Lesson Plan

The Nutcracker Lesson Plan: Bigs Edition

Compare Hoffmann's 1816 tale with the 1892 ballet, and test the physics of nutcracker levers.

This is the Bigs Edition of The Nutcracker: one ready-to-teach week written just for grades 7-8. Every day follows the same rhythm: Reading on Monday, Writing and Words on Tuesday, Science and Math on Wednesday, a Hands-on Project on Thursday, and Show and Tell on Friday.

The big question: What changes when a story moves from page to stage, and what makes a nutcracker strong?

The Week

• Mon: Hoffmann's Stranger Tale (Reading) • Tue: Page or Stage? (Writing & Words) • Wed: The Law of the Lever (Science & Math) • Thu: Build a Lever Nutcracker (Hands-on Project) • Fri: Page, Stage and Lever (Show & Tell)

Teaching more than one level? The all-levels edition of The Nutcracker has Littles (K-3), Middles (4-6) and Bigs (7-8) in one file, so siblings or a mixed classroom can study the same topic together.

Perfect for homeschool families, grade 7-8 classrooms, co-ops and substitute plans.

What's inside

• 5 ready-to-teach days for Bigs (grades 7-8), about 90 to 120 minutes a day
• Lab sheet: Law of the Lever Lab
• Sequence cards (Hoffmann's Plot) and a cut-and-sort page (First, Second or Third Class?)
• Writing page: Page or Stage?
• Hands-on project: Cardboard Lever Nutcracker
• Word search, crossword, scramble and secret code puzzles
• 8 fact cards, 9 vocabulary cards and a book list of 5 titles
• A certificate and an answer key for the grown-up

Instant PDF download after checkout. Print at home.