Ag In My Classroom

Growing Jack's Beanstalk

2011-12-16T20:35:00.000-08:00

"Making Learning Whole"...Literacy, Science, Technology, Health and Nutrition, Math, Social Studies...we are incorporating all aspects of the unit on Jack and the Beanstalk into all curriculum areas!

Some students created computer projects on beans, cows, clouds, and gold, including facts and photos on a powerpoint presentation, others on Animoto.

EngineerGirl! Food Engineering Essay Contest - 2012

2011-11-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.engineergirl.org/CMS/Contest/food2012.aspx

Ag and Science Fun

2011-11-13T14:55:00.000-08:00

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/kids/index.html

Everything from insects to food. Lots of fun!

Garden Time Out of Season

2011-10-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Photo from WomansDay

Don't these Garden Party Cupcakes bring to mind a serene sunny day spent in your garden?

Woman's Day shows you how to "grow" your own garden cupcakes. The seed packets are made from graham crackers and frosting; the dirt from chocolate cookie crumbs; and the veggies from various colorful fruit chews (Starburst, Jolly Rancher, Tootsie Rolls) and green-dyed corn flakes!

Aren't these perfect for an afternoon garden party?

Our School Garden: 2011

2011-08-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Keep North Dakota Hunger Free Garden

Friday is Weeding Day

2011-07-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

9:00 July 22 is you can come to weed. Bring gloves, tools, bug spray, a hat, water, and a smile. A bucket helps to put weeds in too!

New York Botanical Garden

2011-07-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

Devoted to public education and creating knowledge. I enjoyed watching this and thought you might too.

NY Botanical Garden

Salads and Plant Parts

2011-06-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

Super Salads to learn about!

The Greenhouse Gang at The Northern Plains Botanic Garden Society

2011-04-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

Garden Spoons

2011-04-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Garden markers are very important to us as we get our garden started, but they're especially helpful to young students to show them what and where we've planted. We're getting ready for our Hunger Free North Dakota Garden, and as always, we continue to combine our life lessons in with our core curriculum. We write as much as possible and strive to be great!

Check out these garden markers.

http://themagiconions.blogspot.com/2010/04/making-cute-garden-markers.html

Herbs for the School Kitchen

2011-04-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here's Joe, Drew, and Anna trimming herbs for Sharon our school cook. I wonder what she'll cook with fresh rosemary?

Get Well Lisa

2011-03-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Lisa, Executive Director of South Dakota's Ag in the Classroom, and president for the National Ag in the Classroom Program needs our prayers, and we're happy to send them her way! We ask the Lord's healing power on you, Lisa. Best wishes and prayers from our classroom and all of us Ag-sters in North Dakota!

God Bless The Farmer

2011-03-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

http://www.ndfb.org/?id=182

Cool Careers In Science and Ag

2011-03-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/CoolCareers/coolestcareers.htm

plus Agriculture Research Services
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/

North Dakota

2011-01-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

Edward and Josh included many agricultural facts about our state in their presentation! Hooray for North Dakota! Hooray for North Dakota farmers!

I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Cheeseburger

2011-01-08T19:21:00.001-08:00

Writing About Need To Know Information

2010-12-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

Writing, Writing, Writing! It's important to keep those students writing ...no matter what age. I like to have some type of writing assignment going at all times. Most assignments serve to see if the students are using their skills I've been working on regarding grammar, punctuation, proper punctuation, correct possessive and plural use ...you name it.

I always stress to them to use beautiful words... $$ words, not nickel words. Awesome adjectives, colorful verbs, super sentence starters are a must! I give my students an abundant amount of adjectives to encourage them to include in their writing. Encouraging them to use their five senses by including words to help the reader see, hear, smell, feel will allow the reader to better engage in the written word.

This week we're including agriculture into our writing in a couple of ways. After teaching them a couple songs, "Plant A Seed And Watch It Grow", (to the tune "It's A Small World After all") and Popcorn, (based on the Tomie dePaola Popcorn Book) my students are writing about planting, germinating, growing and knowing where their food comes from.   When complete, they'll receive a coupon for a kids meal. (Thank you Granite City)

When done writing about the history of "popcorn", we'll have a "Popcorn Party"!

(Remember...songs assist literacy in a variety of ways...the left to right aspect, the tune pulls them through more difficult words, they've got spelling words/vocabulary words right there accessible to them, in addition to providing them with facts and details.)

It's fun to include food that students eat in their daily lives.   Often the educational aspect is just waiting to be brought to the surface to enjoy too.

Quinoa What??

2010-11-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/how-to-make-quinoa-the-powerhouse-seed-2410950/

Wow! What A Cow

2010-11-30T18:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.aipl.arsusda.gov/kc/cowfacts.html

This Site Is Filled With Fun!

2010-11-30T18:19:00.001-08:00

http://www.myamericanfarm.org/

How 'Bout That Cow

2010-11-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

When putting together a mini-book about cows to include literacy, science, math, and social studies aspects, I ran across this site about farm animals. You can read about all kinds of them and other amazing animals that live on our planet at this site.

http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/farm/farm.html

The Business of Farming

2010-11-29T18:31:00.000-08:00

http://www.thefutureschannel.com/dockets/realworld/business_of_farming/index.php

Tractor Multiplication

2010-11-25T16:52:00.001-08:00

http://www.multiplication.com/flashgames/TugTeam.htm

Farmer Fred's Multiplication Tables

2010-11-25T16:38:00.000-08:00

http://www.multiplication.com/flashgames/Pumpkin.htm

Hunger Free North Dakota Garden

2010-10-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who assisted with our Hunger Free North Dakota garden. We cleaned the garden out this week and were happy to take our last batch of vegetables to deliver to the Madison Elementary School families. We delivered two 5 gallon buckets, mainly tomitillos. I was told there was a child in the hallways eating tomillos like they were candy.

