Spooktacular Song and Poems

Oh yeah, I've been a busy girl let me tell you. I'm proud to announce another new product that I have posted up on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Click here or on the photo to go and get your own copy.  This fabulous package is full of songs and poems with a Halloween Theme.  Of course these are great for Language Arts in the Early Primary or ESL classroom.  I have used these over the years with children from K to grade 2.  They LOVE chanting poems, changing up the words, and singing songs with familiar tunes and halloween words. 

Have a Haunting Birthday

This project is a resurrected flash from the past.  I originally made this little album 2 years ago but could never find the perfect time to use it.  As I was rummaging through my old projects box today I came across this.  Click here for my original post on my papercrafting blog "stamperontheshore".  It has some directions on how to make it.  You can sure see how my photography has really improved in 2 years eh?  Anyway, today is my nephew's birthday party, and here we are a week from Halloween.  Connor has been sucking up everthing about reading and writing now that he's in Kindergarten.  So I though, "why not turn this into a story book".  So I let the kids draw and colour pictures and then I wrote some text which they traced over.  They signed their names at the end and voila!! A Haunting Birthday was born.  The supplies are mostly from K&Co, not Stampn' Up!  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think - I might put up a tutorial, or at least a quick one on how I made that woodgrain on the cover.

My First Download - and it's FREE!!!!

Well I've gotten myself organized and I'm posting my first freebie download.  I'm using the Teachers Pay Teachers service.

 This first download is FREE - my favourite four letter word!!!!!!  Yup, it's FREE.  Click on the photo above or click here for the link

This little download has 4 mini books about falling leaves and signs of fall.  It's perfect for your 4 levels of guided reading in a grade 1 class.  The skills and objectives range from fine motor and tracing, to comprehension and higher level thinking skills.  I hope you enjoy this little "puppy".  Please, please, please leave me a comment and tell me what you think.  I've been busy working on a few other units which I hope to post up tomorrow. 

Halloween Banner Facebook project and a Freebie!!

Here's a great simple banner that Im going to make with my kids this week.  What follows is a post from my papercrafting blog - stamperontheshore.
 I was pleasantly surprised last week to receive a phone call from Stampin' Up!    Because I am an Artisan Award Winner, they asked me to create a Halloween project for their Facebook page.  Click here to go there.

 I decided to make a project that was easily reproduced.  I really wanted to make a banner, but I don't have any Halloween paper.  So again, My Digital Studio to the rescue!!!  I decided to make a banner and print it out.  You can scroll down to the bottom of this post for freebie jpegs.  Simply left click on the photos and save them.   

Then cut them out and assemble the banner.  I used the fabulous Simply Scored to make the pinwheels.  The letters are a FONT, not a stamp brush for MDS.  Scroll down for the supply list and the freebie jpegs!!

Stampin Up! Products

Traditional products:
119684: Cajun Craze Card Stock
100730: Whisper White Card Stock
101179: Basic Black Classic Stampin’ Pad
121045: Basic Black Card Stock
102023: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
100425: 2-Way Glue Pen
119261: Basic Black 1/8” Taffeta Ribbon
117285: Basic Black 5/8” Satin Ribbon
115615: Basic Black 1-1/4” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
124105: Cherry Cobbler 3/8” Quilted Satin Ribbon
108362: Crop-A-Dile
101610: Stampin Sponges
122334: Simply Scored

Digital products:
118108: My Digital Studio
123144: Frightful Sight Designer Series Paper
127352: Petite Pennants Punch

Filing and a Freebie

Today I wanted to talk about all those loose worksheets that seem to accumulate over time.  I believe that there's no point in sending each page home as they are done because they get lost, and parents get a bit overwhelmed with all the little pieces of paper that come their way.

 Way back in the dark ages, when I started teaching, photocopiers were common, but money to buy resources was not.  So I got used to photogopying a lot (I mean A LOT) of worksheets etc.  This meant a lot of loose paper to deal with.

  So what I started to do was to make little folders and 'file' the worksheets by subject.  This makes them very accesible if I need them for assessment, and it organizes the paper into little packages, that are easy for parents to look through with their child and see what is going on in my class.  When I started teaching I didn't have a lot of money, so I made the folders out of sheets of 12 x 18 inch construction paper.  I fold the paper in half on the long side (hamburger style for those of you 'in the know')  I write the child's name and subject on the front. and keep them all in a box.

 

 I still store them in little cardboard boxes. The ones that the notebooks come in are perfect for this. Below is a photo of my filing system. I know it's not perfectly pretty, but it works great. I'd like to offer up my filing covers as a freebie!  Feel free to grab copies of my filing system photos.  

In this photo you can see the folders and the worksheet in the box in front.  Once in a while, when the papers pile up we do a class sort.  I pass out all the folders in one box and the kids put them on their desks.  Then I start passing out the papers and the kids take them and put them on their desks too.  It takes 5 minutes to do a box.  I don't do all the boxes at once, but I do 2 or 3 at once. 

Policy briefs on how to manage food price instability.

3 policy briefs from CIRAD on how to manage food price instability.

The first one shows that the problem of food price instability calls for different responses depending on whether it concerns domestic markets in developing countries, domestic markets in developed countries, or international markets.

Download the note: Perspective_10_English.pdf

The second note analyzes what the international community can do to help developing countries manage food price instability. This topic is more than ever in the international agenda thanks to the discussions taking place this year in the G20 and in the FAO's Committee on World Food Security (CFS).

Download the note: Note_IC_English.pdf

The third note considers the case of developing countries. It shows that food security and modernization of agriculture require setting up price stabilization policies for staple food products.

Download the note: Perspective_2_English.pdf

FAO and IFPRI reports for the World Food Day 08/10

The State of Food Insecurity in theWorld 2011, FAO, October 2011

This year’s report focuses on the costs of food price volatility, as well as the dangers and opportunities presented by high food prices. Climate change and an increased frequency of weather shocks, increased linkages between energy and agricultural markets due to growing demand for biofuels, and increased financialization of food and agricultural commodities all suggest that price volatility is here to stay.

See also: UN says Food Prices to Remain High, Financial Times, October 10
The jump in prices for grain and other staples led to riots during the 2007-08 food crisis and more recently central banks in Asia have tightened monetary policy to combat food inflation.

The International Food Price Research Institute (IFPRI) has released a report titled "2011 Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hunger: Taming price spikes and excessive food prices volatility."


The report underscores that, though global hunger has declined since 1990, it remains at a serious level, with the highest hunger scores in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The report describes progress in Angola, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger and Viet Nam.

See also [IFPRI Press Release] It notes the negative impacts of rising and volatile prices attributing the price changes to increasing use of food crops for biofuels, extreme weather and climate change, and increased volume of trading in commodity futures markets. In particular, it underlines that concentrated export markets leaves food importing countries dependent on just a few countries. The report suggests addressing price spikes and volatility by revising biofuel policies, regulating financial activity on food markets, and adapting to and mitigating climate change.