Clean and Green Your First Grade Class

Martha McCormick on October 17, 2010

I am excited to present the Clean and Green First Grade Program Guide. Thanks to Keep Iowa Beautiful, the Waste Commission of Scott County and Character Counts! in Iowa, we are ready to pilot it in Davenport schools. The guide is flexible; it has engaging activities for the classroom, afterschool and summer programs. Each of the activities can stand on its own, but it will be more powerful if used as a comprehensive unit. During this pilot year, we’ll collect feedback from as many of you as possible, and change the program guide in response to your feedback. Watch this Web Site for online surveys, send feedback to Martha McCormick, or add your comments to this post itself.

The Clean and Green First Grade Matrix of 20 activities is based on the Common Core First Grade Standards for Mathematics, Life Science, Social Studies, Literacy and 21st Century Skills. We used the Four Keys of Character Education-safe, challenging community, self study, other study and public performance-as the other axis of the matrix to assure that we help teachers incorporate best practice in their classrooms.

Please check out the Clean and Green First Grade Program Guide; here are some of the lesson plans you’ll find–

  • Edible Aquifer
  • Papermaking
  • Creating a Dichotomous Key
  • Creating a Photo Book
  • Power Animal Puppets
  • Dealing with Conflict using Power Animals
  • Environmental Fairy Tale Activity
  • Unbelievably Fantabulous Long 10-yd Hike
  • Hide a Penny Lesson Plan

Clean and Green Your Kindergarten Class

Martha McCormick on October 11, 2010

I am excited to present the Clean and Green Kindergarten Program Guide. Thanks to Keep Iowa Beautiful, the Waste Commission of Scott County and Character Counts! in Iowa, we are ready to pilot it in Davenport Public Schools. The guide is flexible; it has engaging activities for the classroom, afterschool and summer programs.

Each of the activities can stand on its own, but it is more powerful if  used as a comprehensive unit. During this pilot year, we’ll collect feedback from as many people as possible, and change the program guide in response to your feedback. Watch this Web Site for online surveys, send feedback to Martha McCormick, or add your comments to this post itself.

The Clean and Green Kindergarten Matrix of 20 activities is based on the Common Core Standards for Mathematics, Life Science, Social Studies, Literacy and 21st Century Skills. We used the Four Keys of Character Education–safe, challenging community, self study, other study and public performance–as the other axis of the matrix to assure that we help teachers incorporate best practice in their classrooms.

Please check out the Clean and Green Kindergarten Program Guide. Download and try the lesson plans. Here are some of our favorites–

  • Collaboration with Nature and Math
  • Cricket Thermometer
  • Composting with Worms
  • Neighborhood Maps
  • Three-Letter Word Forming
  • Haikus and Wordles
  • Thinker’s Scavenger Hunt
  • Flat Stanley Recycled with Pattern

Have Fun

Martha McCormick on September 14, 2010

I’ve been working with the Next Step Advisory Board to develop my company’s mission and values. It turns out that Next Step values creativity, partnership, and fun! Who knew?!!!??

One of my Board members sent me a link to a video done by TheFunTheory.com. They developed several strategies and then took videos to test their theory that fun can get people to change. Hmmmm, how many applications can we find for that?

The video most closely tied to my current work is the World’s Deepest Trash Bin; I’m working with Keep Iowa Beautiful to develop a program guide for Kindergarten, First and Second Grade teachers to lay the groundwork for kids to learn about volunteering, the environment, character and keeping their schools clean. The lesson plans are nearly done, and have a good share of fun built in.

I think my personal favorite is a strategy for getting people to use the stairs more than the escalator. It reminds me the giant piano scene from the movie, Big; I might just have to watch that movie again real soon. There are 35 pages of entries into The Fun Theory’s contest to find other ways to use fun to get people to change their behavior. Which do you like best?

