers, bodies of water, mountains, as well as major cities or attractions. Mark them - we etched out rivers with toothpicks and took extra dough to form mountain ranges.

Step Four: Paint! Show your students how to use a gentle touch painting atop the wet dough. Gentle strokes and patting paint on works best.

Step Five: Label! While paint and dough are still wet, students may create mini flags using bits of card stock and toothpicks to label cities, rivers, mountain ranges, etc. Or - you may wish to give the maps 48 hours to dry, and then use fine tipped Sharpie markers to label directly on the dough.

Step Six: Reflect! We were encouraged to reflect on this experience at length - we journaled and we shared, but in an elementary school setting it would be a super extension for students to write or create power-points about their countries or states, to create lists of new vocabulary or terminology from their topographical maps, to identify features that match the five themes of geography, to share their countries in a presentation to another class, or to create quizzes for fellow classmates to take.