Mel's Box of Chocolates

I know, I know, I haven't blogged since January. Where does the time go?  This morning I had an urge to visit my blog and saw that it was still in winter mode with snowflakes and ice blue colors. Can't have that when we are celebrating Memorial Day. So now we are all ready for the summer with pink gerber daisy's...my favorite flower! I hope you all enjoy the long weekend. A little Memorial Day trivia... Did you know that Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day? It was because the graves of soldiers were decorated with flowers. I had no idea until I was planning a lesson on Memorial Day for my 3rd graders. One of my favorite things about being a teacher is that I learn something new every day too. Be sure to take the time to remember those who have served and are serving so that we can enjoy our freedom.

Yes, I realize that Earth Day was over a month ago. I was playing in my posts and realized I never finished this one. We had so much fun I didn't want to pass on sharing!   It's always fun to celebrate Earth Day in the classroom. Usually there is such a diverse understanding of the day depending on my students background knowledge and family beliefs. Then again, that is just another day in a public education classroom. This year I hunted down some new ideas. Along with some reading, writing, and math activities, I decided we'd do some crafts too. Honestly, I find that many students don't get nearly enough opportunities to cut, glue, color, paint, and all those other crafty things. So anytime I can incorporate these types of projects, I do. One of our projects this year was creating Earth sun catchers. This was a super simple project using contact paper, tissue, and small piece of red construction paper. Oh and a coloring page of earth to use as a template to k...