Earth Day Theme and Resources

Earth Day

In the Beginning...In 1963, former Senator Gaylord Nelson began to worry about our planet. (A senator is a person that the people of the United States have chosen to help make the laws.) Senator Nelson knew that our world was getting dirty and that many of our plants and animals were dying.
He wondered why more people weren't trying to solve these problems. He talked to other lawmakers and to the President. They decided that the President would go around the country and tell people about these concerns. He did, but still not enough people were working on the problem.
The IdeaThen, in 1969, Senator Nelson had another idea. He decided to have a special day to teach everyone about the things that needed changing in our environment. He wrote letters to all of the colleges and put a special article in Scholastic Magazine to tell them about the special day he had planned. (Most of the schools got this magazine and he knew that kids would help him.)
The HolidayOn April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was held. People all over the country made promises to help the environment. Everyone got involved and since then, Earth Day has spread all over the planet. People all over the world know that there are problems we need to work on and this is our special day to look at the planet and see what needs changing. Isn't it great?

One person had an idea and kept working until everyone began working together to solve it. See what happens when people care about our world?

Taken from:

http://holidays.kaboose.com/earth-day/index.html Crafts, Games, History, Quiz, Books, and Resources
http://holidays.kaboose.com/earth-day/history/earthday-history.html History
http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/earth-day/plants/index.html Growing Plants http://crafts.kaboose.com/papier-mache-globe.html Papier-Mache Globe Info
http://holidays.quiz.kaboose.com/60-kids-what-s-your-earth-iq Quiz
http://holidays.kaboose.com/earthday-learn.html Books
http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/earth-day/index.html Fun Games

More resources for Earth Day can be found at : http://geocities.com/mrsjacksonsclass/earthday.htm

Earth Day, Week, and Month of April

Celebrating Earth Day on April 22 With Students

Alan Hoffmann and Katherine Leathem 1991 Woodrow Wilson Biology Institute

Earth Day affords science teachers with an outstanding opportunity to focus student's attention on the environment and to stimulate their creativity and imagination, so that they can act persuasively to help solve environmental problems. Our belief is that all schools should make this day a tradition which students and faculty eagerly anticipate. The organization of activities for such an event lends itself to an interdisciplinary approach which allows for school-wide participation in the learning process.
Our suggestion is that Earth Day evolve into a week of activities that tend to be student- action oriented. Ideally, these activities will provide them with a means to act on their convictions. Most importantly these activities can provide a progressive model which can make Earth Day activities part of the schedule all year long. It is our charge to keep fresh in the minds of our students the motto that "Earth Day is every day".
Go to http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/bi/1991/earthday.html to see a list of examples of activities at various levels of involvement to be used for Earth Week, Day-22, or Month.

See more Earth Day resources at http://geocities.com/mrsjacksonsclass/earthday.htm . I was looking for ideas for my blog and I found this article that listed many projects for Earth Day and Month. Please visit their site at http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/bi/1991/earthday.html to see the many activities and projects that you can use to make every day an Earth Day.

National Poetry Month and Week-April

April is National Poetry Month!

The initiative was established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 as a month-long, national celebration of poetry. It is a time to celebrate poets and their craft. Various events are held throughout the month by the Academy of American Poets and other poetry organizations. It is a great time to explore the world of words with your kids! Introduce your students to a variety of poetic forms. Assign one or two students each day as “poet of the day” for the month of April. Then provide students with several models for creating different forms of poetry. Have each student select one form of poetry and write an original poem and illustrate. Assign a day and have students read their poetry out loud to the class.

"National Poetry Month (NPM) brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture." Visit the Academy of American Poets for more information. Scholastic features wonderful resources and activities here. Education Oasis's article, "Painlessly Bringing Poetry into Your Classroom includes a list of activities. Interested in combining technology and poetry? Check out "Creating Poetry Videos."

Young People's Poetry Week. April 14-20. Sponsored by the Children's Book Council, in collaboration with the American Academy of Poets and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Visit the following sites for more information, activities, and resources:
Academy of American PoetsThe Center for the Book Children's Book Council

Taken from: http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/k%5F2theme/poetry.htm National Poetry Month Ideas
http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/worldpoetry.php Poetry Theme Unit
http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=478 World of Words
http://farmschool.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/national-poetry-month-2009-essential-pleasures/ Blog Resources
http://www.squidoo.com/national-poetry-month-april Ways to Celebrate American National Poetry Month

http://geocities.com/mrsjacksonsclass/ See All of the Poetry Pages & Resources

Education World editors have gathered poetry resources from their archive to help teachers everywhere celebrate National Poetry Month. Below you will find the following archived resources on their site:
Poetry Lesson Plans
Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plans
More Poetry Activities and Projects
Poetry Articles and Resources