Dig in the Dirt

Martha McCormick on September 6, 2010

Last week I rebuilt my “pondless waterfall” for the third time. I’ve lost the illusion that it’s the third and LAST time. Gardening is all about the process. A potential home buyer asked my friend if her garden was finished; that was a deal breaker. Here was a neophyte–a garden is never finished. My art teacher says the only true beauty emerges from process; gardens are evidence of that.

After the garden workshop in my backyard Tuesday, Carol and I talked about criteria for selling our homes. I told her the old neighbors to my back interviewed potential buyers to find out if they would tend the garden to their satisfaction. The new neighbors have done well; that garden has flourished and is constantly being improved and expanded. I’m vigilant about keeping the creeping charlie from creeping through that fence!

Saturday my daughter and I planted eight shrubs and perennials for fall interest. Yesterday morning they looked like they had always been there. That’s a wonderful compliment: when Bill Dirkx saw my pond for the first time, he asked the same thing, “Hasn’t that always been there?”

September and October are the months for putting your hope in the ground. I bought some quick growing greens so we can have fresh salads into frost. I still have roses and bulbs to plant. I won’t see any results of that investment for six months, but I am excited about planting anyway. Winter will go faster, knowing there will be daffodils.

Keep Iowa Beautiful

Martha McCormick on July 5, 2010

I’m working with Keep Iowa Beautiful and the Waste Commission of Scott County to provide educators with a program guide and resources for teaching…

  • Service learning
  • Litter free schools
  • Character
  • Environmental education

…all organized around the Iowa Core and Common Core Standards. I’m using this post to run things by the Steering Committee, get reactions and involve them in pulling it together. I’ll make changes to the resources and continually update the committee as the program comes together.

Help us stay on task by posting comments to this page. Here are some of the resources we used to develop the program guide.

Enjoy Summer!

Martha McCormick on June 28, 2010

It’s been just over 2 months since the first ever Iowa Outdoor Youth Summit; at least two young Iowans attended the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit and Festival in New York City, and summer is here with especially surprising weather. Here it is the 4th of July and summer officially half over. Impossible; my garden isn’t even all mulched!

So far I’ve gone for a few bike rides, enjoyed some ice cream cones and visited the Des Moines Arts Festival. Twice. I’ve helped facilitate The Ultimate Family Challenge where Culture Inc. took 12 families to Pilgrim Heights for the first weekend of June. It was especially fun to see the kids enjoying the out of doors. Here are some outdoor updates–

  • If you’re a new bicyclist, get “The Guide to Your Ride”–FREE–to help you get the most from your bicycle. Go to the Iowa Bicycle Coalition to order your copy; it’s only for Iowans. Learn tips, techniques, and street smarts to make your ride safer and more rewarding. The guide also has information on essential accessories, dressing right, bike shops and other handy resources to make your biking more fun. This guide is only available for a limited time, so act fast.
  • Dove Haase and Brittan Alford were delegates to the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit and Festival,  in New York City June 19 & 20, 2010.
  • The Iowa Outdoor Youth Summit brought together 25 youth and 15 adults to make a plan for reconnecting Iowa young people with the outdoors. The group discussed barriers to kids going outdoors and identified strategies to overcome those barriers. Each team identified specific activities they want to initiate in their own community during the next year, which included a “get outdoors” challenge, developing outdoor classrooms, and mentoring programs.
  • Apply for a Disney’s Friends for Change grant and take steps to help the planet. YSA will award 75 $500 grants to youth-led service initiatives around the world that demonstrate youth leadership and the commitment to making a positive impact on the environment. Projects must be completed between September and November and connected to International Coastal Cleanup Day, National Public Lands Day (both September 25), or other environmentally-focused days of service. Disney Friends for Change Grants are open to schools, organizations, and individuals. Grant applications are due Thursday, July 15, 2010.
  • My company, Next Step, Inc., just joined The No Child Left Inside (NCLI) Coalition, which supports legislation to include environmental education (current version better known as “No Child Left Behind”).
  • The 10th annual River Run Garbage Grab is a chance to help clean upthe Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers. It begins at all sites at 9a.m. on August 14 and event empowers volunteers to remove trash from the river and trails. Paddlers, boaters, hikers, bikers–all are welcome!  Sign up and learn more here.

