Teachers' Tales
Share your Teacher's Tale with us via our Contact Us page!
Let us know how you're using Magic Tree House books and nonfiction Fact Trackers across the curriculum in your classroom and we may post your story here.
Feel free to include a picture!
Elementary Schools
"My first grade students got the opportunity to dress up as Egyptian characters and go back to the time of the Egyptians. After a series of lessons to support MUMMIES IN THE MORNING and the Fact Tracker, MUMMIES and PYRAMIDS, our cl Read on
"My first grade students got the opportunity to dress up as Egyptian characters and go back to the time of the Egyptians. After a series of lessons to support MUMMIES IN THE MORNING and the Fact Tracker, MUMMIES and PYRAMIDS, our class created a Living Museum of Egyptian characters! I used lesson plans from this site to support the books I received through the Mary Pope Osborne's Gift of Books Grant. I loved picking and choosing lesson plans from this site according to the activities that were appropriate for my grade level."
"We would be thrilled to use the Fact Trackers in our classrooms in conjunction with the matching Magic Tree House books to actively engage our students in all kinds of genres of reading... Your [MTH] books lend themselves nicely to cross-curricular co Read on
"We would be thrilled to use the Fact Trackers in our classrooms in conjunction with the matching Magic Tree House books to actively engage our students in all kinds of genres of reading... Your [MTH] books lend themselves nicely to cross-curricular connections in science, social-studies, history lessons, as well as springboards for great classroom discussions about author's purpose, historical fiction, and various other literary components of reading and writing. There are so many valuable lesson plan resources on your website that is hard to choose just one! The teachers at [our school] have been working diligently to transition to the Common Core standards and capitalize on their students’ love of reading. Utilizing your lesson plans is a great springboard for our various grade levels to decide what works best for their individual students in terms of furthering their love of reading, comprehension, and thinking skills."
"Utilizing your lesson plans is a great springboard for various grade levels to decide what works best for their individual students in terms of furthering their love of reading, comprehension, and thinking skills.There are so many valuable lesson plan Read on
"Utilizing your lesson plans is a great springboard for various grade levels to decide what works best for their individual students in terms of furthering their love of reading, comprehension, and thinking skills.There are so many valuable lesson plan resources on your website that is hard to choose just one! We have been working diligently to transition to the Common Core standards and capitalize on their students’ love of reading."
"You have no idea what a new book means to a child that has nothing. I have over half of my second grade students reading at a Pre-Kindergarten level. Reading is a struggle and a chore for most students who come to
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"You have no idea what a new book means to a child that has nothing. I have over half of my second grade students reading at a Pre-Kindergarten level. Reading is a struggle and a chore for most students who come to school hungry and don't understand how valuable reading can be. As a teacher with severe dyslexia, I am a firm believer in giving a child a book that excites and engages them. I REMEMBER reading my first MTH book and falling in love. There is a magic in these books... What will I do with these gracious donated books? I will expand, engage and excite learning in every space of my room. I enjoy finding out what my students want to learn and engaging them with answers. I firmly believe in giving a child a book and letting them build confidence holding that book and learning to take pride in learning its context. I love your lessons on this website as well. I want to thank you again for providing this opportunity. I wish you could see the faces on my children when they are given books. I feel that as a teacher seeing literacy transformed in the mind of a child is the greatest joy anyone can experience. Thank you again."
Cross Curriculum
"Oftentimes, students in our school struggle to be motivated to read due to a lack of resources and parental support...the Magic Tree House books would be the perfect series to use for our theme because of its cros
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"Oftentimes, students in our school struggle to be motivated to read due to a lack of resources and parental support...the Magic Tree House books would be the perfect series to use for our theme because of its cross-curricular elements. As a child is reading one of your books, they are being exposed to geography, real world topics, and history through the excitement and adventure of fiction. Our hope is that by exposing the students to this type of literature, they will be drawn into the wonderful world of reading! The Fact Trackers match the content standards that our students learn throughout the year. Therefore, teachers can use your books to enhance student learning through book clubs, projects, and other learning activities."
"I love this series because it integrates math, social studies and science into easy to read children's books. My kids have been checking out the books from the library and have quickly found Jack and Annie to
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"I love this series because it integrates math, social studies and science into easy to read children's books. My kids have been checking out the books from the library and have quickly found Jack and Annie to be not only characters, but friends...I have never seen students so interested in learning about geography, science and social studies. I know that with this series, I can help take kids to places they never dreamed possible."
"Not only will the MTH books be used in ELA to build fluency and comprehension, but also will they be used to connect to topics in our science and social studies lessons. In a math lesson, a graph could be used to show the amount of students who h Read on
"Not only will the MTH books be used in ELA to build fluency and comprehension, but also will they be used to connect to topics in our science and social studies lessons. In a math lesson, a graph could be used to show the amount of students who have completed reading of a particular Fact Tracker."
Science and Social Studies Connection
"The Magic Tree House books that I selected tie into the Science and Social Studies curriculum that I teach and I am always looking for ways to connect reading and content. I am very interested in using the lesson plans provided on this site in my clas Read on
"The Magic Tree House books that I selected tie into the Science and Social Studies curriculum that I teach and I am always looking for ways to connect reading and content. I am very interested in using the lesson plans provided on this site in my classroom. Thank you for this gift!"
