Celebrate Red Planet Day!

Red Planet Day is celebrated every year on November 28th. This celebration was created to commemorate the launch of the Spacecraft Mariner 4 on November 28th, 1964. Mariner 4 went on a 228-day mission that brought the spacecraft within 6,118 miles of Mars, the Red Planet, on July 14, 1965. This mission was the first successfully flyby of Mars and supplied us with the first close up pictures of the martian planet.

Since that first successful mission, we have come a long way! Many attempts have been made to explore Mars with some of them being successful. We currently have three orbiters surveying Mars that provide information every day. There have also been several successful rover landings on the Red Planet, including the most recent landing of the Mars Science Laboratory named Curiosity.

With Curiosity exploring and providing information everyday on the fourth planet from the sun, now is an exciting time to study Mars and our solar system. Check in on the Curiosity Rover on Twitter or get more information on past, present and future Mars missions at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Facts about Mars

• Mars is named after the Greek God of War, Ares.
• Mars is called the Red Planet because of it’s iron-rich soil and air.
• The Red Planet is the seventh largest planet in our solar system.
• Mars has a wide temperature range. It can be anywhere from  -225 to 70+ degrees Fahrenheit.
• Gravity on Mars is only 38% of Earth’s gravity. A 100 pound person would only weight 38 pounds on Mars.
• Mars is home to the largest mountain in our solar system. The mountain, Olympus Mons, is 17 miles high. That’s three times as tall as Mount Everest!
• The diameter of Mars is half the size of Earth or twice the size of Earth’s moon.
• Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. 
• A year on Mars is 687 days – 322 days longer than a year on Earth!
• A day on Mars is about 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.

Fun THANKSGIVING Facts

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Fun Facts about Thanksgiving

Fun Facts about the First Thanksgiving

The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving.

 

The Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach North America.

 

They sailed on the ship, which was known by the name of 'Mayflower'.

 

They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day at Plymouth, Massachusetts. 

 

The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land. 

 

The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621. He invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians to the feast. 

 

The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.

 

Mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries were not foods present on the first Thanksgiving's feast table.

 

Lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese are thought to have made up the first Thanksgiving feast.

 

The pilgrims didn't use forks; they ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers.

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Fun Facts about Thanksgiving Today

In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations. 

 

Each year, the average American eats somewhere between 16 - 18 pounds of turkey.

 

Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States. 

 

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States. 

 

Although, Thanksgiving is widely considered an American holiday, it is also celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada. 

 

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season.

 

For more 'Thanksgiving Facts throughout History' and
'Fun Turkey Facts' visit: Whsv.com's Thanksgiving Fun Fact's article.

Happy Universal Children's Day!

 Make sure you dedicate today to teaching your children all about other cultures and showing them how we all stand together. It's important for our children of the future to have an open mind, want to learn more and stay positive. Each child is special and important and today they each need to know it! Happy teaching!

The United Nations' (UN) Universal Children's Day, which was established in 1954, is celebrated on November 20th each year to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide. UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, promotes and coordinates this special day, which also works towards improving children's welfare. To learn more visit :TimeandDate.com

Pilgrim Hat Cookies

These cute cookies make a great snack to bring your students this week or to make at home with your kids. It's a great way to teach your children about cooking and following recipes. There is no baking required. Have fun and enjoy these delicious treats! Happy Thanksgiving!

Ingredients

• 1 cup vanilla frosting
• 7 drops yellow food coloring
• 32 miniature peanut butter cups
• 1 package (11-1/2 ounces) fudge-striped cookies
• 32 pieces orange mini Chiclets gum

Directions

• In a small shallow bowl, combine frosting and food coloring. Remove paper liners from peanut butter cups.

• Holding the bottom of a peanut butter cup, dip top of cup in yellow frosting. Position over center hole on the bottom of cookie, forming the hatband and crown. Add a buckle of Chiclets gum. Repeat with remaining cups and cookies. Yield: 32 cookies.

Taste of Home 

Friday's Featured Product

'Friday's Featured Product' will unlock your students' full potential with this collection of innovative games designed to promote self-esteem. Students will learn how to relate to one another, and feel more positive about themselves while having fun playing these games. These classroom-tested activities are organized thematically (such as games with music or physical activity) and can be played in pairs or groups in the classroom or outside. 144 pages.

Happy Friday Everyone!
 
http://www.teacherssquare.com/p-79285-dd400550.aspx#

FREE Thanksgiving Printables!

A fun way to get the kids in the holiday spirit is with our FREE Thanksgiving Printables! We have a Turkey-Color by Number, a Thanksgiving Maze, a Matching Game, a Thanksgiving Word Search and let your students tell you what they are thankful for this year with our, Thankful For worksheet. Let your students take home their work or display it around your classroom. If you display your work on a bulletin board or around the room, upload it to our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teachers-Square/210452215700292.

To download and print out our FREE Thanksgiving Printables just go to:
http://www.teacherssquare.com/t-printables.aspx

It’s National Young Readers Week!

National Young Readers Week occurs each year during the second week of November. Cofounded by Pizza Hut and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in 1989, this celebration encourages young students and children to spend more time reading.

Here are some of our picks to keep the children in your life interested in reading:

National Crib Sale!

Attention: Parents, Day Care Owners, Hospital Care, 

Starting December 28th 2012, by law all childcare cribs manufactured before June 29th, 2011 must be replaced with up-to-date enhanced safety cribs. Teacher’s Square has marked down our entire selection of Foundations cribs to help your childcare center be compliant with this new law. Browse our selection of Foundations safety cribs and be sure to purchase before December 28th! Sale ends November 30th.

Sunflower of Thanks!

Sunflower of Thanks! A creative, easy craft for kids to tell everyone what they are thankful for this season! And parents can hang it up for that Thanksgiving dinner for all to see!

What you'll need:

• 9" paper plate
• 3-4 sheets of yellow construction paper
• Brown acrylic paint
• Black marker
• Scissors
• White craft glue

How to make it:

1. Place paper plate, right side up, on work surface.
2. Paint the center circle of the plate with brown paint (see image). 
3. Fold yellow construction paper like a business letter to achieve three equal sized pieces.
4. With paper still folded, draw a simple petal onto the paper (see image). 
5. Holding the paper, still folded, cut through all three layers and cut out the petal. You should have three petals. Repeat this for as many petals as you need.
6. As guests arrive, have them write their names at the top and a short description of what they are thankful for on the petal. Also have family members living in the house fill out their own as well (see image).
7. Glue each petal onto the paper plate, lining up the bottom of the petal with the brown center circle on the plate.
8. Hang the flower where all your guests can see it.

Tips:

1. Our sunflower holds 10 petals. Be sure to paint enough plates to account for however many guests that will be at the party. If you are having a smaller crowd, fold the construction paper in half instead of thirds, to make larger petals.
2. If you only have a few extra guests, but not enough for another flower, make leaves from green construction paper instead. Attach a piece of green yarn to the back of the flower, and then attach the leaves to the yarn.
3. To hang your flower, you can attach a magnet to the back for metal surfaces, roll a few pieces of sturdy tape and stick on the back, or attach a piece of yarn to hang from a nail or thumbtack. You may need to tape some of the upper petals to the wall to keep them from drooping over. 

Have fun!!!

Have a mock election

Students not old enough to vote? As a class, learn about elections, presidents, and voting, then hold a mock election!

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/elections/lesson-plan/58285.html