The Game of Life

Now that TCAP is over, I am running the Game of Life in my English Classes.  The game is similar to the board game called Life.  Students pick cards that give them a career, salary, family, cars and apartment requirements.  They then learn to read car ads, figure out car loan information, create a monthly budget, write checks, keep a check register, look at apartment ads....basically becoming familiar with life.  They also get to draw one or two LIFE cards each day that give them those unexpected events!  Some of the events are good (receiving money), some are not so good (paying money). Many of the life events are funny. 
The students always have fun with this, even though they are working and learning! 

Yesterday's homework was to write a letter to a friend describing their 'new' life.  Here are some excepts from the letters: (no corrections made)
"  We have two kids, C is 11 months and B is 1 year"
"By the way, I broke up with A, we had a fight over tomatoes."
"I am married to Justin Bieber. He is a singer, of course, and he makes $42,000 a year"
"My wife is a dedicated profesional office worker who travels a lot."
"We don't won't any kids because they cost money."
"My husband is a farming"
"I own one child named Cody"
"My husband makes $32,000 at his job as a perfesonal soccor player."


Enjoy!

More Summer Progress!

I purchased the fabrics for this quilt top last June and have been working on it since then. Finally it is finished! I love the brights against the black background fabrics. Now I need to figure out if I have fabric for the back and I can get it off to Chris for quilting!

Three years ago, Elizabeth left me to return to Texas. I sent her off with her own Eric Carle quilt, created with fabrics designed around his book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear". I had fabrics left over and since I will be teaching Reading next year, I decided to make my own! Here it is! I even have the backing fabric all ready to go! Nothing new purchased for this project!!

I have also created 4 tote bags from fabric left over from my Balloon Race quilt, and 3 tote bags from some canvas my mother-in-law gave me.

The stash of fabrics are slowly being used.

On the funny side: I took this sticker off a shirt this morning and stuck it on Narnia's forehead. She has left it there all day. Silly Dog!

Summer Break--what I do!

Everyone always thinks that it is wonderful that Teachers get the "ENTIRE SUMMER" off work.
Those of you who know me know that this is not actually true.
Yes, I do not have a strict schedule for work.
Yes, I can sleep in and stay up all night.

But.....

The school system schedules in-service (training) and meetings during the summer so that we can prepare for the next school year.

I clean out my classroom of items I did not use in the past two years. This year, because I am teaching a new subject, I shared a lot of my math and history items with other teachers. I also acquired a number of Language Arts items.

There is always one BIG project for my classroom, this year it involves Vince (as always), but will not be as time consuming as the prior years' projects have been.

I also work on lesson plans and activities that I have thought of and want to use next year. I also revise lesson plans that did not work out well the prior year.

This year, I am working on learning my new subjects (English and Reading--collectively called Language Arts). I am really excited about teaching Language Arts! I have been going through the lesson plans of my fellow teachers and working my own twist on them. I have been reading the stories and coordinating the grammar and writing with the standards for the 6th grade.

I located this nifty website called Web English Teacher that has lesson plans for some of my favorite authors (Dr. Seuss, Chris Van Allsburg, Patricia Polacco and more!). I love using children's storybooks to encourage my 6th graders to write. I am glad that I will now be able to do these activities and they will actually be in the subject I am teaching.
Last week, Vince and I went to Alabama to close up my MIL's house, and then I went to St. Louis to visit Rob and Izzy. So, my first week of summer break was a little work and a little relaxation!

This week, I have been working--cleaning up the house and putting away items we acquired from my MIL's House, freecycling items Rob and Izzy gave me that they did not need, and sewing. We also sold the old water heater, Vince's golf clubs and a purse I did not like. It has been a good week to get tasks accomplished and begin the annual summer PURGE!

Look for updates!

Our class is so fortunate!

Once again, Sonic completed my project! Although they were not the only ones who contributed to the funding here. There were individual donors (like Sherry and Deborah and others) as well as everyone who participated in the Bing promotion earlier this summer.
The funding of this project truly shows that it takes many people to successfully educate the youth of our country.

