One book I love to read with my students is Ivy Ruckman’s Night of the Twisters. It goes wonderfully with all of our literature objectives, but it is also a great story for bringing in the weather related objectives of 5th grade science. The readability level is on the 4th grade level, so it allows us to focus on specific reading and science skills. I also love that this story is based on a real event in history!
Here are some resources for teaching with Night of the Twisters:
- The REAL Night of the Twisters (bring in primary sources)
- The ABC Family version of the movie is available on Netflix (great for compare/contrast)
- Tons of resources about tornadoes and the story
- Guided Reading Lesson Plan (Word) (theme of catastrophe)
- 5 Day Lesson Plan from Learn NC
- Weather Activities to go with Night of the Twisters
- Multiple Intelligences based Lesson Plan
- Stormy Weather unit plan
Resources for teaching about tornadoes:
- Great aggregation of resources
- From Discovery Education
- Weather WizKids
- From Education World
- FEMA for Kids
- Tornado safety coloring pages from NOAA
- Safety information
