Have you read Tornado by Betsy Byars? On this first day of winter, what a wonderful time to explore the mysteries of the weather! And "tornados" are a great place to begin. This story touches down at the cross section…

  When the cold of winter nips at your toes, remember summer with its warm, sunny days. While you are remembering, think butterfly. Remember how they come fluttering aglow with complex design—longings and swallowtails, and of course monarchs flitting through…

One of the best ways to learn to think is to learn about the tools available! empowering your students to learn about the parts and functions of their brain will inspire them to tap into the vast potential of this…

  Learning to follow a line is a skill that will teach students to think well. This skill is mathematical, involving spatial recognition, fractional and proportional relationships, and directional measurement. To complete this project you will need colored pencils or…

    What do the circulatory system, WW1, the life-cycle of a star, Samuel Adams, great characters from exceptional stories, and a single spring from the workings of an ink pen have in common? Why human potential, of course. Interdisciplinary…

It began back in November with our iModannari after Rothko who  thought that the greatest paintings were the ones that captured a moment of stillness. What better way to enter into the Thanksgiving season. Rothko painted rectangles. But he blurred the…

It's December in California, so we took to the great outdoors to tackle a master class. The mentor? None other than Fra Angelico.  Before tackling this Fra Angelico project, take a bit of advice from Leonardo: "It's easier to resist…

  Celebrate the many colors of Wassily Kandinsky and practice the math of concentricity in the process. Kandinsky connected color to sound. What an awesome metaphor: "The sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find…

When is a family like a map?  Help your 3rd and 4th grader explore a metaphor. This is the story of an old Parisian named Armand, who relished his solitary life. Children, he said, were like starlings, and one was…

Every journey through a Blackbird & Company literature discovery guide ends with a final project for the student to create and present. It's usually everyone's favorite activity and it gives them an opportunity to extend their time with a story…