So, now onto the next phase of our project. Before we actually put them into full use, we have to thank our donors. Once all of the materials arrive, we write thank you notes and take photographs of the students using the materials from the projects.

Permissions slips have been sent home and I have quite a number of them back already. These are required before I can take pictures of any student and publish them on DonorsChoose. The students are all required to write a thank-you note, which fits with our education standards which require them to know how to write a friendly letter. Each student is required to write a thank you note, as they are graded! Some think that if they do not return the permission slip, they do not have to write the notes! Wrong.

I have already received the materials for the "Save Me!" project: These arrived on Friday. The kids were a little underwhelmed by them, but once they understand what these items will do, they will be more excited.





Our Standing Desk has been purchased, I am anxiously awaiting its arrival. I have already warned Vince that he may be needed for assembly!

Limeades for Learning Update

A HUGE thank you to everyone who voted for "Save Me!" during the first week of Sonic's Limeades for Learning promotion.

I received notice on Friday that "Save Me!" has been funded by Sonic!

Well, actually, I was on the Limeades site, checking to see how many votes the project had. I did a search and only one project showed up in the search results. I was confused and then had that little thrill that told me that "maybe" the project had been funded.


Sure enough, when I checked my school email in-box, there was the notice!
http://www.limeadesforlearning.com/projects/view/396383

I did the happy dance
And then proceeded to let everyone on Facebook know that we had been successful!

I know that without everyone's help and votes, this project would still be pending. I am glad that I have wonderful friends and family, and that my friends and family have wonderful friends and family! I know that it takes more than one person to educate a child. Together we all make a difference for our children's future, which is our future.

So, this is a very heartfelt Thank You to each and every one of you who voted last week and who are still voting this week. My other project "Sit,Stand or Lounge?" http://limeadesforlearning.com/projects/view/395955
is at 137 votes and counting. Thank you for voting for my projects.
I hope that once my projects are funded, you will continue to vote for someone's project. If Limeades For Learning reaches 1 million votes before the end of September, they will make another $100,000 available for public school teachers. So, while I will have benefited already, there are thousands of other teachers who will benefit as well.

Thank you.

Limeades for Learning

Yes, folks, Sonic is once again running their Limeades for Learning promotion!

All you need to do is go to the Limeades for Learning site, and vote for your favorite project. I (of course) trust that you will vote for mine!

When you get to the site, do a keyword search for "Chester Co, Tn" and my two projects will pop up.
or go here: Save me!
or here: Sit, Stand or Lounge
You can vote once a day for each email address you have.

Sonic works in conjunction with DonorsChoose.org to help public school teachers obtain supplies and equipment for their classrooms. I have had a lot of luck in getting my projects funded through a variety of programs run by DonorsChoose and their partners. I am endlessly amazed that the generosity of individuals as well as larger corporate sponsors.

Earlier this summer, Bing ran a special Teacher's Appreciation program. During that program, you could make a comment about how a teacher inspired your or affected your life. Bing then sent you a gift card to use at DonorsChoose! FREE! My project Sit, Stand or Lounge was partially funded through that promotion.

Now with Sonic's Limeades for Learning, I am working on receiving enough votes to get both Sit, Stand or Lounge AND Save Me! funded.

SO, I am asking for everyone's help! Go to Limeades for Learning, vote for my project.
Vote every day! If you have more than one email address, vote with each one!

As of right now, Tuesday, the top project has 243 votes. Sit, Stand or Lounge has 15.

Together, we can make this happen.

Thanks

One Week Down!

Well folks, we have made it through the first week of school. Yes, school here in Tennessee started on August 3rd with a short but sweet half day that permitted the teachers and students to get use to each other.

I have an absolutely fantastic group of 23 students in my home room class and another absolutely fantastic group of 23 students in my team class. Since I teach primarily Math and History, I get to experience two groups of 6th graders every year.

For the most part, they are well behaved, smart and funny. I have enjoyed each day of the past 6 days of school.

