Wednesday, January 13, 2016


Reading Resolutions
From The Mailbox
The new year is a great time for students to set new reading goals. Give each student a paper triangle (party hat) and direct the child to write on it a reading goal he or she would like to work toward, such as the number of minutes to read each day, the number of books to read each week, or the kinds of books to read. Next, provide time for each child to decorate the hat before sharing his or her goals aloud with the class. Post the hats on a display titled "Our Reading Resolutions." Then, once a week, pose one of the questions shown and direct each student to write a response in his or her journal. For younger students, pose a question to lead a class discussion.
• What have you done this week to reach your reading goal?
• How do you feel about your efforts to reach your reading goal?
Explain.
• Do you need to adjust your reading goal? Why or why not?
• What have you learned this week as you've worked toward your reading goal?
• What was the best thing you read this week while working toward your reading goal? Describe it. 





Celebrating Mardi Gras!
Vermillion Parish Schools
Everyone loves celebrations! Louisiana hosts one called Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday. This holiday is sometimes called Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras is a holiday for celebrating and eating. The following day is Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of Lent, which is a 40 day period when Christians give up something they enjoy until Easter. Mardi Gras began because of Lent traditions and has since evolved into a big festival celebrated by people around the world.

New Orleans, Louisiana has the biggest celebration of any American town. It all started when French explorers celebrated the holiday on the Mississippi River and the party grew from there.

Parades and balls take place all around Louisiana. Kings, Queens and Courts are named. Groups who organize Mardi Gras balls and parades are called krewes. During parades, colorful beaded necklaces are thrown from floats as souvenirs of Mardi Gras. Cups and toy coins known as "doubloons" are also thrown during parades.

The colors for Mardi Gras are purple, gold and green. King Cakes are baked and shared. Small plastic babies are baked into King Cakes. Whoever gets the slice of the cake with the baby usually supplies the next King Cake.

Mardi Gras is a special holiday which Louisiana people love to celebrate!

Questions
1.           What are the three colors used in Mardi Gras celebrations?
2.           What does Mardi Gras mean?
3.           When did Louisiana people start celebrating Mardi Gras?
4.           Doubloons are thrown from floats. What are doubloons?
5.           What is baked inside of a King Cake?

Answers
1.           Green, purple, gold
2.           Fat Tuesday
3.           It all started when French explorers celebrated the holiday on the Mississippi River.
4.           Toy coins
5.           A plastic baby





Monday, January 11, 2016

January Fun Facts and Dates to Remember
Since this year is a leap year, April and July will start on the same day of the week as January –February. Did you know that????

Dates to Know
1 New Year’s Day
4 Isaac Newton’s birth day (1643)
7 International Programmers’ Day
10 National Cut Your Energy Costs Day
11 National Clean-Off-Your-Desk Day
12 Poetry at Work Day
17 Benjamin Franklin’s birthday (1708)
18 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
21 National Hugging Day
23 National Handwriting Day
28 Challenger space shuttle tragedy anniversary (1986)



Friday, January 8, 2016

 24 Simple Ways to Make "Supplies Last" from TeacherList

1. Get Sharpie markers to work again by placing in rubbing alcohol.

1_Sharpies

2. Unclog glue caps with vegetable oil.

2_glue



3. Upcycle empty tissue boxes into a dirty tissue trash receptacle.

3_tissues


4. Velcro your dry erase markers to the board to keep them lasting longer.

4_velcro-dry-erase


5. Revive dried out markers…

5_markers


6. …or repurpose them into watercolor paints.

6_marker-paints


7. Restore an old white board with WD40…

white-board-WD40


8. …or recondition it with Febreze.

white-board-febreze


9. Rehydrate glue sticks with water.

rehydrate-glue-sticks


10. Make a dirty eraser new again by filing it with an emery board.

emery-board_300


11. Glue a pony bead to the end of spiral notebooks to keep them from unwinding.

pony-bead-notebook


12. Wash your paintbrushes in conditioner to make them last longer.

wash-dry-paintbrushes


13. Erase permanent marker from your dry erase board with a dry erase marker.

erase-perm-marker


14. Revive dead ball point pens with the heat from a lighter.

dead-pen-hack


15. Upcycle old Mead composition notebooks into iPad covers.

ipad-notebook


16. Sharpen dull scissors with a mug.

how-to-sharpen-scissors


17. Use the paltry remains of your colored dot sticker stash to group students for activities.

Dots

18. Turn empty bottles of cleaning spray into “Quiet Spray”.

quiet-spray


19. Sharpen a stubborn hole punch with aluminum foil.

sharpen-a-punch4-370x258


20. Use the hooks from an old 3 ring binder to hang bathroom passes from.

3-ring-binder2


21. Use broken bits of crayon to color play dough…

crayon-play-dough-recipe


22. …or melt them into colorful pencil toppers for Valentine’s Day.

heart-crayons


23. Upcycle empty Lysol wipes containers into individual desk (or table) trash cans.

lysol-wipes


24. Use misplaced or old puzzle pieces to create snowflake ornaments – fun for winter classroom parties!

15_hacks_xmas_Puzzle-Piece-Snowflake-Ornament-2