Praise for Nonfiction
"I am so excited to have the opportunity to use Magic Treehouse book in a whole class instruction. Being able to pair up the Fact Tracker with the fiction title is ideal in my classroom. I believe my students will enjoy being able to disc
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"I am so excited to have the opportunity to use Magic Treehouse book in a whole class instruction. Being able to pair up the Fact Tracker with the fiction title is ideal in my classroom. I believe my students will enjoy being able to discuss the work it takes to know the background information that creates Jack and Annie's experiences.
Because of our strong nonfiction emphasis, I would love to use these books to work with questioning and research, I could see my students at the end of the year having a Magic Tree House museum to share with the younger kids and parents. This museum will be filled with their projects we do in class throughout the year. I would also like for them to become the researchers and write a fiction piece, but adding that nonfiction twist.
These books would be used year after year in the hands of third and fourth graders."
"I will use many of these fiction and nonfiction Magic Tree House books in cross-curricular lessons. One title I am really excited to use is Polar Bears Past Bedtime. In science, we will be studying mammals and this is an exciting way to introduce
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"I will use many of these fiction and nonfiction Magic Tree House books in cross-curricular lessons. One title I am really excited to use is Polar Bears Past Bedtime. In science, we will be studying mammals and this is an exciting way to introduce them to mammals through literature. The Fact Tracker that accompanies this book, [Polar Bears and the Arctic], is a great nonfiction resource to use with my students.
The love of animals and habitats and so much more can be explored through these books. Another set of books that I would use with my students is Dolphins At Daybreak and the accompanying Fact Tracker, Dolphins and Sharks. My students would love seeing Jack and Annie exploring a new adventure with the ocean as the setting! Many of my students have never seen the ocean. They are desert dwellers and the idea of a huge body of water is quite the experience for them.
I would culminate these stories with a huge math assignment of graphing and comparing habitats. I would compare the weather that both of these mammals live in as well as their diet, how they raise their young and their interactions with humans."
"I plan to order as many of the non-fiction, Magic Tree House Fact Trackers as possible to put into the school library. Part of my job is to integrate literacy with social studies and science. MTH Fact Trackers are the perfect way to imp Read on
"I plan to order as many of the non-fiction, Magic Tree House Fact Trackers as possible to put into the school library. Part of my job is to integrate literacy with social studies and science. MTH Fact Trackers are the perfect way to implement this initiative. Additionally, they are easy to read for the large population of our students who struggle in reading. ...I will do my best to provide a professional development session to assist teachers in how to use the books to enhance their social studies and science curriculum."
"My students love nonfiction books. They can not get enough of them! We will use the books in reading, science, and writing. We would use these books to help us with researching more on a topic and write our reports. Students are ver
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"My students love nonfiction books. They can not get enough of them! We will use the books in reading, science, and writing. We would use these books to help us with researching more on a topic and write our reports. Students are very into reading the Fact Trackers because it is something that they want to know more about.
I create my own lessons but I have used the lessons on this website for guided reading. The students love reading these books, so they usually get very caught up in the books."
Round the World Theme
"My students love reading Magic Tree House books. It is a way for them to travel all around the world with Jack and Annie and learn about important places and dates in history as they read. I love using these books in small guided reading groups with m Read on
"My students love reading Magic Tree House books. It is a way for them to travel all around the world with Jack and Annie and learn about important places and dates in history as they read. I love using these books in small guided reading groups with my 2nd grade students. Our discussions often require me to grab my laptop so we can google the place where Jack and Annie are because the kids just have to see more! Magic Tree House stories bring the world into our classroom. The Fact Tracker books work hand in hand with the fiction stories. When we finished the fiction story, Dogs in the Dead of Night, my reading group was thrilled to read the nonfiction Fact Tracker, Dog Heroes next!"
"We used a field trip to time travel with our Magic Tree House books! There are many opportunities for children to experience these stories and connect with concept
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"We used a field trip to time travel with our Magic Tree House books! There are many opportunities for children to experience these stories and connect with concepts, content and their community through this wonderful and exciting series. For many content area field trips you may schedule, there is virtually a matching Tree House book or Fact Tracker to support and compliment your curriculum!"
"The 3rd grade students will be participating in a Read Around The World with Magic Tree House program. He/she will be using printable passports to read at least 3 titles from each of the seven continents. Upon com
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"The 3rd grade students will be participating in a Read Around The World with Magic Tree House program. He/she will be using printable passports to read at least 3 titles from each of the seven continents. Upon completion of 3 books from a continent, and collecting the passport stamp, student will receive a "Ticket" for that continent. At the culmination, students will use these "tickets" to visit booths at a world's fair! To kick off the program, each teacher will read Night Of The New Magicians and discuss what a world's fair is. In addition each of the 8 classes will choose 3 books to make a movie trailer for using photo booth and green screen, so students will be whisked away to setting described in the book without giving away the ending. Each student will be keeping a travel journal to record what he/she learns on this virtual trip. Our program will be linked to social studies and science standards and tied into a reading unit project where each student will research and report on a historical time period. Students love Magic Tree House books, and we as educators are hoping to get them hooked on a series that they can keep reading!"