We have encountered the typical issues for the beginning of 6th grade: not remembering which books to bring to class, not remembering pencils or binders or paper, not doing homework, doing homework but not remembering to bring it to school, not listening to directions or reading the directions and doing the quiz wrong (which requires them to re-do the assignment), not using pencil in math, using their index cards (Which are intended to become flash cards for studying vocabulary words) to write their vocabulary words and definitions five times each, not knowing how to multiply or divide, not knowing how to add and subtract large numbers, etc.

At the same time we have encountered these issues: fun and laughter, jokes, stories from summer vacation, cartoon drawings, entertaining journal assignments, smiles in the morning, "have a great afternoon, Mrs. Carrabba" as they leave the room at the end of the day, hugs.

I love teaching. I am so thankful that I found my way into this profession. I never thought that this was part of my destiny, but here I am.

Terracycling up for a New School Year!

Yesterday, we had our Back to School Store at our church. The women's group organizes this entire event, which helps provide back to school supplies for about 100 students in our local community.
My favorite part is meeting all of the students and sometimes seeing students that I have had in the past! I had a chance to talk with more than 6 of my prior students, some parents and some possible future students! It was a wonderful day and the kids left with backpacks full of school supplies and stomachs full of home made cookies!

The night before, when we were setting up, I noticed that volunteers were putting cookies in small snack sized Zip-Loc bags.










Of course, my "trash-radar" went up and since I could not avoid the baggies, I could gather them and send them to Terracycle. So, I prepared a box with a sign asking for the empty baggies to be put in the box.
While I still had to raid the trashcans, there were many baggies put in the box! (mind you I had to take baggies out of the 'plastics' recycling can and cardboard boxes out of the 'plastics' recycling can!)

While I was helping to clean up and gather these baggies, Judy asked me about everything that I collected. She said that she really did not like to throw items in the trash as she understands that there is no "away" when an item is thrown away! So she wanted to know if anything that she had saved was something I collected. So, she will be bringing me her trash on Monday! I also sent her a link to my original blog post on what I collect with the brigades! Through the Terracycle Facebook page, I often find out about changes to the brigades or clarifications as to what is acceptable. The only recent change is that Terracycle now takes the Straws from the Drink Pouches. This is the comment from the Terracycle FB page:

"This is because we also now turn the drink pouches you send to us into pavers, bricks, fence posts and more. Through this melting type process (please excuse my lack of technical knowledge on the subject, but do see... See more the video in our video tab called 'From Flavia Fresh Packs to Pavers' to learn more) we are also able to use roughly 4x more drink pouches then before, which is really great for everyone. For example, a large juice pouch tote bag uses 26 juice pouches, but one paver stone uses at least 100! Happy TerraCycling."

Remember, the idea is to reduce the packaging that we put in the landfills. There are many ways to accomplish this.

First--really consider the items you purchase: do you really need it? how is it packaged? can the packaging be reused, composted, or recycled?

Second--look at what you are considering putting in that trash can: Can it be used by someone else (yard sales, thrift stores, freecycle, craigslist!!) Can it be composted or recycled? can it be remade into some other useful item?

There are many people out there who are successful at living life to the fullest while reducing their impact on the environment. It takes time and patience with your self. Our habits did not develop overnight, so it will take more than one day, one week, one month or even one year to change.

Take that first step.

Make one change this week.

Hmmm.....Summertime "To Do" list??

I was meandering through my old posts and came across my Summertime "To Do" list, and thought it would be interesting to see what I actually finished!

