Blank Calendar Pages

I am so excited to be heading back to school tomorrow -- the new year always makes everyone so refreshed! Here is a link to a lovely blank calendar page template. We will be using this one. There is room to write in the month name and the dates but the days of the week have been already filled in and the weekends are shaded. I think this is most appropriate for my students but if you have an older child you may want to have him or her write the days of the week each time. I am giving my students the blank pages and index cards which state for 2009 what day of the week each month begins on and how many days are in it. They can copy the spelling of the month name off the card, orient themselves as to the day of the week it begins on, and start to write the numbers. When they get to the last number they can check it against the control (a commercially printed calendar) to make sure they have not made any errors.

Other things to share:

I was looking for some seasonal poetry for us to paint and found this lovely poem called Robert's Cove. It is too old for my students but someone may be able to use it for their children so I am passing it along.

Also while looking for seasonal poetry, I found this page of pithy little seasonal phrases for use in scrapbooking -- although, I'm sure, you can use them in many ways -- and so if you want some little quotes for the seasonal calendar check it out. Or perhaps you are the type who makes up little poems for the front of the refrigerator in which case you may also enjoy them. My favorite is

I know there will be spring, as surely as the birds know it when they see above the snow two tiny, quivering green leaves. Spring cannot fail us.
- Olive Schreiner

One of the classroom materials I have that I love and didn't know you could buy online is actually available through the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum and I found it when I was wondering around their website. If you are teaching about plate tectonics or earthquakes or volcanoes, you definitely want to check out this amazing map! It is called This Dynamic Planet and my students were enthralled by it. One of the men who worked on it knows me and gave me a copy when I graduated, as a gift. It is gorgeous.

Let's see... do I have any more links to share?

No, it looks like I'm done. But I did want to pass along the recipe for Snickerdoodles which Leah and I made. They turned out quite yummy.


Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 cup sifted flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

(later: 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon)

Heat your oven to 400 degrees F. Mix butter, sugar, and egg thoroughly. Sift remaining ingredients together and stir into first mixture. Roll into balls the size of small walnuts.

Roll in mixture of the tablespoon of sugar and teaspoon of cinnamon. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned but still soft. (They will puff up at first, then flatten out.) Cool; store in a covered jar.