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Agriculture and Natural Resource Literacy Program
Program Information
Ag in the Classroom Annual Fall Poster Contest This year's poster contest is entitled "All About Farm Animals." It is open to 2nd-4th grade students. Posters should be on an 8x11 sheet of paper, hand drawn, and in color. They should include the poster title in the poster design and have the students name, school, and teacher on the back. Posters are due to the SWCD office by October 8th. Contact Jenny Wold for more information. Exploring Crops and Animals in the Classroom, Sept. 28th, 4:30-6:30pm at the Kendall County Farm Building in Yorkville. (2 CPDUs available for attendance) At this workshop, 1st-5th grade teachers can learn about great lessons and activities that they can use to teach students about crops and animals that are used for food, fiber, and much more. Additionally, attending teachers will have a chance to explore curriculum kits and other great classroom resources that they can borrow for free. For more information, or to RSVP for this FREE workshop, contact Jenny Wold at 630-553-5821, ext. 3 or kendallaitc@yahoo.com. Grants Available Each year, the Illinois Ag in the Classroom sponsors grants for both current and beginning teachers. Both grants consist of filling out a simple application that just involves describing a lesson or unit you would like to do in your classro0om having to do with plants or animals and listing out the resource materials (i.e. books, DVDs, models, tools, etc.) you would like to purchase to conduct this lesson or unit. Both grants are for $250.00 and are intended to pay for those materials. To access the current teacher application, go to http://www.agintheclassroom.org/060605/Teachers/grants/grants_teachers.htm and click on "2010-2011 Grant Application." To access the beginning teacher application, go to http://www.agintheclassroom.org/060605/Teachers/grants/grants_first_teachers.htm and click on "Grant Application." If you have troubles or questions, please contact Jenny Wold. Both grants are due to the Illinois Ag in the Classroom office at 1701 Towanda Avenue, Bloomington, IL 61701 by Oct. 1st. Smart Board Lessons Available Through Illinois Ag in the Classroom Do you use a Smart Board in your classroom? If so, check out the lessons that have been created by Illinois Agriculture in the classroom. Current lesson topics include: Apples, Horses, Pumpkins, Sweet Traits, and A Very Hungry Illinois Caterpillar. You can access these lessons, for free, at www.agintheclassroom.org on the main page under the heading "New." New Books to Borrow Corn Aplenty by Dana Meachen Rau (This is a Step 1 Reader) Seeds, Bulbs, Plants & Flowers by Helen Orme (Little Science Stars) Dirt, The Scoop on Soil by Natalie M. Rosinsky Dirt by Steve Tomecek (Published by National Geographic) Food and Farming by Pam Robson (Geography for Fun) Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas Great Kits to Borrow Want to teach your students about GPS? If so, borrow my new GPS kit which comes complete with 5 GPS units your students can experiment with. Other kits of interest include Adventures on the Farm, The Wheat We Eat, Pigs on the Farm, Soil, and Fiber Crops/Animals. There are many to choose from! Email me at kendallaitc@yahoo.com for more information. Illinois Ag in the classroom has made ISAT preparation easy with "10 Minutes a Day, the ISAT Way." This new activity guide gives teachers 20 weeks worth of review materials to use to help prepare their students for the ISATs. The activities take no more than 10 minutes and use Ag Mags as a resource. Ag Mags come in a variety of topics and are available for free through our program. As part of the ISAT prep, students would start the week reading an Ag Mag and the following days of the week would complete vocabulary, math, reading, and extended response activities. All of the questions/activities are formatted like they would be on an ISAT test. Teachers could utilize all 20 weeks worth of materials or pick and choose Ag Mags and corresponding ISAT activities related to units being taught currently or seasons. The current ISAT activity guide was written for 4th grade, but a guide for 6th grade will be released in the fall. Plan to attend "Science in your Shopping Cart" to learn more about this new activity guide.
Agriculture in the Classroom
Prairies (Great classroom-friendly packet and links)
Wetlands (Great Information and lessons)
Soil (Great information and lessons) Trees
Kendall County Soil and Water Conservation District 7775A Rt. 47, Yorkville, IL, 60560 Phone: (630)553-5821, ext. 3 Fax: (630)553-7442 Education coordinator: Jenny Wold, kendallaitc@yahoo.com
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