Cinco de Mayo - Art and Music

Let's liven it up a bit with some art and music!

Great hats and other ideas. A fiesta isn't complete without music!

Cinco de Mayo... ALL WEEK WE CELELBRATE!

Here in SoCal, Cinco de Mayo is muy grande! In honor of the lovely families within my school community, I'll be posting fun Cinco de Mayo bits all week! 

Start with some Fun Facts, snag a free Math and Literacy pack, and read some good books

Another Earth Day Resource

I just love these cute PlanetPals. They're so cute!

I printed out and colored mini- posters of each character years ago and love hanging them up each year. Their site is filled with resources - check it out!

Life is a Collage: Earth Day

Earth Day - Absolutely one of my favorite holidays to discuss with children!

Here are a few fun things to get you in the mood:

- Mint skates, for enjoying the great outdoors

- A fun project for students, re-using classroom trash items

- Spiffy green nails (and a golden one, to remind us to treat the earth as we wish to be treated)

- An Earth Day pledge resource 

- A fun way to plant seeds in your classroom (and a super easy tactic for replanting at the child's home - just put the whole thing in the ground)!

- Something beautiful to help you "think green"

Happy Easter!

Source

Cesar Chavez Day - April 1

I am new to California and this state holiday, but I am very familiar with Mr. Chavez's wonderful work toward equality. 
Here are a couple of my favorite quotes of his:
"Preservation of ones own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures."
"Once social change has begun it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducated a person that has learned to read. You cannot humiliate a person who feels pride. You cannot oppress people who are not afraid anymore."

Clockwise from top-left:

- Meet your class at the local farmers market to meet the folks that bring us our food. Great job Mrs. K!

- Use this gardening poster to help your students evaluate their own learning.

- Grab this free facts sheet about Chavez's life. 

- Esperanza Rising is the BEST book I've read about migrant farm life. It's riveting and gives an amazing perspective on the lives of families that lived the life of inequality Chavez worked to abolish. I couldn't  put the book down! However, it is not for young children. 

Life is a Collage: April Fool's Day

I am lucky enough to have April Fool's Day fall within our spring break. Yay!

For those of you that will be in school, here are a few fun April Fool's Day tricks!

Before regular snacks are passed out, bring out a delicious pan of brown E's!

Write your Morning Message backwards.

Slap some googly eyes on that pencil sharpener.

Good luck! (And that's no joke!)

Happy First Day of Spring!

What do you do to help your students understand how the seasons are created?
In my class we always act out the Earth's rotation, with one child being the sun and holding a flashlight and another holding a globe. We sing the months of the year song as Earth orbits, then say the seasons.
I'm still looking for a great video clip/animation for the kids to watch. Any suggestions?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

How about creating a St. Patrick's Day photo booth? Students can create WANTED posters and write personal narratives about their mischievous leprechaun ways. Some great mentor text for writing from another's perspective include 'Memoirs of a Goldfish' by Devin Scillian or 'The True Story of The Three Little Pigs' by Jon Scieszak.

Life Is A College - St. Patrick's Day

I broke the news to my class this week that there is no such thing as Leprechaun's Day. They were a bit devastated, but got over this when I assured them the holiday of St. Patrick's Day included leprechauns for some people and confirmed it is customary to pinch someone if they are not wearing green on March 17. All this made me excited for this Irish day and thought I'd share some inspirations with you.

Green jeans

5 LA & 5 Math Centers for St. Patrick's Day

Visual writing prompt: Where is this tiger going and why?

No green beer for me, I'll have green macaroons instead!