There is an awesome new network of sites called Woo! Jr, created by Wendy Piersall. The newest addition to the network really piqued my interest ==> Classroom Jr – Teacher Resources, Lesson Plans, Worksheets, Classroom Supplies and Creative Ideas for Educators.

So I was over there browsing around when I found ==>

Halloween Mad Libs at Classroom Jr

Totally awesome!! I have always loved mad libs and Halloween has long been one of my favorite holidays, so combining the two has just tickled me pink! I used to love mad libs when I was a kid, because, they were so darn funny. And I love them as a literacy advocate, because, they really help kids get a grasp on the parts of speech (and I still enjoy the ‘funny’, too). They are one of those great ’secret’ teaching tools. Kids are learning – and they’re having so much fun they don’t even realize it. And they are laughing. One of the very best ways to truly learn something.

I’m definitely going to print some out to do with my kiddos! All three of my kids love mad libs, so I know we will have so much fun doing them! You can click on the image above and go get some yourself, too!

And while you’re at it, check out the rest of the cool sites in the Woo! Jr Network:

• Craft Jr – Crafts for Kids, Paper Crafts, Easy Crafts & Craft Ideas
• Animal Jr – Animal Printables, Teacher Worksheets, Free Wallpapers & Free Jigsaw Puzzle Downloads
• Fantasy Jr – Unicorns, Fairies, and Fantasy Coloring Pages, Games, and Printables
• Space Jr – Space facts, teacher resources, coloring pages, and science fiction for kids
• Cartoon Jr – A Disney, Nickelodeon & Cartoon Network Fan Site for Kids

What an adorable video to show us how tricky it can really be when we try to ban books. Love this!! Many thanks to the Crash Pad Puppets – Chad, Rustle, and Mooch – for helping us see how crazy it can get when trying to ban books!

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WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that The Bookworm Broadcast celebrates the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, (Insert Dates Here), and be it further

RESOLVED, that The Bookworm Broadcast encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, that The Bookworm Broadcast encourages free people to read freely, now and forever.

Adopted by The Bookworm Broadcast
September 28, 2009
Anniston, Alabama

I found this fascinating quote today:

Back to School shopping is a great time to talk money with your kids. They have things they *need* and things they *want*, which presents you with an open door to talk about the differences and how to manage the family budget and why sometimes they $30 shoes get bought instead of the $130 shoes.terrapin719, Just Not Martha, Aug 2009

You should read the whole article.

I found a fun site today via Twitter that I bet your kids will just love! And it may just crack them up, too! It’s called WhoPooped.org and while you are there, you can learn some fun facts about poop. And guess what else? When you’re done learning all the cool poop stuff, you will be a real-life, bonafide Poop Expert! It’s true! Look, here is my certificate:

Haha! How cool is that? Now what kid wouldn’t just love that? I bet they didn’t get any end-of-the-school-year certificates like that!

And then once you have your super groovy Poopcertificate, you can meet the Experts at the Minnesota Zoo. I’ve actually embedded the video right here on my blog for you:

You can visit the Minnesota Zoo Channel on YouTube and see all kinds of cool animal videos!

Have fun earning your Poopcertificate!!

Image by Tie Guy II via Flickr

This is a really super cool activity that will help kids with reading AND science! I would love to do this with my own name – so much fun! Gardening is such a fun activity to do with your kids and it provides so many learning opportunities, but, this is a very unique way that it can help your child with his/her reading skills! I love it!

From the site:

Kindergarteners spend hours and hours reading, writing and exploring the sounds in their own names, and in those of their classmates. Teachers love to use names to help reinforce key skills in early reading instruction… and parents can help!

Seriously, this looks like a lot of fun! Go there now: Activities : Plant Your Name with Seeds!

I found this activity – written by Julie Williams – on Education.com

You have got to see this video – it’s truly amazing! It is an undersea volcano erupting!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Wasn’t that incredible? Interesting that it happens now, when tons of school kids around the United States are busy preparing their own volcanoes for their Science Fair projects.

Now I know you guys have heard of Steve Spangler and other science guys erupting Coke with Mentos candies. But did you know that a lot of kids are actually making their volcanoes erupt with Coke and Mentos. I just learned that recently. It’s cool, because, mixing Coke and Mentos is so. much. fun. But it’s kind of sad, because, it’s so much fun when our kids partake in the very same activities we did when we were kids!

I actually thought I might get some Coke and Mentos for my kids for some Spring Break fun. Hey – if it would tear them away from video games and the internet for even a little while, it would totally be worth it!

Big ‘ol hat-tip to JustJulie and 408Down for this post!

Image via Wikipedia

I absolutely love this – Steve Spangler and his friend, Harmony Conger, are combining three very cool things for a great activity to do with your kids! It’s a wonderful mix of:

VALENTINES DAY + SCIENCE + CRAFTS = FUN, FUN, FUN!!

And the cool thing is, the kids get to learn some science while they’re being super creative! They learn about acids and bases! I’m telling you – learning about science is fun! Either it’s gotten a LOT better since I was a kid or I just had my head in the sand! Whatever is true, I’m just glad it’s so great these days! My daughter actually says that science is her FAVORITE subject! To me, that’s a SCORE – big time!!

Steve is sharing his fun and learning all over the web, which this internet-crazy mama thinks is GRRRREAT! You can read his blog right here: Steve Spangler Blog and he is even on Twitter!! Click here: Steve on Twitter – and say Hello! to him yourself!

I found the most wonderful blog today, via Twitter!

Welcome to NCS-Tech!

There was so much good stuff on there that I felt like a kid in a candy store! There was a very helpful post about how educators can get Google Earth PRO for FREE – and I’ve already emailed that post to our technology guy in our school district.

I’ll come make this post prettier and the like – I just didn’t want to lose track of this awesome blog!