Description
WELCOME and Introduction to Fourth Grade with Teacher NicoleOur ‘Main Lessons Only’ sets include just the main lessons Living Lessons. These sets do not include extra lessons for music, handwork, and eurythmy. These sets do not include printed curriculum. However, they do include Main Lesson Book samples, worksheets, and quizzes as provided by the teachers when needed. A list of all the lessons in this set can be found below.
To purchase the set that includes printed curriculum and extra Living Lessons for music, handwork, art, and eurythmy please visit the Living Lessons Full Curriculum Set.
The following lessons are currently online. Our teachers are working to put additional lessons online every month. When you make your purchase you gain access to all the current and future lessons available during your access time. This means that you are only paying for the lessons listed on this page at the time of purchase. You will receive any other lessons we upload during your access time for free. However, there is no guarantee as to how many additional lessons you will receive for free.
STATUS: At this time the Fourth Grade Living Lessons are complete. However, we will be adding additional bonus lessons to expand your options within this curriculum. As they are uploaded they will be listed here and the price on this listing will increase.
Living Lessons included in this Fourth Grade Set
Chalkboard Drawings
St. Martin Chalkboard Drawing
Native American Block: Main Lessons with Teacher Joy
Cherokee Creation Story: Main Lesson Book Drawings & Movement: Day One: Video
Cherokee Creation Story: Main Lesson Book Drawings & Movement: Day Two: Video
Cherokee Creation Story: Main Lesson Book Drawings & Movement: Day Three: Video
Human Being & Animal Block: Main Lessons with Teacher Nicole
Lesson 1: The Threefold Human
Length: 42:52
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Begin with a creative chalk drawing of the human, the cow, the lion, and the bird – all four animals, but what unites us as such, and what makes us different? What can we do that a lion can’t do? What can a bird do that we can’t do? What makes a human being a human being? Learn all this and more in this lesson.
- Chalk drawing activity
- What can you do?
- Draw the Human Being using the sun, the stars, and the moon
- You’re made up of the universe!
- Storytime: “The Sky Family”
Member Feedback: “I was captivated by the story that was told at the very end.”
Lesson 2: The Cuttlefish
Length: 41:25
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Start by learning about a fascinating, electric, colorful creature: the cuttlefish. Draw your own diagram and study it’s anatomy. Teacher Nicole suggests supplementing this lesson with a trip to an aquarium, or by watching videos of these amazing creatures online.
- Cuttlefish anatomy
- Chalk drawing activity
- Octopus song
- What is a cephalopod?
Member Feedback: “Learning about the cuttlefish was very interesting. I had no idea they could change colors!”
Lesson 2B: Watercolor Painting: The Octopus
Length: 9:27
Teacher: Teacher Nicole
A painting activity with Teacher Nicole. Use beautiful flowing watercolors to create your own octopus painting. A perfect addition to lesson 2.
- Watercolor
- Painting tutorial
- Relaxing music
- Calm activity
Member Feedback: “Nicole has great watercolor techniques that are very helpful while following with the tutorial.”
Lesson 3: The Lion! The Courageous Heart
Length: 37:08
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Start off with a beautiful chalk drawing of a majestic lion snoozing in the sun. Compare the lion to the human, and the Cuttlefish from lesson 2. All animals have similarities to the human being. But how do animals adapt in order to survive in their natural habitat? Why can’t a human breathe under water, and why can’t a fish breathe above it? Enjoy singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, a fun interactive duet, then finish with the main lesson book drawing of a lion, compiling all that we learned in this lesson and reflecting on a piece of poetry.
- Chalk drawing
- “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” singing
- How do animals adapt?
- What do humans have in common with the lion?
- “Unstooping” poem
Member Feedback: “The poem is a beautiful addition to this lesson!”
Lesson 4: The Cow
Length: 35:10
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Make a beautiful chalk pastel drawing of a cow and learn about this new addition to our block. What other animals are a part of the ruminant category? Next, discuss biodynamic farming and the benefits of it. Learn more about the cow and analyze a short poem. Finish up by drawing a buffalo in the main lesson book. How is a buffalo similar to a cow? How is it different?
- Chalk drawing
- Cows and other ruminants
- How many stomachs!?
- Biodynamic farming
- Poetry
- Buffalo versus cow
Member Feedback: “The story Nicole tells about the young calf and mother cow is wonderful. Hearing about her real-life experiences adds so much to each lesson.”
Lesson 5: The Eagle
Length: 30:56
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Let’s learn about our avian friends! Take a walk in your neighborhood and look up into the sky. Take note of all the birds you see and use their physical traits to make guesses about how they have adapted to their environment. Why does an eagle have long, sharp talons? Why does an owl have such big eyes? Why does a pelican have a deep beak? Why does a hummingbird have such tiny wings? Write down all your questions and guesses in your notebook so you may look back on it at the end of the week. Next, do a chalk drawing of an eagle in flight and learn a chant song about the eagle, which you may sing or learn on the recorder. Drums are encouraged for this song. Lastly, learn a poem called “The Eagle” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and incorporate it into the main lesson book along with your own drawing of an eagle.
