Twister Unit Study & Printables

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Although she sees them safely to the cellar, Mama has to leave Lucille and Natt and go help Mr. Lyle, an elderly neighbor. She tells the children not to open the door until she comes back. But Mama doesn’t come back, and Lucille must comfort Natt throughout the terrifying experience of a tornado.
from Twister at amazon.com

Twister is the basis for lessons spanning across many subjects and topics. If your student is amazed by wild weather, grab a copy of our Twister unit study and printables and get started.

Thanks to Christa Stepien for writing this Twister unit study and sharing it with Homeschool Share.

Twister Unit Study Lessons

Here are a few lessons from the Twister unit study:

Social Studies Lessons:

Storm Cellar
The children go into a storm cellar when the tornado hits. Has your child ever seen a storm cellar?

Describe to them what it is, and what its function is. (A storm cellar is an underground shelter designed to protect the occupants from severe weather, most commonly tornadoes.) They are commonly found in the Midwest, where it is most common for tornadoes to touch down.

Following Directions
The children follow their mother’s directions, even though they are scared and want to do otherwise.

Reinforce that, in an emergency, it is important to follow directions. When do the children want to do otherwise? (They want to open the door to see if it is their mother, they want to go look for her.)

It is important to stay quiet if you are in a large group when an emergency happens, so that the person in charge can tell you the fastest way to get to safety, and so that everyone can hear the directions.

Community
The children’s mother goes back to help their elderly neighbor, Mr. Lyle. It is dangerous, and she does it anyway. If she had not helped him, what could have happened to him?

In the aftermath of a natural disaster, the community bonds together. Give examples of this. After a natural disaster, people often
join together to help people clean up and save what possessions they can. People donate food, clothes, toys, and their time to help the people who have been affected. By working together, a community can re-build faster.

You can grab a copy of the entire Twister unit study in an easy-to-print file at the end of this post.

Twister Printable Activities

This Twister unit study includes a variety of printables for your lapbook or notebook:

I Was Scared When . . . Page
I Was Brave When . . . Page
Tornadoes Flap Book
Tornado Watch & Tornado Warning Shutterbook
When Is Tornado Season? Matchbook
Where Is Tornado Alley? Matchbook
Tornado Words Shape Book
Prepare! Hotdog Book
How Long Does a Tornado Last? Mini-book
Where Should I Take Cover? Mini-book
My Weather Journal Page
What Is a Gullywasher? Cloud Shape Book
Weather Word Find

How to Get Started with the Twister Unit Study and Printables

Follow these simple instructions to get started with the Twister unit study:

Buy a copy of the book, Twister, or grab one from your local library.
Print the Twister unit study.
Choose the lessons you want to use with your student (a highlighter works great for this).
Choose and prepare the lapbook printables you want to use with your student.
Enjoy a week of wild weather learning with your student.