For over twenty years, the Magic School Bus series has been a fantastic instrument used inelementary science classes. This is just one of seventeen total books in the series. This particular story is about a boy named Arnold who swallows the magic school bus (while its shrunk of course)! The class gets to experience the human body up close as they take a trip through its digestive tracks and through Arnold's stomach! 

How I would use this book in my classroom:

I would love to use this book in my classroom while doing a science lesson on the human body! I would read this story to my students and let them label the parts of the digestive track that the school bus visited. If time allows, I would even let them watch the short movie that corresponds with the book!

Lexile: AD 730L

This science-based fiction novel tells the story of Arnold swallowing the Magic School Bus. Now, instead of seeing an exhibit of the human body at a museum, the class is taking a look at Arnold's stomach, his intestines, his bloodstream, and more from the inside on this heart-stopping field trip. This book would be great to accompany a science lesson in which students are learning about the human body. Students then can create models of human organs from household objects for a fun and hands-on activity. 

Lexile: AD 730L

If you grew up in the 90s, more likely than not, you grew up with a certain eccentric red-haired school teacher gracing your television set. Everyday after school, I would rush home to catch The Frizz on afternoon TV, teaching me a wide variety of subjects the world has to offer. I loved how educational and entertaining The Magic School Bus was for my young mind. And this book is no different!

This book focuses on the solar system and the planets. This story is one of my favorites for a couple of reasons. One being that it was one of my favorite episodes from the television series, the other being that I used to play the computer game of the same name almost every single weekend! I loved exploring the different planets and learning the ins and outs of each nine (now eight) planets! It was so much fun for me so, naturally, when I saw this book at the used bookstore, I had to buy it!

Of course, this being a book published during the 90s, some of the facts and science are a bit out-dated now. However, there is still merit in reading this book. You can teach your kids what scientists used to think to be true. You can use it more as a history lesson than a science one. Then you could continue by following up with a book about the solar system that is accurate to today. There's still plenty to learn from this charming book series. 

And if you end up loving this book, then I highly recommend the cartoon show. It's just as educational and entertaining. For you. For kids you know. For anybody. 

Reading this book was such a nostalgia trip for me. If I stumble upon any other book in this series, I will definitely be reading them!

As with all "Magic School Bus" books, this one is clever, educational, and funny. Students will be engaged when reading. The school bus shrinks down and enters Arnold's body. The class explores the digestive system, circulatory system, and other systems of the body. I would use this book to introduce (or re-introduce) the human body systems and their functions. For an activity, I would have the students split into human body system groups. They would trace their body on a piece of white butcher paper and draw their specific system with a decent amount of accuracy (those with the skeletal system would draw bones inside the outline). I would hang them up in the hall for everyone to see. :)

A.R.- 4.6

Guided Reading- P

Lexile- AD 520L

This would be a great story to use with older students in a science class when talking about the human body. After reading the story, have students take a virtual look at different parts of the body.