(What does the tomatillo taste like?

Flavor is a distinct lemon-herb grassy tang when the vegetable is dark green in color. If allowed to ripen to a dull yellowish green the flavor is sweeter with just a hint of pineapple overtones. You can eat the tomatillo raw like a tomato or even an apple. You may find the flavor to be too tart when raw but when mixed with avocado into a guacamole or with green chile in a favorite salsa recipe, awesome.Tomatillos are low in saturated fat and very low in cholesterol and sodium. They are also a good source of Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Niacin, Potassium and Manganese.)

Again, thank you all for helping to feed those in our community in need, while assisting students to learn how to garden and the enjoyment of seeing the fruits of our labor.

A special thank you also to Gail Bakko, NDSU Extension, Todd Weinmann, and to Northern Plains Botanical Society for the use of their land, and to Maurie for his assistance.

Check Out Our Students in The News

2010-10-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/294762/publisher_ID/1/
(same article)

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/294762/group/Agriculture/

Story Writing...Plant Style

2010-10-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/english/games/story_plant/small_sound/standard.shtml

Learn About Dairy and Cows

2010-10-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

This is a fun site that I came across when working on my "cheeseburger unit!" The unit include puppets, and mobiles, songs galore, a Jeopardy game, plays, etc...all focused on teaching students about cheese and cheeseburgers, while gaining knowledge, and improving improving literacy and math. The students love "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bun." I enjoy sharing these fun learning tools with other teachers to excite students about learning too!

http://www.aipl.arsusda.gov/kc/dairy.html

August Is Awarded Junior Master Gardener Award

2010-09-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

August has be a leader in his assistance and attendance in assisting with the Keep North Dakota Hunger Free Garden for our Class. He and his sisters have attended every session (except for one) for over a four month period. He would often talk other classmates into jumping on board and helping with the garden too. He and his sisters were also awarded meals at Texas Roadhouse for their contributions! He also spoke to teachers this summer at an Ag In the Classroom conference, telling them about our role in our community to assist others in need while learning gardening skills.

Mr. Todd (NDSU Extension Services)
Miss Gail (ND Farm Bureau)
Mr. Maurie (Northern Plains Botanical Society: former NDSU entomologist)

Little Ren Hen Play

2010-09-30T17:31:00.000-07:00

Will you help me plant the seeds?

Fall Harvest

2010-09-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

Great job picking vegetables. We had a combination of families that helped today...this years 3rd graders and last years third graders...and very helpful sisters and moms.

Tomillios, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and lots of carrots... lots of food in our Keep North Dakota Hunger Free Garden. A large portion of this food went directly to the families from Madison School who are in need. The rest went to the food pantry (which is right on 10th street, directly west of school by the water tower) Thanks to all who came and worked so hard!

Cass County Extension Agent Visits

2010-09-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Todd Weinmann of the NDSU Extension Service visited our classroom. He brought plants to show us, a tomato for each student to taste, and beans for us to plant. (pinto)
We learned about salt building up in the plants if they don't have holes to drain out. We learned about leaves on some plants that are poisonous. (tomato) We'll be inviting him back again in the spring when we're ready to plant our garden!

Fall Harvest To Help Others

2010-09-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

It's great to be back in school. These students helped pick vegetables for the Hunger Free North Dakota Garden. These vegetables went to other students in our community who need a helping hand. It's nice to help others in need. We picked zucchini, pattypan squash, carrots, corn, and tons of tomatoes.

Harvesting For The Food Pantry

2010-08-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

"Patty pan squash, tomatoes, yard long beans, purple beans, burgandy beans, and green beans" were all harvested on Aug. 8! Good job, guys! Linda and her team are always so helpful at the food pantry. Miss B.'s had two families who were recipients of our vegetables also.

Seed Savers

2010-08-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.seedsavers.org/
Check out this site! I find their goals very admirable.
Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. They are a non-profit organization of gardeners dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.

Applesauce

2010-08-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

With apples ready (and others almost ready, depending on your tree) here's a recipe for you to try. I thought about it as I was writing a new set of "ag related" nursery rhymes.. I recently picked lots of apples for my mom to take home to Dickinson and make applesauce. She shared them with friends and relatives who are the masters of making apple pie.

Nursery Rhyme: Hush A Bye Baby

Hush a bye baby, on the tree top

Look at those apples

It’s quite a good crop
They’ll grow each day, like you
They’ll get red and round
The sauce, good and tasty
With apples all around.

Homemade Applesauce
Ingredients
4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
1.In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.

We met some kids down the block when they stopped by to ask for some apples. I can tell they must be raised by good parents if they were willing to ring the door bell and ask. Nice to meet you Gunnar and Benson.

A Trip To The Food Pantry

2010-08-04T15:03:00.001-07:00

A trip to the food pantry was made on both August 4th and 5th. As you can see in the newpaper above, beans, squash, and cucumbers were donated. (some big ones too).