Join the Movement

Martha McCormick on March 7, 2010

Go outside! It’s spring, and Iowa is joining a broad based movement to renew a close, personal relationship with the out of doors.

Ride a Bike

Martha McCormick on February 20, 2010

I still remember the first time hill I rode down after my dad took my training wheels off. Such a feeling of exhilaration and freedom! I still like to ride my bike, and that feeling has never gone away. I got back into cycling in 2008, and rode the MS 150 in eastern Kansas with my brother’s team. Then I spent five wonderful days on Sanibel Island in Florida, with only a bicycle for transportation.

If you don’t have a bicycle, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get one. The Des Moines Bike Collective, at 617 Grand Avenue, repairs used bicycles and sells them at a reasonable cost. They also offer classes on bicycle maintenance.

Where can you ride? Streets are okay, if you ride carefully, but it’s more stressful than riding on trails. The Des Moines area has about 300 miles of wonderful trails for biking. Some of them lead out into the countryside where you can glide through wooded areas and between cornfields. Many trails lead to restaurants and bars and parks where you can stop and rest in a park or get a snack at a store.

If you get started and decide you really like riding, then think about riding your bike across Iowa. The Des Moines Register sponsors a ride across the state every year, called RAGBRAI. As part of RAGBRAI, the newspaper sponsors a group called The Dream Team. Experienced cyclers are paired with teens. The group trains together during the spring and summer, preparing for the big ride across the state in late July.

Women across the world are into bicycle riding and racing. Last spring I watched young women in Paris riding their bikes to work in skirts and heels! Find out more about women and cycling and see if it’s for you.

Embrace Winter

Martha McCormick on January 9, 2010

It’s been an especially cold winter in many places, but kids (and adults) can have fun and get healthy by going outside even in frigid, snowy weather. Each winter I resolve to renew my relationship with my skis, toboggan and ice skates. This winter looks like it might be a good time to keep that resolution! Ray Morley and his grandkids built snow huts and a giant sledding track across several back yards during winter vacation. My daughter tried out her new snow shoes.

I’ve skied off and on for nearly 30 years; a couple winters ago I had fun just taking my skis down to Beaverdale Park and skiing in giant figure 8’s, but there are groomed trails at Jester Park. Check out this video about cross-country skiing from Polk County Conservation; you can rent skis, snowshoes, boots and poles. This year Polk County Conservation is facilitating outdoor fitness programs for youth groups; contact Patrice Petersen-Keys for more information.

One of my favorite Chrysalis After-School group meetings was when the Star Choices girls at Harding Middle School spent most of the afternoon playing in the snow. The girls loved it and got some great exercise. Informal play develops independence and mastery. When I visited the fifth grade group at Capitol View, we were taking photos of the girls in the hallway and I asked them to all look and point to the right for a silly one. The next instant they exclaimed, “It’s snowing!” Their excitement was apparent. Two snow days followed, so that may have been the cause, but check out these resources for ideas about how to make the most of the winter months.

  • The Brenton Skating Plaza is a popular place for Chrysalis After-School groups; they have lessons, season passes, apparel and more at this site.
  • Sledding hills at Waveland and Grandview Parks are open as long as there is enough snow. The Des Moines Register recently published this map of sledding hills in central Iowa.

    Kate's Snowshoes

    Kate’s Snowshoes

  • My daughter snowshoes to Scattergood Friends School from her house on their farm; she says it’s easy. Take a look at this snowshoeing video from Polk County Conservation and see what YOU think.
  • On a quieter note, this slide show from the New York Times draws attention to the serene perspective of gardens in winter.
  • The National Wildlife Federation offers “5 Tips to Stay Warm” and some excellent information on why it’s important for kids to be outdoors.

Snow Hut

Snow Hut

Whatever you decide to do–make  a snow angel, build a fort, go sledding, skating or skiing, or just take a walk–have fun out there!