Saturday, April 17, 2010

Earth Day 2010


This year, my school is participating in the Earth Day Groceries Project. This is a very simple project especially for elementary school to help raise awareness for Earth Day. We have standardized tests coming up next week, so this is the perfect time for teachers to do something like this in the afternoons to give students a break.
Last week, I went to our local grocery store and asked for donations of paper bags. The manager was hesitant to give me enough for all 560 kids, but he did donate about 100. I decided to use the bags for one grade level (fifth) and improvise for K-4.  The other grade levels are going to create a flyer or bookmark to be inserted into the paper bags.  On Wednesday, I am going to return the bags to our grocery store and the manager has agreed to distribute these to patrons in lieu of plastic bags on Thursday in honor of Earth Day.  I gave the teachers a description of the project and printed off a few examples from the website to help get the kids thinking.
I'm anxious to see how the students do on the bags. Pictures coming soon!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Teacher's Clubhouse



Usually if I am looking for a teaching site or resource, I search the web and only visit sites that offer free materials. Teacher's Clubhouse is my one exception to that rule. The resources created and sold here by two elementary school teachers are well worth the average $0.99 per activity. I call it my iTunes for education. These are not just worksheets. These are colorful interactive activities. In the fall, I purchased the non-fiction text features activity.





I paid a total of $1.98 for the whole activity which included nine signs and 20 cards.

All subjects are represented and the site is very easy to navigate. Every activity is available for instant download. The teachers that I have shared this with love it and always go back for more!