- Nature walk activity
- The wise eagle
- The osprey: Eagles of the ocean
- Chalk drawing: eagle in flight
- Chant song
- Adaptations
- Poetry “The Eagle”
Member Feedback: “This lesson is brilliant. It encourages a huge amount of curiosity!”
Lesson 6: The Mouse and Other Rodents
Length: 46:13
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Begin with the story of Jumping Mouse and a vibrant chalk drawing to go along with it. The story will cover many topics from previous lessons including the wolf, the buffalo, the frog, the eagle, and the mouse. Next, we encourage you to choose your very favorite animal and learn everything you can about it using the same methods we used to learn about all of these marvelous animals. How are you different from your favorite animal? What do you and your favorite animal have in common?
- Jumping Mouse story
- Chalk drawing
- Learn about your favorite animal
- Main lesson book mouse drawing
Member Feedback: “A great review of the previous lessons without being repetitive!”
Lesson Story: The Goose Girl by the Well
Story by: The brothers Grimm
Retold by: Teacher Sofi
Length: Part 1 (9:25), Part 2 (9:10), Part 3 (14:57). Total length (33:32)
A whimsical story about a princess who cries tears of pearls, a wise old woman and her flock of geese, and an energetic, kind-hearted young man. Let’s learn valuable lessons like to never judge a person by the way they look, to always have patience with one another, and to stand up for ourselves when we need to. Story is told in three parts. MP3s can be used as direct story content (fun voices and engaging inflection), or you may listen to them on your own and re-tell the story in any way you like!
- Three-part story
- Valuable life lessons
- Fun voices and engaging inflection
- MP3 and PDF
Member feedback: “I’ve found brothers Grimm stories to be a bit outdated at times, but I do love them, and I think they’re beautiful and teach unique lessons. I was DELIGHTED to find that all the content I would normally change before sharing this story with students was already changed, and so tastefully too!”
Lesson Activity: Craft a Clay Goose
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length: 02:31
Teacher Nicole shows us how to craft a Goose out of clay. Her technique can be used with any malleable material, so don’t fret if you don’t have clay. Another possible material that we recommend following this tutorial with is beeswax. Get creative and feel free to add additional accessories to your goose. Use your imagination and enjoy!
- Clay crafting
- Goose model
- Pair with “The Goose Girl” story
Member feedback: “Cutest little goose model ever!! Such a fun crafting activity.”
Lesson Activity: Making a Bird and a Nest
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length: 03:54
Make a little bird in a nest out of clay or another malleable crafting material. Get a closeup hands-on instruction on successfully recreating the details of the beak, the wings, and nest.
- Clay crafting
- Bird and nest model
- Clay care for longevity
Member feedback: “This tutorial is so fun and simple to follow along with. I thought the nest would be a challenge, but Nicole’s technique for that part of the craft was great and perfect for fourth graders to follow!”
Lesson Activity: Making a Clay Star
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length: 3:40
Let’s make a starfish! Follow along while Teacher Nicole shows how to turn a simple ball of clay into a star. Remember that nature is full of unevenness, and your starfish doesn’t need to be perfect. Have fun and be sure to acknowledge and appreciate your growing skills.
- Clay crafting
- Starfish model
- Reflect on your art
- Nature isn’t perfect!
Member Feedback: “The advice about spraying water into the clay bag has saved us so much clay from drying out.”
Lesson Activity: Creating a Beaver with Modeling Clay
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length: 02:26
Follow along with this video to see how we make a simple beaver figurine out of clay. Rather than zooming in on the details, we’ll focus on the overall shape, the fundamental skillset in clay crafting.
- Clay crafting
- Beaver model
- Clay fundamentals
Member feedback: “I like that these earlier tutorials teach about the building blocks of clay making instead of expecting the students to know all the details already. Some kids will naturally want to go ahead and get into the details of their sculpture and others will take their time, but either way teaching the most fundamental skills is so important for every kind of student. You know what they say about teaching a person to fish!”
Lesson Activity: Drawing a Beaver
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length: 04:20
Join Teacher Nicole and draw a beautiful sunset scene with a beaver family building a dam. Use crayons, pencils, chalk, or any other drawing medium you’d like. Different difficulty options available for scenery drawing.
- Drawing activity
- Crayon drawing
- Beaver drawing
- Different difficulty options
Member feedback: “It’s nice that there are options for if a student struggles with the scenery.”
Lesson Activity: Eagle Drawing
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length: 05:43
Practice drawing the majestic Eagle with Teacher Nicole. Use the scene from a whimsical story time and capture the story visually using your imagination.
- Drawing activity
- Eagle drawing
- Drawing resources for teachers
- Find confidence in “ish”!
Member Feedback: “Great book recommendation. The “ish” method is. A great one to use with students who are just starting out with drawing or maybe excel more in other areas.”
