50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth

This is a great gift idea for the environmentally-minded child in your life. I recently borrowed The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth from the library and am now inspired to go out and buy a copy. This book is packed with ideas and activities to encourage stewardship. As a teacher, there are several projects that would easily translate into lesson plans. Visit their web site at http://www.50simplekids.com To check out some cool eco craft books I also borrowed from the library, check out my thrifty/eco teacher blog The Foolscap Flyer. I'll add it to the links to the right, or you can click here http://erin-thefoolscapflyer.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by,

E. Hawkins

Save Those Christmas Cards

Here's a crafty way to repurpose those pretty Christmas cards. Cut up details from your old cards. Punch a hole in the corner and voila - instant gift cards. Of course, this requires time and the ability to remember where you put them the following year. That reminds me, I have to go hunting for our Christmas stockings in the basement today. Phone the police if you don't hear back from me.

This idea was taken from http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/paper_crafts

Speaking of paper art, here's possibly one of the most artistic short films I've ever seen. This clip was put out by the New Zealand Book Council as a way to show how books come to life. Have a look. You'll want to watch it over and over. Enter NZ Book Council in the search engine of YouTube if you want to enlarge the picture. There are so many things you can do with old books that nobody wants anymore. I'll try to post some attainable project ideas down the road.

Thrifted Bears in an Oil Spill

Frugal and eco-minded teachers can hit gold at local thrift shops. In Science, my class is learning about Energy Conservation. We've been exploring fossil fuels and the environmental damages caused by oil spills. Last week, I bought two bags of brand new stuffed bears (10 bears in total) for $4.00 at Value Village. Yesterday, the class recreated an oil spill using cooking oil, black powdered paint (scooped for free at Artsjunktion), and water. Look at the poor bears.

The kids were a little excited. Perhaps a little too excited...

Teddy awaits a last minute pardon.

Greasy horror.

Soap and water did not get them clean.

The students wrote about this activity and their questions and comments will soon be posted on the Room 204 Student Blog. Needless to say, this hands-on activity made the class really think about the damage caused to wildlife following an oil spill. Next week, they will perform autopsies on the bears to see what they look like inside.

E. Hawkins

Paper Diet

Last Friday, Ms. Kumagawa assigned a photocopy password to every staff member at Clairlea. The aim is to save money, reduce paper consumption and reduce our dependency on the regular photocopiers by forcing us all to be accountable. The more efficient Risograph copier does not require a password to use. Staff are already making a point of using the Risograph. We all need to make photocopies throughout the week, but the aim is to make use of new technologies (Smartboards, computers, blogs, etc.) along with notebooks, texts, chalkboards, whiteboards, and various teaching strategies that do not require copious amounts of worksheets.

It took Ms. Kumagawa some time to get the passwords entered, but her efforts will be worthwhile as we all look to reduce paper consumption at our school.

Reusing All Those Old Crayons

Here's a fun activity if you have a whole lot of old broken crayons you don't have the heart to throw away. Remove all of the paper, mix up the colours and put them into cupcake tins. Bake at 275 degrees F for 7-8 minutes and voila! Below, you'll see the marble crayon pucks that come out of the oven. Kids can use these pucks for colouring, or as blocks. For complete instructions, visit http://thriftedtreasure.blogspot.com or http://www.makeandtakes.com/recycled-chunky-crayons My four-year-old is excited about this activity and is sifting through his big tin of crayons as I type. * Kids, don't forget to ask an adult for help before using the oven! Have fun.

Energy Blues

I think School House Rock used this song to illustrate the Energy Crisis. The lyrics are as timely as they were 30+ years ago. Enjoy.

Hinterland Who's Who

If you were a child of the seventies or eighties, you no doubt remember the Hinterland Who's Who public service announcements. As soon as you hear the flute and the lulling voice of the narrator, it will all come back. Hinterland Who's Who have revamped their look and they have a terrific new site that is filled with information about land conservation and protecting endangered species. The site is linked to the right. Have a look and let your child learn more about environmental stewardship.