Try this recipe for Cucumber Soup.... If you have cucumbers that have gotten a little too big (or a lot too big) for salads or slices to eat, this will be perfect for you to use up your cucumbers.
Cucumber Soup
Ingredients
5 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
4 scallions
1 cup fresh cilantro
8 ounces sour cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 12-ounce jar store-bought salsa verde
Directions
1.Roughly chop the cucumbers and scallions, then place in the bowl of a food processor.
2.Add the cilantro, sour cream, buttermilk, cayenne, and salt. Purée until smooth.
3.Serve the soup chilled, with a bowl of the salsa verde on the side to spoon on top.

Garden Tips

2010-08-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

Gardening Tips...check out this site. This will be helpful for my students.

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/firstgarden/index.cfm

Lettuce Picking: July 20

2010-07-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

13 families were the lucky ones who will be eating fresh cut lettuce today from the Hunger Free North Dakota Garden. The students had lots of fun, and got a little muddy. We also discussed different types of vegetables, including tubers and root vegetables. A tuber is a potato and an example of a root vegetable is a carrot, radish, or beat. The tomatillos are looking good too!

Check out our garden at the Northern Plains Botanic Garden Society...http://npbgs.tripod.com/ (they have a beautiful site they are developing which includes the A-B-C Garden within the 52 acres)...Check out Mrs. B.'s letter "V" also when you visit the garden. http://npbgs.tripod.com/otherplaces.htm Look for our class site here. Our site is to what most know as Yunker Farm, though it's in the NPBG Society area.

Food Land and People: Teachers Tour Garden

2010-07-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

Area teachers listen to the students talk about planting their garden, what they planted, and what was the most fun! The Hunger Free ND Garden is within the 52 acres at the Northern Plains Botanical Society, which is across the bike path from Yunker Farm. (I specify the Children's Museum to give you a landmark that you might be aware of so that you too can come out and enjoy the gardens.)
Don't forget http://www.freerice.com/ . This will help all students to polish up your vocabulary, math, etc... and donate rice to those who are hungry!

How Much of The Earth Is Water

2010-07-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.farmland.org/Flash/appleEarth.html

...and other important facts about the earth and farming!

Good Job Weeding Team

2010-07-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

I don't have the video ready to go yet, but I wanted to thank the weeding team, students and parents from Monday night. They did a great job preparing the garden for the people who will be viewing it at the Garden Show on Wednesday! The garden is really looking nice, and growing well.

A special Thank You to August and his family for supplying the Wonderful treats for the evening! Chocolate cookies (I will be posting the recipe), watermelon, and water and Poweraide for all! We did study where chocolate cookies come from in class this last year. Check out the student ag blog to see the students findings. http://www.agkids.blogspot.com/ There are 3 student entries about cookies in the "March" section. Anyway....This was a special treat and very much appreciated by all the hard workers.

If you're interested in the Tour of Gardens:
You can buy tickets for either one or two days.

Tour includes 8 outstanding area gardens each day. Wednesday: north Fargo, Thursday, south Fargo
For years now, the local Soroptimists Club has staged an annual garden tour of Fargo's best and brightest gardens.

http://www.areavoices.com/relucgarden/?page=listing&tag=Soroptimist%20Garden%20Tour

The Keep North Dakota Hunger Free "Weeding Team"

2010-06-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

Nutrition Fun

2010-06-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.drpbody.com/images/vegetables.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.drpbody.com/veggies_ex.html&h=585&w=573&sz=48&tbnid=8mwdc-PIffVwIM:&tbnh=227&tbnw=222&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvegetables&usg=__EM1KA2rgh2a-6lsM8KyKm6_FOXw=&sa=X&ei=GNIoTIqKKMvsnQeQiMyoAQ&ved=0CCoQ9QEwAA

Fact Monster on Vegetables

2010-06-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0781697.html

Here's a fact:
•Actually a fruit, it took a ruling by the Supreme Court in 1893 to make the tomato a vegetable.

Fruit and Vegetable Worksheets

2010-06-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:SwbfvDL_hHYJ:www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/downloads/explore_worksheets.pdf+vegables+worksheets&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgA0dgEH1Ldk2I5-G1urNXJoxCouuwmNfxbIOOorMTfF9XMJHmY0OAxhiQAU8BPVMZyngAYKwmbKMltTJFVthl9gNnvZBXT_8QjnBwotqIqsh-JWTp-27EZ_nxdaKw_lhO76Up_&sig=AHIEtbRWYHyNca_SfVXvMgm8NMcLAVTpaQ

Name That Vegetable

2010-06-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.parapal-online.co.uk/picture_dict/vegetables.html

Square of Life Project

2010-06-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

Check out this international project... "Square of Life".

http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/squareproj/index.htm

Including school flower and vegetable gardens would be a great addition when completing this project. When my students did this, they created their own squares. They were very creative and very different. They brought every thing from wood squares, to piping squares, to sticks with strings on the end.
The students sketch, chart living and non-living items in your square. Students are given different jobs within their groups as you study your square, and then compare it to other students' work in other parts of the world.

We also had the opportunity to communicate with other schools. Some schools found the Ralph Englestad Hockey Arena to be of great interest, home of the Fighting Sioux. Your letter of introduction will allow you to share information about your school, city, state, tourist industry, high lights, etc...