Felting and Sculpting for Human & Animal Block
Lesson Activity: Creating a 3D Felted Sheep with Teacher Meagan
Teacher: Meagan
Length: 35:39
Follow along with Teacher Meagan and felt a fluffy 3D sheep friend. Meagan shows every step of her process and shares valuable tips and tricks that you can apply to all your felting projects. Meagan also tells us her safety rules, so we can all feel safe with tools that are a bit poky!
- Felting activity
- Felt sheep
- Felting basics
- Felting safety tips
Member Feedback: “This activity is one of my favorites! I have some experience felting already, but even I learned so much from this video. I feel more confident in my own skills and my ability to teach. Also picked up some great tips for making my materials last longer and not break so easily! Thank you so much, Meagan!”
Member Feedback: “Teacher Meagan gives very clear and concise instructions. She doesn’t skip over anything. Very helpful video. The sheep is quite adorable.”
Lesson Activity: Beginning Clay Work and Sculpting for Fourth Grade
Length: 21:01
A natural and earthly approach to clay crafting. Join us in this grounding activity rooted in the idea that you as a human being already have all that you need to create with clay. Craft with intention. We encourage everyone to follow the detailed guiding words of our teacher as he shares with us this beautiful and minimalistic clay technique.
- Clay activity
- Clay Bear
- Natural clay crafting
- Minimalistic animal design
Member Feedback: “This has become my favorite clay tutorial in the fourth-grade block. I enjoy how natural everything is and how it’s encouraged to find beauty in simplicity. It’s great to use this activity to show how amazing our hands are and what we can create without any tools. Just water and clay. Amazing.”
Local Geography Block
Each video covers more than one lesson…
Lesson 1: Introduction to Local Geography
Length – 25:51
Teacher- Nicole Martinez
Teacher Nicole introduces local geography. Begin with a chalk drawing and get familiarized with the concept of geography. Next, take your student(s) on a walk from one significant location to another, and create a map tracking your journey. Learn about the native people from your part of the world. Lastly, find time to begin interviewing an older family member. Discover where your family came from and how they got here.
- Where are we in the world?
- Chalk drawing activity
- Outdoor walking activity
- Create your very own map.
- Who are the Kumeyaay people?
- Who are the Native People from your part of the world?
- Interview an older family member.
Member Feedback: “A fantastic introduction to geography with engaging activities that tie in wonderfully with the topic. A little gift of knowledge wrapped up with a bow! Thank you, Teacher Nicole.”
Lesson 2: The Four Directions and Landscape
Length- 47:26
Teacher- Nicole Martinez
Start off with a compass drawing activity to learn about the four directions. Next, dive into a watercolor painting of the beautiful coastline. After analyzing and labeling your paintings, see how the four directions relates to what you painted.
- Compass drawing activity
- The four directions verse
- Follow the journey of the sun.
- Interactive painting of a significant location
- Share your interview results from Lesson 1
Member Feedback: “Nicole does a marvelous job getting students interested and involved in the lesson right from the start. The included verse was a great tool in teaching about what lies in each direction.”
Lesson 2B: Coastline Painting Tutorial
Length- 12:27
Teacher- Nicole Martinez
Review the Coastline Painting Tutorial video from Lesson 2.
Member Feedback: “I appreciate how she continues to talk and teach while she does the painting lesson. It is also nice that she explains how she does certain artistic techniques, so that we can really follow along. Art and geography lesson all in one!”
Lesson 3: How Nature is Different Depending on Geographical Location
Length- 34:58
Teacher- Nicole Martinez
Learn more about the Kumeyaay people while drawing a chalk image of a Kumeyaay man building a home. Explore Teacher Nicole’s geographical location and take a look at real footage of the diverse environment of Southern California including beautiful ocean views, flowing rivers, massive deserts, and lovely flowers. Finish the lesson by drawing a top-down view of San Diego and then try drawing your own geographical home.
- More about the Kumeyaay people
- Explore Teacher Nicole’s geographical home.
- How is our land affected by water?
- What does our land look like from the sky?
Member Feedback: “Learning about the Kumeyaay people has been fascinating. Hearing about the native people from the teacher’s home encourages curiosity about the native people from our own home.”
Lesson 4: The Mojave Desert and The Gold Rush
Length- 24:35
Teacher- Nicole Martinez
Begin with a sunset dessert chalk drawing activity while we discuss how California’s geography encouraged lots of people to move there during The Gold Rush. Learn about Nathaniel Harrison – the first African American individual to immigrate to California, buy land, and farm it. Draw the Mojave Desert and learn about its beauty and dangers.
- Sunset dessert chalk drawing
- The Gold Rush
- Nathaniel Harrison
- The Mojave Desert
Member feedback: “This lesson is a great crossover between geography and history. After watching this video, students will really be able to understand the connection between geography and historical events.”
Lesson 5: Mission Basilica San Diego De Alcalá
Length-49:10
Teacher- Nicole Martinez
Follow a chalk tutorial of the Mission Basilica San Diego De Alcalá with teacher Nicole as she talks about the next group of people who came to San Diego to make it their home, and the way it affected the people who were already there.