Here is the original list with updates in GREEN

1. Finish the following quilts:
Jennifer's baby quilt (finished)
Peacock (top finished and delivered to long arm quilter)
Spinning Card Deck (this has been given thought and is being remade into a different design)
Skyward Nines (background and border fabric purchased)
Log Cabin (from the beautiful hand-dyed fabrics I bought as a kit at the 2009 Paducah Quilt Show!) (nothing done with this project!)
2. Finish the fabric rug I started 4 years ago using the Locker Hook method! (no progress here!)
3. Finish baby bibs for Etsy store. (finished as of today!)
4. Photograph items for Etsy store. NOPE
5. List items in Etsy store. NOPE
6. Yard Sale in June! Rescheduled for August 7
7. Clean out school filing cabinets (done!)
8. Decide on and organize Math Stations for RTI (Response to Intervention) method that will be used in school next year. (this one is a biggie!!) DONE! This started with an inventory of what I already had. I found that I had a number of perfect activities and all I needed to do was organize them. I created instruction sheets for each activity, listing supplies needed and making sure the activity parts were organized. I had to create little drawstring bags for some activities. I still have TONS of items that need to be cut out from cardstock and organized into folders, but I have help planned and a date arranged for next week.
9. Organize school cabinets DONE
10. Re-hang signs in classroom. (done!)
11. Repair entryway rug in classroom. DONE
12. Put 2009-2010 scrapbook together. I purchased the scrapbook and extra pages just two weeks ago.


Additionally I completed these activities:
Dyed and sewed new curtains for the window and the shelves in my classroom.
Spray painted the bookshelf in my classroom
I finished the Readers are Leaders quilt and the Prairie Schooler Quilt.
I added a hanging sleeve to the Hot Air Balloon quilt
Vince hung all three of these quilts in my classroom
Vince made and hung new pegs for the students' backpack and coats.
I finished the binding for the Snow Crazy Quilt.

So, overall, I made progress and had a busy summer! I am glad it is not over yet.

Donors Choose and Sonic: Partners Again!

Last August, Sonic partnered up with DonorsChoose.org in the Limeades for Learning promotion.
I was fortunate enough to have two projects funded through that promotion!

Starting August 30th, drinks at Sonic will have voting codes on them. It is very easy to then go to the Limeades for Learning site and vote for your favorite Public School Teacher's project!

I have created two links on my blog to aid you in finding my projects when you vote for your favorite!

All I am asking is that if you patronize Sonic, know anyone who patronizes Sonic, knows someone who works at Sonic, or want to go to Sonic because you want to support public school teachers, please pass the word along and help out a teacher!

PILLOWS for the Classroom!

Finally I have finished this project!

I now have two HUGE pillows to use in my classroom for the upcoming school year!

These pillows were created using reclaimed stuffing and fabric! The outer covering that you see is an old fabric shower curtain. The inner pillow forms were created using fabric I purchased at the thrift store (quite unattractive fabric if I may say so!) very inexpensively. The stuffing was reclaimed from several unwanted bedpillows and throw pillows. It took a while to wash and dry the stuffing materials, but it was worth it!

Measuring about 30 inches square, they will sit on the floor for students to use instead of sitting at regular desks. They will have to earn the right to sit on the floor pillows, of course!

There are Peacocks Here!

Yesterday morning, I started to piece together this Peacock quilt. I had worked hard getting the individual blocks put together, and the piecing the sashing.
Here it is laid out on the floor in my studio.


My goal yesterday was to get the entire top stitched together, borders and all!
I was diligently working on the top when I received a call from a friend who told me about a piece of furniture that would be perfect for my new classroom arrangements. So, I finished the seam I was working on, changed my clothes to ones with less threads and headed to Jackson.
Fortunately, I arrived at the yard sale in time to see the piece of furniture and decide it would work very well. Unfortunately, it was being held by another lady who had already purchased it! I tried to buy it from her, but no deal. SIGH.

So, it was off to North Jackson to Hancocks to purchase fabric to replace the curtains in my room. I did not find anything inexpensive enough that I liked (I needed over 10 yards!) So, I bought muslin and will be dying it teal. Then I checked out Hobby Lobby for some wide ribbon that I will be able to use as bulletin borders (instead of the cardstock ones that have to be replaced every year!) I also bought the ribbon in teal! (sense a theme here?)