I like comparing data with the schools with items very different from what we would find. Deserts areas were very interesting for us to hear about, and finding things like seashells in their square was cool too.

http://education.ed.pacificu.edu/squareoflife/ Here is an example on one in Oregon.

How about some additional projects to check out.http://www.ciese.org/engineeringproj.html

http://www.ciese.org/curriculum/squareproj/asp/schoolslist.asp Participating schools for Spring 2010. You can sign up fall and spring.

Watch Us Work at the Garden

2010-06-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Our class will continue to meet this summer to plant and tend our garden for others in need. We started our planting in May. We will continue to get together to weed and harvest, have guest speakers to inform us about weeds and insects. We have a small fence up to keep out the rabbits, and we'll be singing "ag" songs and reading stories about gardening. We're hoping Bambi finds something else to munch on!

Meet Us At the Garden

2010-05-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

Our seeds that we grew in school will be the start of great beginnings. At Yunker Farm, our class garden will be used to assist hungry people in our community. We will join in with an area school that will assist us from time to time on this project. These students will also be recipients of our project. We have planted some foods that are commonly eaten within their culture also.

We are appreciative of the assistance that the Farm Bureau is giving us. ND Ag in the Classroom has been instrumental in our ability to assist others in need as our students learn about gardening.

Students will be informed when to"Meet Us At The Garden" and we will plant, dig, weed, and enjoy the day. We're east of the ABC Garden, and north of mini-golf. Bring your garden gloves, tools, and water. Those participating will be invited to a lunch at the end of the gardening season. (5 visits)

Bring a grandma, bring a gardener. We'll also use our math skills to talk about planting, thinning, yield, etc... I'll bring my guitar and some gardening books too! If we have time we'll sing our ag songs or listen to a story.
If you have a preference of times to meet out there, let me know.

Meet you at the garden!

Global Grocery List

2010-05-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

http://landmark-project.com/ggl/

Be Healthy~ Stay Healthy

2010-05-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

Healthy Living Day is part of learning about healthy foods that are grown to nourish our body. We had speakers for the whole class to hear and presenters that got us movin'! Our "kick-off" was done by Mr. Patrick Kasper, a recent guest of Oprah and Rachel Ray. Our healthy snacks were all foods grown, celery, apples, and Sunbutter. We thank Sunbutter for their donation.

Careers In Ag

2010-05-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

Students in our class each gave an oral presentation about an agricultural career. They dressed up and brought along a prop. While presenting their information, each member of our 3rd grade class documented the information presented on a powerpoint. Each student has an Electronic Student Portfolio in which they hyperlink each presentation they make to their 3rd grade portfolio. This is our class slideshow of agricultural careers.

Agricultural Careers

View more presentations from CB .

Oprah and Rachel Ray's Guest Assists To Teach Children To Be Healthy

2010-05-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

http://www.positivemotion.net/

Patrick Kasper was part of our "Be Healthy~Stay Healthy Day."

Check out his site!

He was named one of Rachael Ray’s “incredible people”, and a guest on Oprah promoting "Positive Motion"!

Our afternoon, a high energy, fun filled day with exercise, movement,dance, aerobics, bike safety, Tae Kwon Do, running seminars, and healthy snacks.

Bread Makers

2010-05-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

"Will you help me make some bread," said the Little Red Hen.

How Does Your Garden Grow

2010-05-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

We've begun our seeds for our "Hunger Free North Dakota Project."

Reading Garden Activities

2010-04-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.rif.org/rifreadinggarden/

Plants and Nutrition: Kids World

2010-04-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.agr.state.nc.us/cyber/kidswrld/plant/index.htm

Write A Story With The Story Plant

2010-04-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/english/games/story_plant/small_sound/standard.shtml

How Does A Pizza Grow

2010-04-15T13:34:00.001-07:00

Our students created projects, learned a song, and discussed all the aspects of where a pizza comes from. Notice the cards on our pizza boxes. Each card represents one aspect of the pizza....the crust, the sauce, the cheese, the vegetables, the pepperoni, the beef, the anchovies, the olives, etc... We even learned that the glue can come from corn, trees were grown to make the boxes, and soybeans are used to make the ink on the boxes.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/KidsFarm/PizzaGarden/

Soil Biological Communities

2010-03-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

www.blm.gov/nstc/soil/Kids/index.html

What is soil? Soil is made from rocks that are broken up into tiny pieces, as well as dead leaves, roots, twigs, dead bugs, and stuff like that. It also has water and air in it.

Awesome Ag In the Afternoon at NDSU

2010-03-10T11:00:00.001-08:00

NDSU Ag, Food Systems, and Natural Resources Field Trip

2010-03-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

Our class hopped on the bus upon arriving at school today to begin a day of fun at North Dakota State University. We began our learning experience in the Food Science program, engaged in product development tests on new food products, and then moved on to Texas Roadhouse. As part of our studies on food and farming, we learn about farm to table aspects, whether it's to our table at home or at a restaurant. We had a tour of the restaurant, made our own creation of a doughnut, (flour, water, sugar, and yeast) They treated us to wonderful lunch of food from the farm, beef hot dogs and potato wedges, grown from the earth.

Then back to NDSU for a list of great events to learn about. Thank you to Dr. Jim Venette setting up the many diversified visits to the ND State Insect Reference Collection, The NDSU Meat Lab, the greenhouse where new crop varieties are being developed, and the NDSU Soil Testing Laboratory. We also appreciated that you provided us with H20 and treats. Math and the sciences were stressed by the scientists for our future scientists. Your choices today, effect your future tomorrow. It was a great day.

