Login

Creative Teaching Ideas for

THE WHEEL ON THE SCHOOL

by Meindert DeJong (1954)



ON THIS PAGE: LitWits hands-on activity ideas and instructions, teaching topics, learning links, and more. Scroll on!

Printables for purchase

About the story

In the fishing village of Shora in Friesland, Lina wonders why storks no longer come to nest. Her teacher encourages the whole class to go on wondering, and soon the children are investigating reasons and working to bring storks back. The Wheel on the School  is about their search for an old wagon wheel to use as a base for the nest, and the way they involve their entire community—even elderly, disabled, and reclusive—in the project. This is a deceptively simple story, rich with the concept of continuity, of things and people and friendships holding together. 

Read reviews/buy the book
We make a small commission on anything you buy through our Amazon affiliate links. 

Hands-on Fun

Making a plan . . .


There are many ideas in this Hands-on Fun section—don't feel you have to do them all! Go with whatever works best for you and your kids. If you want to focus on a particular teaching point, our Takeaway Topics section can help you narrow down the activity options. And you can enhance discussions during any activity with audiovisual aids from Learning Links or story objects from Prop Ideas.

In our workshops, we do all the activities on this page, in order of the story's narrative arc. You might find our narrative arc worksheet helpful for sequencing your activities, teaching the important concept of the arc, and helping kids learn how Meindert DeJong put The Wheel on the School together.

Narrative arc worksheet & other printables

Set includes all worksheets and activity printables

Meet the author

Start your experience of this story by introducing the kids to the author, so kids can asee the connections between his lived story and his written story.

Below is our kid-friendly biography of the brilliant Meindert DeJong—an author who won just about every possible major award for children's books, yet remains largely unknown. Our short video is a great discussion starter, and we've got a worksheet for author note-taking, too.

Author worksheet

Set includes all worksheets and activity printables

Stork Tin

A LitWits activity from the Conflict

It's with the help of Grandmother Sibble and her candy tin that Lina realizes storks can't settle on sharp roofs. This is an important story point, AND a chance to admire Dutch art and eat Dutch-ish candy. Kids love taking home something straight from the story, so we wandered over to Grandmother Sibble’s and got a good look at her candy tin. Then we had the kids each make one and fill it with authentic Dutch wineballs (raspberry hard candies).


SUPPLIES

  • glue and scissors
  • Mod Podge
  • flat paintbrush
  • metal tin (or at least 2.25" wide x 3" high)
  • background paper cut to fit around the tin (in our printables)
  • images of Dutch stork art and quote (in our printables)

DIRECTIONS
 
  1. Cut the background paper to wrap around the tin; glue it on.
  2. Cut out the images of Dutch stork art and glue them on the top and sides of the tin, with a quote on the bottom. (As an alternative to fit random tin sizes, you might enlarge or reduce images before printing, and/or collage the art in layers.)
  3. Use a paintbrush to cover the whole thing with a thin layer of Mod Lodge and let dry.
  4. Fill with wineballs or any fruit-flavored hard candy.

DISCUSSION

While the kids worked, we pointed out that even the masters paintings used on the  tin represent the story's theme of continuity:  while what was once new becomes old, the old carries forward into new, or modern, times. We also talked about the Dutch Golden Age and some famous Dutch master painters.  
Stork art

Set includes all worksheets and activity printables

The Domino Effect

A LitWits activity from the Resolution

The children of Shora played with dominoes, so we did too.  Setting up dominoes just right – not too close together, and not too far apart – was a community effort with a continuous, pleasing effect. It made the theme of connection real for our kids.

But more importantly, it let the kids really “get” the idea that every single person — no matter how little — makes a difference. The fact is, a domino can knock over another one 1.5 times bigger than itself. This means one tiny domino can trigger a chain that could knock over the Empire State Building!

And one tiny kid can trigger a chain of kindness that could have an enormous impact in the world.
PRINTABLES

Set includes all worksheets and activity printables

BookBites

Going Dutch

A LitWits activity from the Resolution

BookBites is the part of our literary experience when we get to “taste the story.”  We choose a food right out of the book, and it has to meet at least one criterion:

  • it’s important to a plot point
  • it has thematic significance
  • it’s unfamiliar for reasons of culture, era, or location

For our taste of this story we nibbled on donuts and sipped hot chocolate, just as the community of Shora did during the storm.


While the kids enjoyed their snack we watched videos of beautiful Friesland horses and kids jumping over ditches.  We also learned how tides work (explained by using food), and how to make a wagon wheel!
PRINTABLES

Set includes all worksheets and activity printables

Stork in a Salty Storm

A LitWits activity from the Resolution

The storks in this story represent perseverance, continuity, and community in beautiful ways.  To honor their role in this story, we sent them out in a saltwater storm, dangling a copy of this wonderful book. (So they’ll know just where to land!)


Once the kids got going on their projects, we went through our Learning Links (section below) and absorbed all kinds of interesting facts about Friesland and storks.