Up the drive home, I realized I had not finished my Sunday School lesson on the Thessalonians. So, I had to do my reading and research so that I can impart a little knowledge in class.






Then I was able to return to my borders! Here is the finished product. It covers the top of my king sized bed nicely.


Here are some details on the 3 of the 12 individual star blocks.


All in all, a project finished. I purchased the fabrics and pattern in March 2009. I will purchase backing fabric while in Pennsylvania and then get it to the quilter when I return!

Project Status!

I am one week into my summer break! I do have in-service training for the next two days though, so very little progress will be made on home projects while I think about school!

However, I did manage to finish the Red/White/Blue quilt. It was made with a technique called "Stack a Deck". I use scraps of fabrics I had laying around...the blocks have been here for quite some time! It is a nice lap sized quilt.


This "Prairie Schooler" quilt I found in a magazine, I believe it was a 2007 magazine. I liked it and purchased the fabrics that the pattern featured, so this one has been around since 2007. I worked on it in bits and pieces since then. The only fabrics I purchased were the letters and the scrambled letter fabric. I used scraps and my stash for the remainder of the quilt. It was my first quilt with prairie points and I think they turned out well! I do need to finish the binding on this one, but otherwise it is complete, label and all!


This quilt is one for a friend of mine who is having her second child. I decided on the "I Spy" design because then the older brother could play with the younger brother! This one is complete except for a little bit of binding and the label. I wanted to wait and put the baby's birthdate on the label!


And finally: I finished one of the pillows that will grace my classroom this fall. This is one of two pillows that I am creating from items that no longer have a life on their own. I used a discolored fabric shower curtain, and the stuffing material came from an assortment of stained pillows. I washed the stuffing material (Fun stuff!!) and created an interior pillow form (again from re-claimed fabric). I did purchase two zippers so that the outer colorful cover could be removed and washed as needed. Here is a link to my classroom "alternative seating" project that these pillows are part of: Sit, Stand or Lounge?

♪ ♫Summer Time, Summer Time, SumSumSummertime.♪♫♪♪

Yes, my summer vacation has "officially" begun. I do have several days of In-service training scheduled, but I plan to (once again) catch up on those unfinished projects.

I do have to say that I managed to get more projects finished this school year than last year, which is probably good as I have a lot more school projects for this summer!


My "To Do" list for this summer (as of today's date):

1. Finish the following quilts:
Jennifer's baby quilt
Peacock
Spinning Card Deck (this needs serious seam ripping and thought!)
Skyward Nines (all of the nine-patch blocks are finished!)
Log Cabin (from the beautiful hand-dyed fabrics I bought as a kit at the 2009 Paducah Quilt Show!)

2. Finish the fabric rug I started 4 years ago using the Locker Hook method!
3. Finish baby bibs for Etsy store.
4. Photograph items for Etsy store.
5. List items in Etsy store.
6. Yard Sale in June!
7. Clean out school filing cabinets (done!)
8. Decide on and organize Math Stations for RTI (Response to Intervention) method that will be used in school next year. (this one is a biggie!!)
9. Organize school cabinets
10. Re-hang signs in classroom. (done!)
11. Repair entryway rug in classroom.
12. Put 2009-2010 scrapbook together.

I am sure there will be many more tasks accomplished, but these are the ones I am determined to do!

Plastic baggies!

As a school teacher, I often have a need for many small bags that will close. Thus the "Zippered" baggie. It can hold a wonderful assortment of items and at a glance, I can tell what is in there. I use them over and over again, saving them until they are as unfunctional as possible.

Once their usefulness has expired, the question is: What do I do with them?

I do not want to just toss it into the non-existent land of "Away". After all, we all know there is not "Away" !!


Nor do I want it to become part of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.



Thankfully Terracycle and SC Johnson & Company (ZipLoc Bags) have devised a way to keep these bags out of our landfills, our forests, our streets, our oceans.......