Note: I'm currently having trouble producing the video in its entirety. Over half of it is cut off. I will keep trying, but our afternoon at NDSU is omitted due to unexplained circumstances.

Students Write and Illustrate Ag Books

2010-03-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

We published our own books. They're beautiful hard cover books. They're keepsakes to treasure, and we learned a lot about writing and about agriculture. We shared our books with other students to teach them about agriculture. We spent an afternoon singing to residents at a nursing home and reading our stories to them. We also brought an object with to jar a memory, so we could hear some stories about the agricultural world that they lived in long ago. Other educators who are interested in writing and publishing books with your students, check out the company "Studentreasures." They are great to work. Tell them Mrs. B. from Holy Spirit School from Fargo referred you and we'll get $50 for the referral. ...and we thank you.

Students Write About Ag On Their Own Educational Blog

2010-03-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

http://agkids.blogspot.com/

Food Pyramid Fun

2010-03-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.abcya.com/trip_food_pyramid.htm

Make A Pizza Interactive Game

2010-03-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.abcya.com/pizza.htm

We discuss where all the parts of a pizza come from....an animal raised on a farm, or something grown as a crop or a vegetable.

Fruit or vegetable pizzas are great snacks to discuss with your class also. Natalie's mom made us a delicious veggie pizza that helped us discuss "where does it come from?"

We also sing a song that assists us in learning the details.

As a project, students use a pizza box and create projects to show the different aspects. One group used cards to state each food group...."Grains and Breads": the crust, etc..

The made a pretend pizza to show us their creativity...I liked the blonde yarn that represented cheese....along with a picture of a cow to show where cheese comes from.

Great Site About Gardening

2010-02-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kindergarden/kinder.htm

Indoor Citrus Plants That Kids Can Grow

2010-02-19T16:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.gardenguides.com/84300-indoor-citrus-plants-kids-can-grow.html

http://www.willisorchards.com/category/Fruit+Trees?gclid=CPPp4b3K_58CFctY2godIScmkA Order a tree

Teaching students about weather, climate, meteorology, and growing zones is a very authentic means of teaching when educating them about about planting.

Does Chocolate Grow On Trees?

2010-02-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/kids_facts.html

One fun book I like to read to students is "Monroe's Island", a story about where a child's imagination takes him far away. He and his imagination go to a place where chocolate chip cookies grow on trees. I bring along cookies to tie into the lesson, telling the children I picked them off the chocolate chip cookie tree in my backyard. When we sort it out, we discuss that I really don't have a chocolate chip cookie tree, but chocolate really grow on trees. This is another great opportunity to discuss where the other ingredients come from.

Careers ... and More In Ag

2010-02-19T13:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/fair/ideas.htm ~ Agricultural Ideas for Science Fair Projects
http://www.bls.gov/k12/nature05.htm ~ Agricultural Food Scientists
http://www.agclassroom.org/webquest/index.htm ~ Webquests
http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/Science_and_Technology/BotanyandHorticulture_Science.htm ~ Botany and Horticulture
http://gardens.si.edu/horticulture/res_ed/fctsht/fct_sht.htm ~ Plant fact sheet
http://www.spaceag.org/ ~ Space agriculture in the classroom
http://www.biology4kids.com/files/plants_main.html ~ Plant basics

Mooing Matilda Helps Children Decode Words

2010-02-19T11:59:00.000-08:00

As part of my "Little Bag of Tricks" you'll my puppets that assist me when teaching different reading strategies. A different puppet is used to teach each strategy.

Clarence The Clown: this puppet that reminds students to "look for clues". (context clues) Sleeping Sally, "sounds out words and sounds", Frances The Frog "skips the hard words and then hops back", Chunky the Monkey "looks for chunks in the words", Ebenezer Smelly is the skunk who suggests to ask a smelly friend like a mom, or a teacher, or a classmate for help, or look in a smelly dictionary....

but, Mooing Matila is our farm friend who likes words that sounds the same (word families) like hat, rat, and cat, and how, now, and cow. A song called "Friends Who Help Me Read" assists us as we tie in the auditory with the visual aspects of the puppets to meet different learning styles of different students.

When assisting students read, they may know how to say day...which will help them as they remember "Mooing Matilda" says..."If you know how to read day, then you can read play, and stay, and way, and tray, and stray, etc...

The Plant Escape

2010-02-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

Find clues and solve problems in the world of plants.

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/gpe/gpe.html

How Does Pizza Grow

2010-02-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/KidsFarm/PizzaGarden/

Have you ever wondered where all the different parts of a pizza come from? They all come from the ground!

Farm to School Programs

2010-02-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

http://www.betterschoolfood.org/what_you_can_do/farm_to_school.cfm

Kid's Zone: Activities for Teachers and Students

2010-02-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/farm.htm

http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/index.htm

Farms, Food, and Fun

2010-02-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.farmsfoodfun.com/Default.aspx

Learn great things while chewing on something from the farm!