- Perspective drawing of historical structure
- The Spanish people and the Kumeyaay people
- The Mission Basilica San Diego De Alcalá
- Agriculture
Member feedback: “Nicole touches on some of the more sensitive parts of American history and does it in such a way that is great for a fourth-grade student to understand. You can tell that there was a lot of thought and care into making sure the information is explained in the appropriate manner for this age group. And then when your child asks questions, you can choose how much detail they are ready to learn about. Well done, Earthschooling.”
Lesson 6: Día De Los Muertos
Length- 48:00
Teacher- Nicole Martinez
Learn about Día De Los Muertos while you draw a picture of what your personal family ofrenda may look like. Next, follow along with Teacher Nicole to make sugar skulls. Decorate your sugar skulls with bright beautifully colored frosting. Lastly, learn about The Whaley House, a mysterious historical location. A fun and educational way to end this block.
- Make and decorate sugar skulls.
- Create an ofrenda of your own.
- Try monarch butterfly face paint.
- The Whaley House tour
Member Feedback: “It was great to learn about Día De Los Muertos. What a fun and meaningful family tradition.”
Math Main Lessons
Fourth Grade Math: Lesson 1: The Fraction Tree
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 26:48
Let’s learn about fractions with Teacher Nicole! In this lesson we’ll get creative right from the start with a chalk drawing of our Fraction Tree. The Fraction Tree is a lovely visual representation of fractions which uses different sections of the tree trunk and branches to show what fractions are. After we complete our tree, we’ll take some time to do a morning verse, and then a fun sea shanty song activity that involves some simple rhythmic choreography and hand movements; a great way to subtly introduce the mathematical side of music! After this, Teacher Nicole will go into more detail about the Fraction Tree. Next, we’ll bake brownies together and discuss how the measurements of our ingredients relate to fractions. There’s so much to learn about math when baking. We’ll finish off this lesson with our main lesson book drawing of the Fraction Tree.
- Fractions
- Chalk drawing
- The Fraction Tree
- Morning Verse
- Sea Shanty Song “John Kanaka”
- Baking brownies to learn measurements
- Colored pencil drawing
Member Feedback: “Wow this lesson is packed! Definitely worth every penny and more.”
Fourth Grade Math Lesson 2: Equivalent Fractions
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 31:42
Welcome to our second lesson on fractions! Teacher Nicole starts us off with a chalk Celtic form drawing to help get our minds into a more mathematical mode. Next, we’ll do a quick refresher on our previous brownie lesson and draw some more visual representations of our equivalent fractions. We will also do some paper cut outs; having tangible items that can be moved around in any combination is a great way for students to get curious about these numbers. It is important to review the previous lessons before introducing the next, to be certain that the concepts were fully retained, and they are ready to move on. We’ll finish this lesson with a story time about the Kumeyaay people.
- Chalk drawing
- From drawing
- Review previous lesson
- Paper cutouts for equivalent fractions
- Story time
Member Feedback: “I like how many different explanations there are for each concept. Students have all different kinds of learning types, and these lessons cover them all.”
Fourth Grade Math: Lesson 3: Dividing the Farm with Fractions
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 37:31
We begin this lesson with our morning verse and an autumn song, to help us focus our energy. Once we’ve completed this focus centered portion of the lesson, we will get into a fun chalk drawing activity where we draw a farm that will help us further understand fractions and equivalents. Next, we will move on to an art activity where we paint paper plate pies and divide them up to smaller pieces. This interactive project is a good way to visualize which fractions are larger and smaller than each other. We’ll finish up with our main lesson book page where we will draw our final version of the fraction farm.
- Morning verse
- Autumn song
- Chalk drawing
- Divide your farm
- Pie portioning
- Block crayon drawing activity
Member Feedback: “I’ve always found math lessons for this age group to be either too boring, or too fun and not educational, but this lesson is the perfect balance. It includes many fun learning opportunities while staying focused on the subject.”
Fourth Grade Math: Lesson 4: Reducing Fractions
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 30:10
Let’s start off this lesson with a chalk form drawing to get our minds in math space! Next, we’ll do our morning verse and learn a song together. After this, we’ll use our main lesson book to do a review of previous lessons and do a refresher on what we’ve learned about fractions. Repetition is key in this block. There is no such thing as too much review! We’ll continue this lesson by introducing the idea of reducing our fractions, which will be a huge help for the final part of our lesson where we learn how to solve math equations that use fractions. We will also learn another method for large scale multiplication problems called The Array Method.
- Chalk drawing
- Form drawing
- Morning verse
- Learn a song
- Review previous lessons
- Adding fractions
- Reducing fractions
- Array method
Member Feedback: “The pacing of this entire block is fantastic.”