Every time you use a Ziploc® product - any type of bag or container - you can help save it from being discarded into a landfill by sending it to TerraCycle.
You all know that I have been working with Terracycle for more than a year now, and my class in school works hard to collect items that Terracycle Upcycles into new products. I am glad that I was accepted into their Home Storage Brigade (which is open only to schools)

Some key points about this brigade:
1.) Only schools can join this brigade and since I have joined, you can save the baggies for me and I will send them in.
2.) They will take any brand baggies or storage containers and in any condition (peanut butter residue included!)
3.) Participation in the Home Storage Brigade™ is completely free - there are no sign-ups fees and all the shipping is covered by the program.
4.) Also, for each approved bag or container received, 2¢ will be paid to my school.



I have requested a product created from this brigade to review and blog about. I will then create a giveaway for that product. Watch future blogs for information about that!

Terracycle in the Classroom

Our class received an exciting surprise visit from a reporter from the Chester County Independent Newspaper.

Terracycle had apparently sent a press release to the Independent and this press release had my name on it. Being the good reporters that they are, they contacted me to find out more about how Terracycle impacts our classroom.

The students were very excited to talk to a reporter and to talk about what they collect for Terracycle and how recycling impacts their classroom, their community and their world.

In honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, Terracycle has put their new products in Walmarts across the United States for the month of April.

So, go and check out the Terracycle products at your local Walmart.

And those of you who are local to Henderson, check out my class in the Independent this week!

Surface Area

Teaching Math is truly a challenge. While I like Math, I know that not everyone else does. Especially 6th graders!

Last week we learned how to calculate the Area of squares, rectangles, triangles and circles. We had to learn all of these new FORMULAS !!! (You remember these: A = lw, A = 1/2 bh, A = r²⁾

Some of the kids got the hang of this right away, others were just trying too hard. I told them that sometimes you have to just accept things on faith, other times you have to look for a deeper meaning.

Just accept these formulas on faith. They are right and they will work.

I managed to get this through to the kids and we moved onto formulas for calculating Surface Area this week.

I started with showing them how you can take a three-dimensional figure and flatten it out into a net. This is one for a square pyramid:
To find the surface area for a square pyramid, you just find the area of all of the flat shapes: one square and 4 triangles.

The formula is based on the formulas for each individual shape, added together.
So the formula for finding the surface area of a square pyramid is: lw + 4(1/2 bh)

Each problem gives the kids the measurements for the length, width, base, and height.

We practice picking the correct formula for each problem (as we learn 3 different shapes and their formulas).

Then we go through the steps to solve this problem.

There is the BIG PROBLEM!

I realize that a lot of the kids do not want to follow the steps, write down what they should be doing, stay organized, pay close attention to what they are doing, or double check their work.

It does not seem to matter how many problems we solve independently, as a group or on the boards. Some will follow the steps and find success. Others will ignore what their classmates and I are doing and continue to try it their own way.

Vince says that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Yesterday, I had one class talk about tips on how to work these problems and get them right every time. What did they tell their classmates? Follow the steps, check your work, stay organized, use the right formulas.....the same advice I have been giving. I thought that perhaps if it came from their classmates it would have a greater impact.

I was wrong. I still had some of these kids today ignoring everything we spent the past 3 days on.

But we need to move on.

Next hurdle...formulas for Volume.

Words of Wisdom from a Seventh Grader

One of my students from last year stopped by my classroom yesterday to visit. I asked what advice a Seventh Grader could pass onto a Sixth Grader to help them prepare for Junior High School.
Here are some of the tidbits:
Study your grammar. Teachers in Junior High School expect you to be able to write. You have to write a book report every month and the book has to be at least 100 pages long.
Pay attention to your teachers. Teachers in Junior High School expect you to listen in class.
Take notes. One teacher lectures and expects you to take notes, and then quizzes you on the information.
Do your homework, every time. In Junior High School, they are much stricter about that.
Don't be late to school. You can get ISS (In-School Suspension) for being late.
Obey the Dress Code. They are strict in Junior High School.
Keep your locker organized. Then you can find what you need.