Music In The Ag Classroom

2010-02-18T19:39:00.000-08:00

Are you interested in using brain-based learning in your classroom. Differentiated education is the key to success for so many students, but it's the key to having fun and retaining information in our class. Our classroom uses music to learn concepts in all different curriculum areas. We learn and kinds of writing and grammar tricks with songs. We sing about the Titanic, The Dirty Thirties, and King Tut. In science we sing to learn about the planets, oceans, cells, bones, etc... Math is great. Because of our songs, students are able to learn more difficult concepts with ease and greater retension. We sing about place value, adding and multiplying fractions, decimals, etc...The students love it and there is research to back up the millions of reason why you should add music in your teaching.

Music in The Ag Classroom is a cultimation of nearly 100 songs that we sing about agriculture and related subjects. We sing about where food comes from, farming, eating healthy foods, dirt, and planting gardens. We sing about bugs and where crops grow. We sing about farms on a mountain side and we sing about the watercycle. If you're in Baltimore, Maryland in June of 2010, stop by the national conference "Agriculture In the Classroom" and join us for a song.

Remember, when a child is singing words off a paper, they are reading...this is an awesome way to ignite students' reading and writing skills.

"Be Healthy ~ Stay Healthy Day" Set

2010-02-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

Our date is set! Our school will be holding a "Be Healthy~Stay Healthy Day" will be having seminars and activities for all students preschool through fifth grade this spring. Students will be learning to read labels, participate in activities, and learn about making healthy choices in the future regarding physical activities and eating healthy. Our healthy food booth is sure to a great hit! Yum! Lots of fruits and vegetables will be here to sample.

Students Publish "AG" Books

2010-02-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Our class is all excited about "ag". We have written and illustrated ag books, and we've had them published. (hard covers, author's name on the spine, and keepsakes we'll enjoy for years) We wrote about so many different topics. Natasha wrote about farms, Isaac and Joe M. wrote about bugs. Brayden and Joe B. wrote about plants. Mackenzie, Haley, and Isabel wrote about the food pyramid. Daniel's book is about the trials and tribulations in agriculture. August wrote about 'the dirty thirties' and how agriculture effected their lives for ten years.

These books are beautiful hard cover books and each student in our third grade -fifth grade class gets the first copy at NO COST to them. This was our first year participating in this wonderful writing project. email me for more information at www.musicmovesmyclassroom@yahoo.com

American Farm

2010-02-18T18:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.myamericanfarm.org/

Great concepts to learn in these wonderful areas: math, science, language arts, and social studies... while learning about the American farms.

Health Component Added To Our ESP

2009-11-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

The majority of our research, collection of information, and new concepts that we learn are put into our Electronic Student Portfolios. (ESP) We have now added a 20 page Health Component (20 slides on power point) that will display the students' knowledge of what it takes to be and stay healthy. This is coordinated with over 20 songs that we sing about the food pyramid, germs, exercise, eating and living healthy, and filthy habits that all help us to be healthy citizens. It concludes with a contract/promise to do our best to make healthy choices.

Bulb Growing

2009-11-21T19:50:00.000-08:00

Shhh! Don't tell anyone what kind of bulb we are forcing in our classroom. We predicted what we were growing and what we thought might happen. We then worked as botanists daily to record data. Since we are using a clear vase with water instead of dirt to grow the bulb, we can observe what is happening that usually we would not be able to see with the roots growing in the dirt.

What a treat this has been, as over the weekend on Day 5, the roots grew about 4 inches and completely took over the complete bottom part of the v-necked vase. What we had available to observe on top was slow but progressive. And then the second shoot came up from the bulb. The students get so excited with each new development. Our guesses and predictions will soon come to see whether or not we were correct!

Pumpkins At School

2009-10-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

Thank you Gail, Rosie, and Ed...because of you, our class all got a pumpkin! We have discussed many things we can do with them, including using shaving creme on them to practice our spelling words. Then we'll take them home for jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin bars, and pumpkin pie! Students will get their names put into the bucket for a drawing for every new thing they do with their pumpkin. http://agweb.okstate.edu/fourh/aitc/lessons/extras/recipes/pumpie.html Check out this sit for Pumpkin Pie in a Bag, Pumpkin Ham Soup, Roasted Pumpkins, and facts about pumpkins.

Interested In Gardening And Want To Win Gardening Prizes??

2009-10-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

Check out this site...look for great ideas and apply online to win great gardening supplies. This would be a great opportunity to plant some mystery fruits and vegetables. Bok choy was a Mystery Vegetable we had recently that Haley told us about. No one guessed it, but Yuki said her mom does cook with it.

The award is open to any adult in the United States who wishes to garden with preschool to high school-aged family member(s) and feels that gardening is a great way to build lasting memories. A focus on nutrition, sustainability, and socialization is a plus.
$500 gardening kit will be awarded. Start planning now!

http://www.kidsgardening.com/grants/heinz.asp

Nutrition For Kids

2009-10-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/nutritionforkids/index.htm Check this link out to find facts for your "electronic student porfolio."

Mr. Bonn Visits Our 3rd Grade Classroom

2009-09-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

Check out all the crops he brought for us to see. Thank you, Mr. Bonn!

7 Continents

2009-09-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Students will be creating a power point slide show of the "7 Continents." The first continent will be South America. One paragraph is required for a satisfactory grade, and two paragraphs minimum are required for an S+ grade. Include the location, (hemisphere) of the continent, bodies of water around or within the continent, number of countries, languages and cultures, mountains, rivers, or other prevalent aspects such as rain forests, canyons, deserts, etc...