Fourth Grade Math Block 2: Lesson 1: Large Scale Multiplication part I
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 42:21
Let’s apply what we’ve learned about math to the real world and to history. Begin with a chalk drawing to depict the California Gold Rush. Next, we’ll do a movement activity with copper rods. After this, we’ll begin working with popsicle sticks to understand place value and we will learn about splitting larger numbers into their smaller parts of 100s, 10s, and 1s, so that we can do larger scale multiplication problems. We will do a lot of practice for this. After this, we’ll be doing our main lesson book plan by painting the chalk drawing we did at the start of the lesson.
- Chalk drawing
- The Gold Rush
- Applying math to real life
- Morning verse
- Copper rod movement activity
- Popsicle place value
- Large scale multiplication
- Painting activity
Member Feedback: “There is so much content in this block, and the price is amazing for what you’re getting.”
Fourth Grade Math Block 2: Lesson 2: Large Scale Multiplication part II
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 32:11
Let’s start by learning more about the Gold Rush. We’ll do a chalk drawing of a miner in the sand searching for a bit of gold while we talk more about the historical event. Next, we’ll review our larger scale multiplication problems from the previous lesson by doing an array and practicing that method. After we get in our practice, we’ll learn a song originally sung by the Hopi people. Lastly, we’ll draw our array in our main lesson book using crayon.
- Morning verse
- The California Gold Rush
- Chalk drawing
- Large scale multiplication
- Array method
- Learn a song
- Crayon drawing
Member Feedback: “I really enjoyed the Levi’s story it was interesting to learn about”
Fourth Grade Math Block 2: Lesson 3: Long Division Methods
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 37:09
In this lesson we will continue covering the California Gold Rush. We will start by doing a chalk drawing of the Eagle Mine, located in Julian, California and at the very end of the lesson, we will get to see a little tour of the mines. Next, we will do our morning verse followed by a rhythmic hand clapping game that will be quite a fun challenge. After this, we will learn about division using handmade currency bills, or if you have bills in any board games, you may use those as well. Repetition is key, so we will do this part of lesson twice. Once with the bills and once with just writing our math problems down. We will do some long division problems with triple digit numbers and Teacher Nicole will guide us with various techniques.
- The California Gold Rush
- The Eagle Mine
- Chalk drawing
- Morning verse
- Long division
Member Feedback: “The hand clap game is so much fun!”
Fourth Grade Math Block 2: Lesson 4: Adding Mixed Fractions
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 49:49
We’ll begin this lesson with a chalk drawing of The Star of India, a beautiful ship that resides in San Diego, doubling as a museum and relic of the past. Next, we’ll learn to add mixed fractions with a paper cut out coloring activity. After we get our practice done, we’ll go to our main lesson book and finalize this lesson so that we may go back and reference it if we need. Lastly, we will explore some photos of The Star of India.
- Fractions
- Chalk drawing
- Adding mixed fractions
- Paper cut out activity
- Morning verse
- The Star of India
Member Feedback: “I like it when Nicole shows photos from different historical sights she has been to. Thank you for sharing those experiences with us!”
Fourth Grade Math Block 2: Lesson 5: Adding Fractions with Unlike Denominators
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 46:38
Begin this lesson with a chalk drawing of the state of California and the coastline. We will draw all the details from rivers and lakes to mountains and deserts. After we complete our map drawing, we’ll get in some more practice with adding fractions. This time we will be adding fractions that have an unlike denominator and Teacher Nicole will guide us through a couple different techniques. Lastly, we’ll prepare for our main lesson book drawing by doing some practice pages first.
- The Gold Rush’s effect on the Native Americans
- Adding fractions with unlike denominators
- Chalk drawing
- Crayon drawing
Member Feedback: “I like that there is the repetition in the lessons. It feels like guided practice which is nice.”
Fourth Grade Math Block 2: Lesson 6: Word Problems
Teacher: Nicole Martinez
Length – 55:13
For our final lesson in this block, we’ll talk more about The Gold Rush and what other kinds of people traveled all the way to California during that time period, then we’ll do a chalk drawing of a beautiful sunset colored dragon. Next, we will focus on word problems and how to read them and identify the important information that you will need to solve each problem. Teacher Nicole introduces the Cube Method which will help guide us in our word problems. We will practice word problems using the cube method and then we’ll finish up by drawing it into our main lesson book!
- Word problems
- The cube method
- The Gold Rush
- Chalk drawing of a dragon
Member Feedback: “The CUBE acronym is great for word problems which are always so tricky for some students!”
Norse Mythology: Main Lessons with Teacher Amy
Lesson One: Intro to Norse Mythology
Teacher – Amy Williams
Length- 14:15
This video begins with a mysterious introductory verse and a watercolor drawing. Teacher Amy shows us how to recreate the void while she tells the story of two worlds – one of ice and one of fire – divided by the void. Amy shares her watercolor techniques to help you get the most pigment out of your paint. She encourages us to paint from the heart. What does fire and ice mean to you? What does it look like? What shapes does it make you imagine?
- Norse mythology
- Watercolor painting
- Storytime
- Two worlds Divided: Fire and Ice
Member Feedback: “This lesson is great! Teacher Amy does such fun watercolor videos; I always enjoy them.”
