Learning with Pokemon – Lesson Plans

Does it seem like everyone around you is obsessed with Pokemon Go? If your kids are into it, or the original Pokemon, why not add a Pokemon spin to their learning with Pokemon lesson plans?

Mathematical Thinking used Pokemon characters to work on math skills through buying characters or building a Pokemon deck. So smart (and the printables are on her site).

You’d have to do some more research, but there’s a picture at Funky Junk comparing Pokemon characters to real animals and plants. It might be fun to study the “real Pokemon” in a nature unit.

Homeschooling Mommy Bot had some ideas for a Pokemon unit study, but she never produced the ebook she had planned for it (kids move on to new things so quickly). Still, her ideas are good ones you could research yourself or have your kids study. There are a couple more ideas for Pokemon learning games having to do with math and writing at Game Informer. Or have kids make their own Pokemon cards, like the kids at the Shards did.

If you have a group of kids to work with, this Poekmon game from Education World will get them moving and doing math.

These are just for inspiration unless you have your own printables to share, but there are some great ideas at ESL Printables for adding Pokemon to lessons about reading, colors and the parts of the body. Some of them would be pretty easy to re-create with some images from the internet or by taking pictures of character cards.

And if you’re willing to pay a little for some Pokemon-related learning, there are some great products at Teachers Pay Teachers, too. Lots of math, of course, but also writing, science, ice breakers and bulletin board ideas. You could do a whole Pokemon classroom!

Have you ever done any learning with Pokemon? I’d love to hear about it.

[Photo via Funky Junk.]

Check out these Pokemon Activity books.

Next Plan Idea:

Pokemon Learning Activities and Crafts

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

Comments

Kerrie McLoughlin says
January 24, 2022 at 1:12 pm
Thanks for the mention! I’m finally back in the blogging-about-homeschooling game again, and I updated that post. Never had time to do it myself (I was writing other books!), but I found a great Teachable course, which I’m hoping to try out and write about with my 12 yo son.

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