The second paragraph should include crops raised and transported to other countries.
Have any of these crops been a part of our "mystery fruit and vegetable" examples? Think about its length and width, its weight...ounces or pounds, the circumference. Pay attention to their price in the grocery store. How much would it cost if if you got half a pound? How about two or three pounds? Always make "math happenings" a part of your life and learning.

Students should hyperlink at least one site to their slide that would allow them to read and gain future knowledge about the country they choose. Students may add another slide if we have a class song regarding that continent, to type the song onto that slide. Students may either record themselves singing the song on this slide, or we will sing as a class. This will be an electronic library of the world we live in and study. Students can expand on these slides, and document as much as they'd like about the countries they learn. Many students need this opportunity to expand their knowledge, challenge their abilities, and reach for the stars.
All about South America:

http://www.shelburnefilms.com/T_video1.htm
Organic Farming:
http://www.kww-southamerica.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=142
Banana Farming
http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/profiles/documents/FavoritaProfilewithhorizon.pdf

Sunflowers and Sunshine

2009-09-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Sunflowers are not only beautiful to look at, but they have so many uses. We can use sunflowers to create many wonderful things. We also can use sunflowers to make our day a little brighter. What a gift from God the sunflower is!
http://namisunflowers.org/index.html Seeds Of Hope~ contests, fun, and information
http://www.burpee.com/product/id/103380.do?KickerID=100175&KICKER 10 varieties in 1 pack
http://www.sunflower-guide.netfirms.com/fact.htm Fun facts!

2009-09-17T16:40:00.001-07:00

Want To Learn More About Ag In The Education World?

2009-09-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

You are going to want to check out these sites. They're awesome!
http://www.ndfb.org/promotion/
North Dakota Farm Bureau
http://www.agclassroom.org/
Ag In The Classroom
http://www.ageducate.org/
Educating About Agriculture
http://www.foodlandpeople.org/
Food, Land, and People

Art and Ag

2009-09-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

Fun Art Projects For Your Ag Classroom

1. Sunflower Hands With Real Sunflowers: 10 yellow hands on a paper plate foundation. Circle inside is filled with real sunflower seeds. Our arms and hands connected together to make the stem is our final personal touch.
2. Jack-o-lantern Candle Holders for our pumpkin unit. We're making pumpkin votive candle holders: with orange tissue paper in tiny pieces, attached with a 3-1 ratio of water and glue to the glass baby food jars, and black eyes and crazy smile with fun foam or black tissue paper. Add a candle for a special Halloween gift.

3. Pumpkin Pop Bottles: with 2 liter clear bottles, pour in orange paint with water....cap on and shake, rattle, and roll to get the paint every where inside the bottle. Add fun foam eyes and smile. A green ribbon for the stem tied around the cap would be a great bottle top!

Biographies

2009-09-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

George Washington Carver begins our biography slide show that students will create and then hyperlink to their "electronic student portfolio."

At: http://www.mrnussbaum.com/gwcarver.htm you will find many facts about his life and contributions to the world of botany.

The following link is another site for teachers, parents, and students to learn more about this great person in history.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=George+Washington+Carver&FORM=BIFD#focal=981c1fc1559213cae3cee31c9868248d&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.teachnet-lab.org%2Fmiami%2F2005%2Flinero3%2Fpictures%2Fgeorge_washington_carver.gif

The following facts are from this site:

Carver developed an interest in helping poor African-American farmers. Farmers in the south worked on poor soil, depleted of nitrogen by the annual cotton crops. Carver and his colleagues taught the farmers how to retain nutrients in the soil by using a crop rotation, a system in which the cotton crop was alternated with other crops such as soybeans, sweet potatoes, and peanuts. Carver's crop rotation improved cotton yields and gave farmers additional crops from which they could earn money. In addition, Carver conducted numerous experiments on peanuts, soybeans, cowbeans and pecans, finding hundreds of practical uses for them including dyes, cosmetics, paints, plastics, and even gasoline.

Requirements:
When students create each weekly slide show presentation, they are to find 5 interesting facts about the person and place them on a slide either as bullets or in paragraph form. A photo of the person that they are learning about is also required.

“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
George Washington Carver

We have 2 songs that help us with our biographies. One is a wrap that we insert the person's name and details. "Good ol' George! Good ol' George! Good ol' George we salute you!" starts off the first song.
The second song teaches students how to look for a biography in the library. (It helps to have been a librarian for many years.)

CROP-tacular!

2009-09-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

Students will be creating a 'Crop Page' that they'll hyperlink to their individual "electronic student portfolio." This will be an extension to their "Student Power Point Portfolio.

On this page they will:

Name the crop (title)
List 5 facts about the crop (List as bullets, numbered, or in a paragraph)

Possible items to include within these facts:

foods or items that this crop is used for
where this crop is grown (you might also include a map)
whether this crop is grown in our area
a picture off the web (label: Soybeans)
facts about the crop
stories that may help you understand about the crop better (Little Red Hen)

Extended Possibilities For Extra Credit:

Include a photo with you and the "crop" that you have chosen
Bring this "crop" to school to show the class

Here's A List of Field Crops If you need some suggestions: (many I have never heard of...does anyone know of any ag experts from the area that would like to speak to our class)

Fiber, Fuel, Edible and Industrial Oils...