Lesson Two: Norse Mythology Lesson 2: The Norse Creation Story
Teacher – Amy Williams
Length – 6:23
What is the void? Teacher Amy shares a captivating story of Ymir and the creation of Midgard.
- Norse Mythology
- The story of Ymir
- What is the void?
- How Midgard was created
Member Feedback: “Amy has wonderful story telling skills, she is so fun to watch and listen to.”
Lesson Three: Norse Mythology: The Sacred Tree Named Yggdrasil
Teacher – Amy Williams
Length – 01:05:22
In this lesson Miss Amy will teach us more about Yggdrasil, a sacred ash tree created from Ymir’s body. Draw the tree in your main lesson notebook using a special technique where we add the main color pallet first and then details second, rather than the other way around. If this method is more challenging you may switch to another that is more comfortable, but we encourage you to try this one out as well and add it to your skillset even if you don’t use it often.
- Norse Mythology
- Yggdrasil story
- Draw Yggdrasil
- Colored pencil drawing
- Color pallet first, details second
Member Feedback: “Really loved this in-depth drawing activity. Everything is explained in great detail, and it makes it quite simple to follow along. Feels very cohesive.”
Lesson Four: Norse Mythology: Asgard and the Air Throne
Teacher – Amy Williams
Length – 59:07
Begin this lesson with “October Threw a Party”, a verse that paints beautiful imagery of a variety of Autumn leaves. Next, enjoy the story of The Air Throne told by Miss Amy, while she references a chalk drawing that encapsulates the entirety of the story. What will Oden and his group learn from Njörðr? Will they be safe from giants? What is the Air Throne? After completing the story, we’ll learn what the Air Throne is, and we can follow along with Miss Amy while she guides us in a detailed colored pencil drawing of this.
- October verse
- Story time: The Air Throne
- Pencil drawing of The Air Throne
- Norse Mythology
- Colored pencil techniques
Member Feedback: “Amy has a great storyteller voice it sounds like it’s from right out of a fairytale book!!! It’s also very clever how she uses the chalk drawing to show a visual of the story. She somehow had one photo that explained the whole thing, it was fantastic to watch her reference it. The pacing of the stories is also a huge plus, it’s never too short or long.”
Member Feedback: “It’s nice that all of the teachers have different drawing styles”
Lesson Five: Norse Mythology: Oden’s Journey
Teacher- Amy Williams
Length – 46:42
Start this lesson with a verse about a unicorn. Next, we’ll jump into our main Norse Mythology lesson. Miss Amy shares the story of Oden’s Journey while referencing a chalk drawing of a scene from the story. Learn about how Oden gained wisdom in order to protect the world, and what sacrifices he made in order to do this. We’ll finish up this lesson with a watercolor painting of a scene from our story.
- Unicorn verse
- Norse mythology
- Story time: Oden’s Journey
- Watercolor painting of Oden’s eye
- Watercolor techniques
Member Feedback: “Earth Schooling has found so many incredible teachers. Their team is absolutely phenomenal.”
Lesson Six: Norse Mythology: Thor the Thunder
Teacher- Amy Williams
Length- 13:30
We’ll start this lesson with a short verse about Thor’s Great Hall, which will lead us right into our story time of Thor’s Thunder. We will also go into more detail about the Norse Mythology family tree with a visual chalk drawing. Learn about Thor’s origin and who he is to the people. We’ll finish up with a form drawing of a braid, the same design that may have decorated the handle of Thor’s hammer.
- Thor’s Great Hall verse
- Norse mythology family tree
- Story time: Thor’s Thunder
- Form drawing a braid
Member Feedback: “The family tree was very helpful to keep track of all the characters.”
Lesson Seven: Norse Mythology: Iðunn and the Golden Apples
Teacher – Amy Williams
Length – 24:47
In this lesson we’ll learn about the Goddess Iðunn and her golden apple tree of youth. We’ll begin with a verse about Iðunn, and then we’ll get right into our story that includes familiar characters like Oden and Loki, and a chalk drawing representation of the main scenes of the story. Lastly, we’ll get out our main lesson books and do a form drawing.
- Iðunn’s Golden Apples verse
- Story time: Iðunn and the Golden Apples
- Loki and Oden
- Form drawing
- Norse Mythology
Member Feedback: “The story with Loki and Oden was funny, I quite enjoyed it”
Lesson Eight: Norse Mythology: Baldr the Beautiful
Teacher – Amy Williams
Length – 18:59
Begin with a verse that introduces the main character of our story time, Baldr. Learn about Baldr’s palace of peace and the content feelings he brought to the human’s and God’s alike. Next, we’ll tell the story of Baldr and Hela.
- Baldr the Beautiful
- The most peaceful places
- Colored pencil drawing
- Form drawing: octogram knot
Member Feedback: “The octogram knot is a cool form drawing, I liked following along with it”
Lesson Nine: Norse Mythology: The Vikings
Teacher – Amy Williams
Length – 21:25
Let’s learn about Vikings! Begin with a short verse to lead us into our story time, then hear the tales of the harsh and brutal Vikings, and the kinds of misdeeds they would do. Lastly, we’ll get out our main lesson books for a form drawing of a trillium. Take time to practice lightly with pencil and make sure you are comfortable before proceeding with colored pencils.
