Timbertoes® Lesson Plan
The following lesson plan uses the Timbertoes Family section of Highlights for Children magazine and teaches you how to incorporate them into your everyday classroom activities.
For a sample of the Timbertoes section click here.
SOCIAL SKILLS
Objective: Discuss the roles of members of a group
LANGUAGE ARTS -- WRITING, VISUAL ARTS, AND DRAMA
Objective: Create originals from a model
These ideas are organized to meet specific objectives within designated curriculum areas that are shown above.
- Read the story aloud to the students first, asking about and commenting on the pictures as you go, having the children predict, and so on. Read through again, with the children joining as well as they are able, reading expressively.
- Read through once more together, with everyone pausing to make the gestures that go with the story. If there are phrases and gestures that the children enjoy, say them and do them more than once.
- Now look back through the story. What does Tommy do? Mabel? Ma? Pa? You might have students tell the story from one character's point of view.
- This takes really close attention. How do Mabel's actions affect anyone else? Tommy? Pa? Ma? What might any of them have done that would have made a difference to the others?
- Older students might like to look at the Timbertoes in this way in various issues of the magazine to see if any of the characters usually behave in one way or another and usually influence each other in one way or another.
- Have students read a Timbertoes story to family members. Ask brothers and sisters if they think they are like Tommy or Mabel. Ask adults if they think they are in any way like Ma or Pa.
- Share family comments in class.
- Some students will probably want to write, draw, or act out their own Timbertoes story by now. Or maybe they will want to invent their own characters.
The class could have a lot of fun with its own ongoing characters that have different adventures. Of course their characters don't need to be a traditional family like the Timbertoes or lead a Timbertoes kind of life.
The activity will also give you a chance for discussion of how one person's behavior influences others.
For a sample of the Timbertoes section click here.