Borage
Broomcorn
Canola
Castor beans
Comfrey
Corn (for oil)
Crambe
Cuphea
Flax
Guayule
Jojoba
Kenaf
Lesquerella
Lupine
Meadowfoam
Milkweed
Perilla
Safflower
Sesame
Sunflowers
Vernonia

Food Grains, Pseudocereals, Legumes, etc....

Adzuki beans
Amaranth (food and feed)
Barley
Buckwheat
Dry edible beans (fieldbeans)
Einkorn
Emmer
Field peas (food and feed)
Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
Hops
Indian corn
Jerusalem artichokes (food and feed)
Kamut
Lentils
Malting barley
Mung beans
Organically grown grains of all types
Peanuts
Pearl millet
Popcorn, white and colored
Psyllium (medicinal)
Quinoa
Seed production - registered and certified seed, turfgrass, etc.
Sesame (seeds)
Sorghum (syrup)
Soybeans, incl. natto soybeans for tofu, tempeh; and Edible soybeans (edamame)
Spelt
Triticale
Wheatgrass
Wild rice

Mystery Fruit or Vegetable

2009-09-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

"Mystery and Vegetable Time" is a great way to focus on a variety of state standards in a variety of areas. Students who give the presentation need to find a fruit or vegetable and prepare a list of hints, and use their speaking skills to play their guessing game with their classmates.

Students begin by putting their fruit or vegetable in an opaque container. It is labeled Mystery Fruit or Mystery Vegetables on all four sides. The student may start off by asking for guesses before they give the first hint, (which is whether it's a fruit of vegetable.) They then face the label toward the class so they know the first clue. Only two students guess each time between clues.

Students are encouraged to use their math skills to share additional clues. They are to measure their produce, length, width, and height.. They can give clues as to comparing it to something else. (it's the size of a grape) They can weigh it and become familiar with terminology like pounds, ounces, grams, etc... If it's round they can measure the circumference of it.

They can give the color, information regarding the smell, what dishes it may be used in, and how it grows. When Yuki brought "kale," she shared that it was not a root vegetable. It is a leaf vegetable. I also added that Olive Garden has a wonderful soup that has kale in it called zoupa toskana. Students who guess the Mystery Fruit of Vegetable get to bring the mystery item the next day.

Look at all the way we described characteristics and used our predicting skills. They will learn to use descriptive words also.

This is the song we sing to add to our lesson:

It's a m-y-s-t-e-r-y
It's a mystery
I don't know what the veggie is (fruit)
I guess I'll have to see!
It's a m-y-s-t-e-r-y
It's a mystery
With the size, and weight, and shape

I'll guess what it could be!

You can also have students dress up and give them a musical entrance as they present their mystery item.

Isabel brought another vegetable we could not guess. It was "ginger root." The spice ginger, comes from the plant's rhizome, which is an underground stem.
Check out this link on all the wonderful ways you might assist your health by using this vegetable in your diet.http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/ginger-000246.htm

We're reading about Gail Gibbon's books of vegetables and pumpkins .http://www.gailgibbons.com/index.htm Ask your child if vegetables are usually annuals or perennials. http://www.gailgibbons.com/the_vegetables_we_eat.html

2009-08-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Music, Mud, and Movement at Elim

2009-08-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

The residents of Elim Nursing Home along with the daycare children enjoy singing, playing instruments, dancing, and gardening (weather providing) once a week. I enjoy volunteering my time to add music to others' lives, and when we can get dirty in the garden, it makes it even better.

We sing song about science, history, geography, and praise the Lord. It's great to share stories of past presidents, how to eat healthy, and review the countries in Central and South America to keep our brains sharp. We sing about the Titanic, Pompeii, and the Dirty Thirties, to name a few.

Eleanor and John are awesome at the maracas. Eleanor said she use to play the guitar and that her brother was in a rock band many years ago. You go, girl!

ND Farm Bureau ...Farm Tours

2009-08-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Visit a farm on line! Chickens, bison, horses,goats, sheep... you name it!

Check out the following on-line:

http://ndfb.org/promotion/default.asp?ID=447

Have A "Rice" Day

2009-08-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

www.freerice.com
is an international, viral sensation. Folks from Thailand to Germany and India are just as enthusiastic . . . improving thousands of lives, all with a simple, collective, click of a mouse.”
- CBS Evening News

freerice.com is a website that students can go on and gain more knowledge with every answer they answer and help feed the world. In my class, I often ask, "Did anyone help save the world last night?" Children often respond by telling me how many grains of rice they donated.

This program, a United Nations World Food Program, donates 10 grains of rice for every answer they get right. Subject areas are art, chemistry, vocabulary, grammar, countries, world capitals, languages including French, Italian, German, and Spanish, along with basic math, and multiplication.

Some days we head the the computer lab and "save the world" as we learn in school. Measuring, estimating, and calculating small mounds, medium mounds, and huge mounds of rice would be a great math activity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDWcuBygAUw

Agriculture and Food Scientists

2009-08-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

By planting a seed of encouragement today, we will reap the benefit of having scientists in the ag world tomorrow.

The work of agricultural and food scientists plays an important part in maintaining the Nation’s food supply by ensuring agricultural productivity and food safety. Agricultural scientists study farm crops and animals and develop ways of improving their quantity and quality. They look for ways to improve crop yield with less labor, control pests and weeds more safely and effectively, and conserve soil and water. They research methods of converting raw agricultural commodities into attractive and healthy food products for consumers. Some agricultural scientists look for ways to use agricultural products for fuels.