SUPPLIES


DIRECTIONS

  1. Create a watercolor storm, and sprinkle it with sea salt while it’s wet.
  2. Cut out the stork, glue it to the art, and add feathers.
  3. Dangle a miniature titled book from its beak or feet with embroidery thread.
Template

Set includes all worksheets and activity printables

Here's a little video that shows how to assemble this project.

The Wheel on the Birdhouse

A LitWits activity from the Falling Action

The wheel on the schoolhouse is far more than just a wheel!  It’s a circular symbol of cycles, of community effort, of the idea that what goes around comes around.  And oh yes, it’s the perfect size and shape for a stork nest! So we put a wheel on a school(bird)house ourselves.

Welcome, storks!


SUPPLIES

DIRECTIONS

First, send the kids on a room-wide hunt for their wheels! Then have them follow these directions:

  1. Remove the rope loop from the roofs.
  2. Paint the birdhouses.
  3. Attach the wagon wheel to the roof with the axle.
  4. Glue a wad of Spanish moss on the wheel to make a nest.

While we did this project we watched videos of nesting storks in the Netherlands, and learned a great deal about their range and habitat. (You can find live-cam videos to watch, but we’re not including them because apparently storks are not always good parents.)
PRINTABLES

Set includes all worksheets and activity printables

This little video shows how it goes together.

Printables Previews

The worksheets and printables used for our activities are sold as a complete set.

Common Core State Standards Alignment for the comprehensive use of our teaching ideas and materials is also included for grades 3, 4, 5 and 6.
PRINTABLES

The LitWits Kit

Pack up for the field trip!

A LitWits Kit is a bag or box of supplies you pack up and give to each child right before you begin your "field trip" through the story.  You might be doing one-off projects as you read through the book together, or you might do everything in this guide from top to bottom after the book has been read. However you explore this book in LitWitty ways, kids love the anticipation of opening their kit.

If you'd like to build LitWits Kits for your kids, you could easily arrange the items in a bag, basket, or story-relevant container.  Honestly, it's just as much fun to create a kit as it is to open one!

To make it all the more fun, our printables for many books include special "story packaging" for certain activity supplies, including BookBites. Click the button below for a specific list of contents for The Wheel on the School. 
PRINTABLES

Set includes all worksheets and activity printables

Takeaway Topics

Why we chose this book for a "field trip"
We first read this book as adults, and at first its quiet story, with simple words often repeated, seemed a little too quiet and simple. But as we continued to read, the beauty of what the characters are actually doing (not just the children, but every member of the community) dawned on us.  When a book sneaks up on us like that and touches our hearts in deep, unexpected ways, it's an easy choice for one of our experiential workshops. And it's packed with great takeaway topics, which we're sharing below.

In our workshops, we did our best to make these teaching points tangible, meaningful, and memorable in the kids' hands. It's amazing how much kids can learn while they're "just" having fun!  

Happy teaching,
Becky and Jenny

Takeaway 1

What Goes Around Comes Around

This book is packed with the idea of continuity, or things holding together both physically and over time.  The wheel itself is a symbol of this, especially when you think about the purpose of its hub, spokes, and rim.  A wheel symbolizes continuing purpose and meaning in this story, where people and items that could have been seen as “refuse” are all put to good use. 

Hands-on connections in this guide:  “The Wheel on the Birdhouse” project, props that symbolize continuity:  the wheel, rope; domino activity, “Stork Tin” project, theme worksheet, creative writing worksheet
PRINTABLES SET

Takeaway 2

The Power of Community

There's a continuing “domino effect” in this book, proving that every little action, even from a very little person, has an impact and a long-range effect. But to make a domino chain work, the dominos must be placed closely together – not too close, and not too far apart, just like the people in the book whose individuality must be respected as much as their contribution to the community.   Each member contributes in a unique way to become an important part of a team, and becomes all the better for it as they join in the quest for a wheel.  

Hands-on connections in this guide:   “Stork in a Salty Storm” project, props that symbolize “working as one” (wheel, rope); “The Domino Effect” activity, theme worksheet, stork watercolor
PRINTABLES SET

Takeaway 3

The Netherlands

Meindert DeJong was a native of Friesland, so the relevance of its culture and geography are intensified.  Shora's location in the north and on the sea has a tremendous effect on the people who live there; asking how, and why, can lead to understanding the effect of  weather, tides, and terrain on food, health, leisure activities, and the economy – and, in turn, on people’s attitudes and determination.

Hands-on connections in this guide:  “Stork in a Salty Storm” project, “Stork Tin” activity, “Wheel on the Birdhouse” project, props that represent the Netherlands (wooden shoes, flag, sauerkraut, wheel) BookBites snack, setting worksheet
PRINTABLES SET
The Wheel on the School  is chock-full of wonderful topics to explore, too—from European wildlife to astronomy to Friesland’s history and architecture. Scroll down to see our curated Learning Links for more tangential teaching opportunities, and to see how we brought this book and its ideas to life. 

Learning Links

Explore these links to supplement your reading experience, research points of interest, and prompt tangential learning opportunities.


