Magic Tree House, Index

I'm finally getting ready to start posting about our Magic Tree House Bookclub! I've been teaching it for awhile now, but I hadn't saved all the links of things I'd used. Trying to find everything, upload our photos etc. It's slow going!

So, the basis for the co-op, is the Magic Tree House books. You can read more about forming a co-op in a previous post. Basically, we get together once a week, for 2 hrs. The book is read at home prior to the class. Big kids can read on their own, little kids get read to, etc.

When we assemble together, I've got tons of hands on activities for them to learn about the topic of the book. As a framework, I've used the Random House Magic Tree House Lesson Plans, free online!! It has things from activities, to worksheets, to certificates for finishing.

I've wildly supplemented with other activities, crafts, etc that I've found online. I'll try to be as specific as I can in the following posts regarding where I've found everything. When you read what all we do, remember, I'm NOT craftsy! I HATE CRAFTS!! I'm NOT CREATIVE! I am, however, a GREAT "googler". I can google "3rd grade , ancient egypt", or "knights, activities" or "ancient rome, food" etc and find all sorts of great things to incorporate!

I have a huge binder, with page protectors in it. I've started it off with the Index, below, then a separating page for each book and Unit. Then inside each book I have the various activities I've found, worksheets, etc. The last few pages of each book section are the outlines I've drafted up. I overplan for each week so we never run out of things to do. Sometimes you start explaining something and it's all Greek to them...so you stop and move to something else. Sometimes the thing you've planned to take 1/2 an hour takes 5 minutes, or vise versa! Then at the end of the week I write down what we actually DID. So, you'll likely get the version of "what we did" with "extras" being the extra things we didn't get to. PLEASE feel free to copy what I've done! That's why it's here!

Below is the Index that we're following. It's not in book order, it's broken up by the publisher, into different themes/times. I like it!

INDEX

Unit 1: Prehistoric Times
Sunset of the Sabertooth & RG Sabertooths and the Ice Age
Dinosaurs Before Dark & RG Dinosaurs

Unit 2: Warriors on the Sea and Land
Viking Ships at Sunrise
Night of the Ninjas
Pirates Past Noon & RG Pirates
The Knight at Dawn & RG Knights and Castles

Unit 3: Ancient Worlds
Vacation Under the Volcano & RG Ancient Rome and Pompeii
Hour of the Olympics & RG Ancient Greece and the Olympics
Day of the Dragon King
Mummies in the Morning & RG Mummies and Pyramids

Unit 4: Natural Habitats
Good Morning, Gorillas
Dingoes at Dinnertime
Tigers at Twilight
Polar Bears Past Bedtime & RG Polar Bears and the Arctic
Lions at Lunchtime
Afternoon on the Amazon & RG Rain Forests

Unit 5: America’s Past
Thanksgiving on Thursday
Civil War on Sunday
Buffalo Before Breakfast
Tonight on the Titanic & RG Titanic
Ghost Town at Sundown


Unit 6: Fighting for Freedom
Revolutionary War on Wednesday & RG The American Revolution
Civil War On Sunday

Unit 7: Water and Space
Dolphins at Daybreak & RG Dolphins and Sharks
Midnight on the Moon & RG Space

Unit 8: Natural Disasters
Earthquakes in the Early Morning
Twister On Tuesday & RG Twisters and Other Terrible Storms

Unit 9: The World of William Shakespeare
Stage Fright on a Summer Night


Unit10: Exotic Lands
High Tide in Hawaii & RG Tsunamis and Other Natural Disasters


Unit 11: Merlin Missions
Dragon of the Red Dawn
Blizzard of the Blue Moon
Night of the New Magicians
Season of the Sandstorms
Mondays with a Mad Genius
Dark Day in the Deep Sea & RG Sea Monsters