Artsjunktion-junktion What's Your Function?

Goodies from my most recent run to Artsjunktion. Find out what this is all about below...

Ecologically-minded teachers in the TDSB should take advantage of Artsjunktion if looking for odds and ends for Art, Science, and many other areas of study. Below, please find the blurb about Artsjunktion posted on the TDSB website. Following that, find some pictures of items I received for free at Artsjunktion last school year. I'll be back for more great stuff.

ARTSJUNKTION

ARTSJUNKTION is a depot for receiving and distributing donated materials and supplies to be used in educational and creative programs within the TDSB: in classroom, artistic in-school creations, curriculum projects, Board parenting centers, concurrent and afterschool programs. ARTSJUNKTION solicits and collects materials from hundreds of companies and individuals in the Toronto and surrounding areas through our efforts and through our association with several waste recycling network organizations. These materials are available for pick up at ARTSJUNKTION at no cost to TDSB staff. These free materials must be used to enrich and support curriculum for TDSB students. Visitors will be asked to sign in with their employee information.

Available Items All kinds of scrap materials absolutely FREE....wallpapers, plastics, mural paper, cloth, yarn, binders...you name it! ARTSJUNKTION stock changes constantly but usually includes: - binders - paper circles, strips and offcuts - letter and legal hanging folders - single wallpaper rolls and wallpaper books - envelopes - assorted fun fur pieces - nylon flag material - interior design samples - cardboard tubes (various dimensions) - film tubes and reels - buckets - cardboard and plastic thread cones - upholstery samples, scrap fabric - matboard - foamcore and gatorboard offcuts - empty boxes - metal and plastic lids - wood pieces - foam circles and gaskets - Styrofoam packing blocks This is NOT a depot for furniture. It is a depot for creative materials for use in elementary and secondary classrooms, such as Visual Arts programs, in the TDSB.

Location and Hours of Operation ARTSJUNKTION is located within Ossington / Old Orchard Junior School 380 Ossington Avenue (Just south of College. The entrance is at the rear of the North parking lot. Walk down the truck ramp to double doors) Tuesdays and Thursdays - 10:30 to 1:30 and 2:30 to 5:30 Contact Eileen Orr: 416-393-0894 eileen.orr@tel.tdsb.on.ca TDSB staff are welcome to pick up materials during operating hours. Companies or individuals interested in donating materials should contact Eileen Orr to make arrangements for drop off or pick up of items. Materials must be suitable for use with children (i.e. non-toxic).

Does this film reel bring back memories? In Media Literacy, we've been talking about film and the word "sprockets" came up. As luck would have it, I just so happened to have the overhead projector on and I pulled out this movie reel I got at Artsjuncktion. The children had never seen anything like it before. I used some of this to make a hallway sign, but I still have hundreds of meters left. Without a doubt it will get used in Science or Art down the road.

Fabric, string, shelf paper and a whole lot more. All free.

On the day I was there, I found a stack of these old advertisement transparencies. Cool.
Pink pearls by the truckload. I also found a barrel of corks, so I loaded up. It would take months to collect that many corks.

Reusing Paper

On any given week, you'll find a monster pile of paper by the printer in the library. The sad thing is that these sheets have print on one side and nothing on the back. Students and staff make mistakes when printing a job and sometimes we just don't check to see if there is a more efficient way of printing what we need without having the printer spit out sheets of unwanted paper. What to do?

Mr. Knierim has been on a mission to educate staff and students about using the printer more responsibly. The Green Team is jumping on that wagon and we will be starting a series of public service announcements soon.

Ginnie from the School Council had the fantastic idea of turning the unwanted paper into notepads for staff and students. Today, the Primary Green Team got cracking.

Mme. Trott and some wonderful Grade 1 students began attacking the paper pile during morning recess. Those little hands were busy cutting sheets of paper into quarters. Great to have a Green Team meeting in French. Merci!

