Book Of Choice Craft Lesson (The Magic School Bus)

Discussion:
One of my favorite books in elementary school was the Magic School Bus series. When I found this book again I realized why I loved it so much. These books are very fun to read but are also very educational. Each book is about a different topic having to do with science and the crazy adventures the students have with Mrs. Frizzle as they travel through hurricanes, tornadoes and tropical storms. The book in the series that I recently purchased is The Magic School Bus, Inside A Hurricane. I feel that this book would be great to use to introduce students to the different types of weather we will all experience.

How To Teach It:
I would read this book before I was going to teach a unit on weather in science. Anytime you can sneak in reading outside of actual reading time is always going to be a plus. This book teaches what forms hurricanes, the components of a hurricane, why there are tornados and the damages these types of weather can cause. I would use this book as a group read and each student will read a section of it aloud. After they finish the read each group will make their very own tornado in a bottle. Each group will need two one liter bottles with water, soap and glitter paper (debris) put in one. The two bottles will be connected with bottle connectors. They will swirl the bottles in a circular motion and then turn it upside down to create their very own tornado. After this project each group will write about what they have learned about tornadoes and hurricanes from this project and the book. Each group will make a presentation to the class about their new findings!

Cole, Joanna and Bruce Degen. The Magic School Bus: Inside A Hurricane. New York NY: Scholastic Inc., 1997.