Today was a big day in our little hometown (ok, it's not so little anymore)! Under a much welcomed, overcast sky, people from across the community gathered to line Tejon Street for the "Parade Through Time" to celebrate our city's sesquicentennial.  The parade, complete with high school marching bands, rodeo horses, vintage vehicles and costumed performers, ended down by the Colorado Springs Pioneers with festivities continuing down the the brand new Olympic and Paralympic Museum.

As a Colorado Springs native of over 50 years, seeing the growth of the town I have grown up in is astonishing.  While watching the Olympics this last week and seeing a drone fly over the recently completed museum and the skyline of home, I stop to think that this is being shown around the world!  Our little town, the town that is also home to "America's Mountain" is also Olympic City USA.  

I feel fortunate to be here for this celebration and look forward to finding ways to contribute to the history of this city in my own way.   Colorado Springs is a special place and a place that I proudly call home!  Happy Birthday to a very special place, my hometown! 

#hometownpride

I truly can't think of a better way for me to start the new year and a weekly post that I have been wanting to start for awhile than with one of my heroes, Dolly Parton.  Tomorrow, January 4, the Grand Ole Opry will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dolly's membership at the Grand Ole Opry.  Fifty years!  That simply goes to show the talent and determination Dolly shows both in her career and her life.  Dolly will also be celebrating her birthday on January 19th. 
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Three For Thursday will feature a timely book, a primary source/artifact, and a Moffat postcard(s). These items can be used together as a lesson in the classroom or a fun inspiration for home studies.  I hope you find this inspiring.  

Moffat has a truly magical life, one that many of us want, as he travels from place to place learning along the way.  This time, Moffat hitched a ride with my good friend Jill and her family, as they got to explore Dollywood during the holidays.  I have to admit that I am a bit jealous as I DREAM of going there. I want to explore the park and take in Dolly's museum, Chasing Rainbows.  Someday...

The photograph below is Dolly's loved and iconic "coat of many colors" that is the real life artifact that inspired her favorite song "Coat of Many Colors" in 1971.  At that time she wrote the lyrics, she was traveling with Porter Wagoner.  Unable to find paper, she wrote the lyrics on the back of a dry cleaning ticket!  

I am not much of a New Year's resolution type of person.  Never have been.

However, as 2019 approaches, I have set some personal writing goals that I am doing my very best to achieve.  This is not a New Year's resolution, but rather a life goal.  

Today, I spent a great deal of time at my new desk made by my husband for Christmas.  Moffat and I are sitting here with my new 2019 Smithsonian calendar (thanks dad), my TR/teddy portrait, family photos, and a view of Pikes Peak.

I hope to bring more insight into best social studies practices in the classroom for young learners.  I want to return to my blog, create more resources for teachers, present more and get to writing some children's books!  Fingers crossed! I continue to grow and learn myself from other amazing educators and am thankful to have strong mentors in my own life.

Wishing everyone a bright 2019...and so it begins!

As the National Park Service is celebrating their 100th birthday, we are just getting back to school.  I can't think of a better way to kick off the new year with a grand celebration to open the door to new learning for my young students.  We enjoyed S'More style birthday cupcakes to compliment the Junior Rangers we made in class.  

Youtube is such a wonderful addition to the classroom as we were able to enjoy the very creative birthday song as well as an overview by Finley Holiday.  Many of the students were familiar with some of the more prominent National Parks, which led to a very engaging conversation about the parks.  One of my students even brought in her collection of Junior Ranger badges (I had mine to show off as well).

Over the years, I have grown to LOVE the National Parks (my husband thinks I am crazy for the Park Rangers).  I was not exposed to the NPS as a child and feel like I am making up for it now.  The diversity of the system leads to learning about science and social studies and can be differentiated for any grade level.  Many of the parks have well developed lesson plans online that can be used for extended learning.  My biggest challenge is going to be to limit the number of parks that I share with my students.  I want to create a balance between the beauty and conservation efforts of the National Parks with the historic value of the memorials, battlefields and monuments.  It is impossible to go wrong with any of my choices.

I am looking forward to the new year for many reasons.  It excites me to bring the NPS into my classroom as an educational tool and I am looking forward to more travels to National Parks that I have yet to enjoy.  Our studies will be a fun-filled adventure that I am excited to embark upon!  More updates down the road!

This is one of my favorite times of the year (ok, I have many)!  My first graders are now independent enough that we have projects going on all over the classroom.  In honor of Poetry Month and National Haiku Poetry Day, we will begin our class book of Moffat USA haikus.  Above is a sampling of some of the pages in years past created by the students.

I will be formatting the planning pages and accompanying Moffat images soon for my TeachersPayTeachers store so that others may join in in creating one in their classroom.  For a very professional look, I then upload my images to Shutterfly and make the book available to my students' parents to purchase.  It's a great end of year project!  Enjoy!

It's that time of year when I look forward to the Annual Lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree.  Oddly, Moffat has hitched a ride to see the amazing site THREE times and I have yet to go!  It is very high on my bucket list. In 2011, The Carpenter's Gift by David Rubel was published.. This is the story of 8-year-old Henry, who works alongside his father during the Depression selling Christmas trees.  Henry dreams of living in a home other than the drafty shack they currently have and the kindness of others, brings Henry's wish to life.  

David Rubel wrote this book in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity.  Today, deserving families now call the magical wood from a Rockefeller Christmas Tree their home!  Enjoy the video links below to learn more about this wonderful partnership and giving back to the community!