About the Book & Author

The LitWits Author Chat - video biography of Meindert DeJong:

Autobiographical essays about DeJong’s childhood (published in Origins, Calvin College, MI):
“When I Was a Kid, part I” pp 34-42 Vol. 28 No. 1 (2010)
“When I Was a Kid, part II” pp 35-45 Vol. 28 No. 2 (2010)
Goodreads reviews
Great Books for Children blog review
Bio page from Winning Authors: Profiles of the Newbery Medalists
by Kathleen Long Bostrom
Biography - New Netherland Institute
Photo and biographical info on Wikipedia
Obituary in The New York Times, 1991
LitWits biography of the author


Story Supplements

Differences between Holland and the Netherlands
Dikes of the Netherlands as a model for flood control (New York Times article)
North Sea off Friesland (World Heritage site)
Historic map of Leeuwarden, capital of Friesland
Traditional village in North Holland
West Frisian, the language of Friesland (the only province that has its own language)
West Frisian alphabet the children would have learned
Demographics of the Netherlands
National anthem of Friesland, Holland
Big messy stork nest
Pair of European White Storks
Sounds of White Storks “clapping” (scroll down)
White Stork flying - photo
Kid-friendly overview of storks
“Why the Stork Loves Holland” - World of Tales
Der Klapperstorch by Carl Spitzweg, 1885
History and explanation of Dutch dikes
Video –  Sport of Fierljeppen (ditch jumping”)
History of Fierljeppen (ditch jumping)
Unique Friesland farmhouse architecture
Friesland national anthem- background info
Shore images from Ternaard, Friesland
Magpie raiding a cherry tree, with article
Eurasian magpie, including sound (under photo)
Old Friesland farmhouse
Itinerant Peddler in a Village by Dutch artist Cornelius Dusart
A cooper repairing a barrel in Holland - photo
Video – how tides work, explained with food!
Good, easy-to-understand explanation of how tides work, with helpful diagrams
Recipe for Dutch fatballs
Wooden Dutch footstove
Video: Flock of white storks flying

See our Pinterest board for this book

PRINTABLES SET

Prop Ideas

When choosing props for our live workshops, we always try to focus on two important categories: props that are unique to the setting, because they help kids understand “what that was like,” and props that are symbolic of themes, because they make big ideas visual and tangible. Both kinds of props generate those wide-eyed, “aha!” moments.

Below is an overview of the display we put together for our live workshop, and under that we've given more details. You could easily have your kids contribute items to a table over time, as the book is being read.

Sometimes we create a printable prop; click the button to see the list for The Wheel on the School.
PRINTABLES SET

Wagon wheel

Quote from book if possible, with link to Amazon affiliate product or printables

Ropes

Ropes (including some that are very frayed) as symbols of continuity/connections and community strength

Dominoes

Not only do the children of Shora play with them, but  the way they’re played or stacked has to do with the theme of continuity

Wooden clogs

For thinking into!

Wineballs; old tin

Round grape (or fruit)-flavored Dutch hard candies in tinware representing the "tin man."

Chalkboard writing

The words that were “slated” to begin the quest.

Sauerkraut

Cherries

(if out of seasonsubstitute red grapes and imagination)

Flag of Friesland & tulips

LitWitty Shareables





https://youtu.be/UIfKGttmr5U
Watch on YouTube

Thanks for being here!

You're literally on our page about inspiring kids to love great books.  YAY! We're eager to share our passion for LitWitting and the work we've done for over a decade.

We're also eager to keep doing it! :)  So if you found this guide-page inspiring and useful, please share it with your social world. And if you buy our printables for this book, thank you. We appreciate you helping us keep the lights on at LitWits! 

Happy teaching,
Becky and Jenny
Sisters, best friends, and partners
Sure, I'll support LitWits!
*We hope we've inspired you!  If you're feeling a little overwhelmed (we hear that sometimes), remember, you're LitWitting whether you do a lot or a little. You can't go wrong!  The learning is happening, trust us. Just take the pressure off and do what works for your kids, time, and budget. It's all about inspiring kids to read for fun, so they want to read more—because kids who read more great books learn more great things.

Now get ready for a bunch of wide-eyed kids having “aha!” moments . . . and you, grinning ear to ear because your kids are happily engaged with a great book.

Terms of Use

The Becky & Jenny version:  Feel free to print pages for teaching use, and make copies of printables for your students. Please don’t use our name, ideas, or materials commercially or share our printables, though we'd love for you to share these free pages with your fellow educators.

The blah legal version: You are granted exclusive use of our products in download or print version as follows: You have the right of reproduction that is limited to your use only in whatever quantity is necessary to meet your needs and those of your student participants. This right is unlimited and extends for as long as you need the materials during which time they cannot be given to or shared with any other person(s) through any means of delivery, materially or digitally via the Internet. As such you have the right to store the product(s) on the hard drive of your computer or as hard copy in your resource file.  Any misuse of these rights is in violation of copyright law.

LitWits® is a registered trademark of LitWits Workshops, LLC.

LitWits teaching ideas and materials for The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
Copyright 2014 by LitWits Workshops, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.
PRINTABLES SET

Want ideas for more great books

YES! Take me to your titles!