- Norse Mythology
- Vikings verse
- Viking story time
- Colored pencil drawing
- Form drawing
Member Feedback: “Amy is really good at telling the Viking story in a way that isn’t too much for students to handle!”
Additional Art Activities…
Norse Mythology Watercolor Activity: Jormungandr
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 8:48
Join Teacher Nicole as she guides us on how to draw Jormungandr the sea serpent. Enjoy an exciting story time while you follow along and get creative with your painting.
- Norse Mythology
- Story time: Thor and Jormungandr
- Painting Jormungandr
- Watercolor painting techniques
Member Feedback: “It was nice that this lesson had a story at the same time as the painting tutorial.”
Norse Mythology Watercolor Activity: Yggdrasil Tree
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 12:58
Paint the Yggdrasil tree with Teacher Nicole as she reviews a bit of what we’ve learned about the tree in previous lessons.
- Norse Mythology
- Review: the Yggdrasil Tree
- Painting the Yggdrasil Tree
- Painting the dragon
Member Feedback: “We always enjoy Teacher Nicole’s painting lessons!”
Form Drawing Lessons with Waldorf Teacher Nicole
Form Drawing Lesson 1
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 31:09
Start this lesson with a braid drawing activity at the chalk board and expand your knowledge of drawing human hair. Teacher Nicole explains the process in detail while drawing Norse mythology character, Sif, and gives tips about highlighting and shading that can be applied to drawing all kinds of braids. After practicing on the chalkboard where it’s easier to correct little accidents, we’ll also be sure to transfer this information and drawing to our main lesson book. While we do this, we’ll hear the story of Thor and Sif. This lesson becomes more tangible with tracing the shape of a rope or whichever kind of cord you have available in your learning space.
- Chalk drawing activity
- Draw a braid
- Cursive writing
- Storytime: “Thor and Sif”
Member Feedback: “It’s great that there are a variety of ways to convey the concept to students. With drawing, writing in cursive, and tracing yarn, there is something for all learning types which is so very appreciated.”
Form Drawing Lesson 2
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 31:02
Become more familiar with the idea of line crossings. How can we use line crossings to portray more complicated ideas in our art? Start by drawing a circle – one of the most important and commonly used shapes in art and nature – and create an interesting circular pattern chalk drawing. This pattern will be used to practice tracing lines and figuring out how we can better understand drawings that use the illusion of multiple dimensions. Take this activity to the next level by turning this 2D drawing concept into a 3D clay craft. Lastly, we’ll do our main lesson book and take all that we’ve learned and apply it to our drawing.
- Chalk drawing
- Clay craft
- Line crossings in art
- Circle drawing methods
Member Feedback: “I love these lessons that plant seeds of ideas into our youth’s growing minds. When they do this lesson, they’ll be having fun drawing the shapes and learning the basics, but suddenly days later, you see them branch out all on their own and they’re able to use what they’ve learned in context. You get to watch the seed blossom in real time!”
Form Drawing Lesson 3
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 45:43
Start this lesson with a chalk drawing activity where we create a beautiful image of The Three Fates, an important group of sisters in mythology, who we will also hear a captivating story about at the end of our lesson. Practice giving these drawings a bit more movement and dimension. After we complete our drawing, we’ll get out our main lesson books and jump into drawing something more geometric. Apply all that we’ve learned from these past three lessons and compare it to your lesson 1 and 2 main lesson book pages. In what areas have you improved? What would you like to put more time into?
- Chalk drawing
- Art with movement
- Dimensions in art
- Morning verse
- Geometric forms
- Storytime: “The Three Fates”
Member Feedback: “The chalk drawing exercise in the start was a great way to practice the ideas in lesson one and two in the context of people drawing. Nice progression in these lessons, they truly do build upon one another.”
Form Drawing Lesson 4
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 23:36
Start with a chalk form drawing to warm up your creativity. Think about what beauty is to you, and color in your form drawing to express that beauty to whoever may have the joy of looking at it. Show them what beauty looks like through your eyes! Next, Teacher Nicole will share a poem about October and a song about Autumn. Feel free to also share written or spoken art about whichever season you’re experiencing in your part of the world. After, we’ll get ready to do our main chalk form drawing activity. The purpose of this activity is to really break down each step of what we’re drawing, and practice it. Repetition is important here. Once you feel comfortable, transfer this drawing into the main lesson book.
- Chalk drawing
- October poem
- Autumn song
- Practice the art of practicing
Member Feedback: “This lesson encourages you to slow down and focus on the details, which I find to be imperative at this point the lesson block. Instead of rushing forwards, it’s been nice to take a step back and solidify all that we learned before. This way you can build a solid foundation that will serve you in the future.”