Coming soon - hand-crafted notepads!

Thanks again to our intrepid Juniors for making quick work of the recycling disposal. Hurrah!

Don't Throw That Out!

I'm starting to think that you can teach everything with a 2-L pop bottle. In September, we made made pop bottle wind spinners. Last week students constructed models of the respiratory system using these bottles (along with balloons, straws, clay, and repurposed plastic bags). Cold, refreshing, and bursting with scientific discoveries.

Is your class using junk creatively? Have you made any cool crafts at home using trash? Let me know and I'll share your story.

E. Hawkins

Green Team is Rocking

This year, Clairlea will be running Primary and Junior/Intermediate Green Teams. I hope that we can get the kindergarten children involved in the near future as well.

The school has learned that we now need to be disposing the contents of our classroom recycling bins directly into the large recycling dumpster at the back of the school. Today, the Junior Green Team got busy during morning recess and with teacher/janitorial support went around to every room in the school that has a recycling bin and emptied them. This will be a weekly routine. I'm thinking that perhaps Primary Green Team students can partner with the Juniors to check the garbage cans in each room to ensure that recyclables are not ending up in the trash. We'll keep you posted.

Nice work team. Your hard work and enthusiasm is appreciated.

Next item on the agenda - taming the big, paper monster!

E. Hawkins

Breaking New Ground

Last week, a group of vigorous volunteers helped Mrs. Kumagawa create what will become a bed of purple and white crocuses at the front of the school. The best part is that the bulbs have been arranged in the shape of the letter 'C.' How cool is that? We can't wait to see the results come April. Thanks to everyone for pitching in at lunch time.

From Junk to Jewels

I recently discovered the work of Kathy Thompson. She is a mixed-media artist who creates these incredible shadow boxes she calls Hboxes (History Boxes). They remind me of the surrealist boxes of Joseph Cornell. If you have old junk piled up in your home, why not let your child repurpose it and create their own Hbox? You could even use clementine crates, or salad containers to box the art. Here's Thompson's website if you are interested in finding out more http://hboxes.com/

Best,

E. Hawkins

School Greening Committee Meeting

This past Friday (Nov. 6th), the Clairlea Greening Committee had its first meeting to discuss greening initiatives for the school grounds. Mrs. Brathwaite led the discussion using slides featuring the front of our school as well as pictures from Jackman P.S., which has had several successful greening projects on the go for over a decade.

On the screen you'll see a photo of the front of Clairlea. Although this space faces the staff parking lot, there is plenty of greening potential. Several trees remain, but the space is in need of some tough native plants that do well in tough places.

More to come...

E. Hawkins

Green Scene

Here is the current glass display case welcoming people to our school. The display is being used to let people know that we're now an EcoSchool and to also remind families about the need to pack a litterless lunch. Soon, our Green Team will be coming around to classrooms to check garbage cans, recycling bins, and to see if lights are left on when not needed. Please help us by sending your child's lunch in a reusable container and sending in a reusable water bottle. The little disposable water bottles add up in our blue bins.

Thanks a lot!

Here's a catchy little ditty about the Three Rs. It takes a few seconds to start up, but it's worth the wait. Enjoy!

Welcome to Clairlea Green

Welcome to Clairlea Green! This blog will be the place to come to find out what Clairlea is doing to reduce waste, green the school grounds, and inspire students and staff to think beyond the brick walls of Clairlea. We recently received our plaque to acknowledge our Eco-School status.

We've just become a Silver-level Eco School, but now we're going for Gold! This year, we have a group of dedicated staff who will work alongside students to achieve this goal. Of course, we encourage parent support as well. If you are interested in supporting Clairlea Green, please send a note with your child and have them bring it to Room 204 and I will get in touch. Soon, we will be starting up Green Teams in the school. It is important to foster ecological thinking from kindergarten.

That's it for now.

Regards,

E. Hawkins