Taken from:http://www.education-world.com/a_special/poetrymonth.shtml
Taken from: image © 2009 by The Academy of American Poets
Taken from: http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/k%5F2theme/poetry.htm

Happy Easter Teaching Theme Resources

Take advantage of these resources about Easter! You can visit each year to plan your Easter lessons and see the new resources. Share the interactives on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students explore on their own! Use some of these free lesson plans with your students. As you study other cultures, be sure to include some resources for students to research the celebrations in other countries. You can set up a computer learning center celebrating the Easter holiday. If you are looking for a quick and easy seasonal activity (that has some educational value), visit these sites! Have cooperative learning groups choose an activity and complete together. Have the groups share their projects with the rest of the class. So go ahead and start looking below for activity sheets, lessons, poems, ideas, and much more to make spring learning fun in your classroom! I hope you will find many ideas for Easter fun.

Taken from Teacher's First Resources for Easter at: http://www.teachersfirst.com/holiday/easter.cfm

More Easter Resources:

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjacksonsclass/easter.htm Theme Resources

http://www.suelebeau.com/easterpassover.htm Easter, Ash Wednesday, Passover

http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/holidays/easter/ Lessons

http://www.teach-nology.com/themes/holidays/easter/index.html Teaching Theme

http://www.teachingheart.net/easterpage.html Great Thematic Unit

http://www.littlegiraffes.com/easter.html Teaching Theme-Art

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/easter/crafts.html Easter Crafts

http://www.teacherplanet.com/resource/easter.php Easter Resources General & Christian

http://www.theteachersguide.com/easter.htm Resource site & book filled with lessons & cross-curricular activities. It has management ideas, creative suggestions for the classroom, & a bibliography.

April Lesson Plan Ideas

Teaching Tip: April Lesson Plan Ideas
By: Christy Snider McCormick, Secondary Mathematics

Here are some April lesson ideas for your class.
1. Earth Month- Relate the Earth to something you see everyday.
2. National Humor Month- Make subject related jokes.
3. National Poetry Month- Write a love poem to Earth.
4. National Youth Sports Safety Month- Calculate the speed of collisions in a local sport.
5. National Frog Month- Write as if you were a frog.
6. April Fools´ Day- Convince students they are going on a crazy field trips.
7. Income Tax Day- You win a big prize. How much does Uncle Sam let you have?

This Week in History
1858: A Pencil with an attached eraser patented.
1918: Daylight savings time is first observed in the US.

“Teach a child how to think, not what to think.”— Sidney Sugarman

Written and Taken FromTeachnology Newsletter at
http://www.teachnology.com/newsletters/455.html
http://www.teachnology.com:80/

More Earth Day and April Theme Units and Resources:
http://geocities.com/mrsjacksonsclass/aprilthemes.htm
http://geocities.com/mrsjacksonsclass/earthday.htm

April Fools' Day

"The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year." ~ Mark Twain

April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most light hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar. April Fools' Day is observed throughout the Western world. Practices include sending someone on a "fool's errand," looking for things that don't exist, playing pranks, and trying to get people to believe ridiculous things. Taken from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html .

Teachers can help the children learn to appreciate the different beliefs as to why April Fools' Day is celebrated, to write a mythical story on how they believe April Fools' Day began, to comprehend the difference between a hurtful joke and a good natured prank, and to learn about other cultures and how they celebrate April Fools' Day on April 1.

Check out some more resources on April Fools' Day at: http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek3/april.htm Resources
http://wilstar.com/holidays/aprilfool.htm History
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/aprilfools/origins.asp Origins
http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/holidays/2_brian.html Facts http://www.fi.edu/qa99/spotlight4/ April Fools' Day http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/april.html Unit
http://holidays.mrdonn.org/aprilfools.html All Over the World
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/aprilfool.shtml Activities http://www.vickiblackwell.com/aprilfools.html Resources http://www.geocities.com/mrsjacksonsclass/aprilfools.htm Resources
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp071.shtml Backwards Day Lesson

Harry Houdini's Birthday March 24

Mar. 24: HARRY HOUDINI'S BIRTHDAY

Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 Budapest – October 31, 1926, born Ehrich Weiss) was a Hungarian-American magician and escapologiest, stunt performer, actor and film producer, as well as a skeptic and investigator of spiritualists. Harry Houdini forever changed the world of magic and escapes, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest escapologists in history.

For more info on Houdini, see the complete article at Wikipedia or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Houdini#Birth_and_name .

The American Experience: Houdini

Wikipedia

Ed Helper

Houdini Tribute

Houdini Bio

Houdini Bio and Tricks