I am sure there were more words of wisdom, but what I enjoyed was hearing my own comments come back to me. I wish I could arrange for some seventh graders to come back and talk to the sixth graders. Then maybe they would understand why I do what I do!

DonorsChoose Project has been FUNDED!

Yesterday, as I was checking up on my DonorsChoose projects, I found that both projects has qualified for a "Double Your Impact offer". That means that half of the funds needed for the project are provided by an organization once other donors fund the remaining half. That was EXCITING!!!!

Then earlier today, I found out that in honor of Presidents' Day, the Pershing Square Foundation is funding history, government, geography and civics projects down to $98--on the condition that citizen philanthropists take these projects across the finish line.

The offer is the first in a new series called "Almost Home," made possible by a $1 million grant from the Pershing Square Foundation. Over the next four months, funding will be implemented as five site-wide "Almost Home" offers, each pegged to a specific theme day. For a limited time each month, "citizen philanthropists" will be challenged to activate matching funds from the Pershing Square Foundation by completing the funding on classroom projects meeting the theme day's criteria.

I thought WOW! So, I planned to arrive home and spread the word!

Upon arrival home, I received an email that one of my projects had been fully funded! My class will be receiving three different news magazines for use in our classroom! FANTASTIC!!!

My other project: What did He Do to Become Famous?, also qualified for the Pershing Foundation Offer.

I only need $97 worth of donations to make that project a reality too!

SO, here I am , spreading the word! If you are interested in supporting a classroom, or know someone who is, please help us out! It would be wonderful to be able to take advantage of the Pershing Square Foundation's generosity!

Thanks!

UPDATE!!!!
What did He Do to Become Famous? has been FUNDED!

Made in the USA

I teach Ancient History to sixth graders. On a daily basis, I work to relate what we are learning to real life. We were discussing the history of Ancient China and one student commented about the number of items we buy that are 'made in China'.

This lead to a discussion of why it 'costs' less to make items in China (and other places) and why Americans will buy cheaper products. Most of the kids were nodding their heads in agreement about saving money on cheaper items. We also discussed why items made in the USA can sometimes cost more.

We then discussed an item's 'lifetime'. One student observed that sometimes cheaper items do not last long, they break or wear out quickly. Good Observation there! Of course, the comment was also made that because kids outgrow clothing quickly, the clothing does not always wear out before they outgrow it. Another good point.

This comment then lead to their weekend homework assignment. They are to go through all of their shirts and pants that they own and make a simple tally mark chart to indicate if the items were made in the USA or in another place. I did not ask them to specify where the clothing was made other than USA or non-USA for simplicity's sake!

This lead to a few exclamations about the amount of work that would involve! In clarifying that I only wanted them to count shirts (not sweaters, sweatshirts or jackets) and pants (not shorts or skirts) they were a bit relieved. I did comment that if they thought that they had too many shirts and pants to go through in one weekend, then perhaps they had too many articles of clothing!

I too, will be going through my shirts and pants for this assignment. It will be interesting to see what the class results will be. Look for a graph later this week.

Remember: if you must shop, shop locally, shop USA made products! http://www.madeinusa.org/ and http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/
Thanks!

UPDATE: FEBRUARY 12, 2010
My students brought in their results yesterday and we were not surprised at the outcome.

Here are the results:
Shirts: Made in the USA: 133
Made somewhere else: 645
Pants: Made in the USA: 233
Made somewhere else: 570

Please note that this is a class of 27 students. While the fact that most of the clothing was not made in the USA did not surprise me, the fact that these students own so many clothes did!
There was one student who had 95 shirts and 65 pairs of pants! That is just amazing!

We talked about how we could change these numbers. The students talked about buying clothing that was made in the USA. I challenged them to find clothing in physical stores that was made in the USA. I believe that they will have a hard time finding clothing easily that is made in the USA. Since it requires more effort to shop American, most people will not do it. In order to make an impact, not only do we have to increase awareness of the situation, but we have to act on it. Even one more person taking action makes a difference.
The difference is you.
Can you do it?