Form Drawing Lesson 5
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 34:43
Teacher Nicole starts this lesson with a chalk form drawing of a star design created by the Mescalero Apache people. She introduces some more creative patterns here. Next, we’ll learn more about the Mescalero Apache people and we’ll hear a story time about the Mescalero Apache people, and their creation story. After this, practice drawing their star design and incorporate our line crossing technique, and when you are comfortable with that, transfer it into the main lesson book. Be proud of all that you’ve learned so far!
- Chalk form drawing
- Learn about the Apache people
- Mescalero Apache people’s creation story
- Learn to draw the Apache star design
Member Feedback: “Love the inclusion of Native American art. It opens up the opportunity to learn about all of the different tribes’ artworks and how different they all are.”
Form Drawing Lesson 6
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 48:29
It’s time to put everything together. Take three of the forms we’ve learned during this block and use them to create a chalk drawing of Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer. Zoom in and analyze the design on the hammer and practice with that isolated form drawing design. Use repetition to get confident with this and then once you are comfortable, transfer this project into the main lesson book. Finish off the lesson with a continuation of our previous story of Thor and Sif. This time we’ll get into how Thor’s hammer was made!
- Chalk drawing
- Thor’s hammer
- Combine form drawing techniques
- Form drawing practice
- Review previous form drawings
- Storytime: “Thor’s Hammer”
Member Feedback: “I liked the overall mythological theme of this lesson block. The three fates, Thor’s Hammer, the story of Sif and Thor. It worked very well.”
Lesson A: The Celtic Knot #1
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 11:44
“The Celtic Knot is a perfect representation of thinking, feeling, and willing.” Teacher Nicole shows us how to draw a Celtic Knot. Start by practicing with chalk and chalkboard. After becoming more comfortable and familiarizing the pattern into your muscle memory, transition to a sheet of paper and pencil. Nicole provides guidelines you may follow to ensure a successful drawing! Finish this activity up by shading in your Celtic Knot with any color(s) of your choosing.
- Form Drawing
- Basic Celtic Knot
- Chalk drawing
- Pencil drawing
Member Feedback: “The Celtic Knot was such a fun form drawing to learn to make I absolutely recommend it.”
Lesson B: The Celtic Knot #2
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 13:36
Now that we know how to draw the Celtic Knot, let’s try another level of difficulty. Learn to draw this more complex Celtic Knot with Teacher Nicole. Begin with chalk for practice and see how far you’re able to get with this pattern by free hand, while you follow Nicole. Notice where it feels more challenging and make sure to give those spots some extra practice. When you’ve completed your practice, use color blending techniques to finish up the chalk portion of this lesson. In the main lesson book, we’ll be drawing the same Celtic Knot, but this time in pencil. Remember to have fun and be creative.
- Form Drawing
- Complex Celtic Knot
- Chalk drawing
- Pencil drawing
Member Feedback: “It’s nice that there are two variations of this. The first Celtic Knot is great practice for getting into the second one that’s more difficult.”
Lesson C: The Celtic Knot #3
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 32:49
It’s time for the final level of Celtic Knot drawing. Take all that you’ve learned and practiced from the main lessons and Celtic Knot lessons #1 and #2 and apply it to this lesson. Teacher Nicole provides guidelines that you may follow to ensure a successful drawing and better understanding of the design. Like usual, it’s important to start by practicing on a chalkboard for easy corrections,
- Intricate form drawing
- Woven knot
- Chalk drawing
- Pencil drawing
- Celtic knot
Member Feedback: “This was a challenging one, but so rewarding as well”
Lesson D: Four Leaf Form Drawing
Teacher – Nicole Martinez
Length – 16:35
Let’s finish off the activity portion of this lesson with a fun and simple design, the Leaf Form. Grab some chalk and a chalkboard cause like always, we want to start with a free practice session while we learn and get familiarized with the material. Teacher Nicole provides detailed instructions for us to follow for our design drawing and our decorating. Once we’ve finished our chalk portion, we’ll transition to pencil and paper and copy our final version into the main lesson book. Lastly, step back and take a look at all of the form drawings you have learned and completed this block! Admire your work and be proud of how far you’ve come.
- Form drawing
- Chalk drawing
- Pencil drawing
- Leaf form
Member Feedback: “This was a nice way to complete the block. This particular form drawing looks like leaves, so you’re able to incorporate it into many nature drawings as well.”
Fourth Grade Settlers, Heroes, and Human Deeds Block
(detailed descriptions coming soon)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 1: Naya Nuki (Great Basin)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 2: Maria Martinez (Southwest)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 3: Crazy Horse (Plains)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 4: Hiawatha (Northeast)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 5: Sequoyah (Southeast): Video #5: Parts I & II
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 6: Mississippi River Valley (Cahokia)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 7: Northwest (Chinook)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 8: California (Chumash)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 9: Canadian (Haida)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 10: Australian (Māori)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 11: Arabian (Bedouin)
Fourth Grade Early Settlers, Human Deeds, Heroes: Lesson 12: Review
