Timeless Texas Toys | Institute of Texan Cultures

It might not be Facebook, Moviestar Planet or texting, but it was the way to stay entertained.
Take a look at some of these toys from the past.

Timeless Texas Toys | Institute of Texan Cultures

Persuasive Arguments

1. Persuasive Arguments

Let's revisit a somewhat familiar topic: Persuasive Arguments.  As you can see in the definition to the left, this is the art of getting what you want.

Now I know that all of you are good boys and girls, so it's probably not that difficult to persuade your parents to get the things you need or want.  However, ……..from time to time it may be necessary to use some creative language and a good solid argument to change your parents mind.

Let's see how creative or crafty you can get with language to persuade them.

Throughout the week, each of you has done a little bit of research about a particular country. You've looked into the history, culture, food, dance and geography of those places.  Now, try your skills at persuading your parents to take you to this country for a vacation or an exploration mission.

Here are some helpful questions to guide you along:

For Beginners:
1) Why do you want to visit this place?
2) What is so interesting about the place?
3) Is there something neat about the geography of the country?
4) Is there something historical or famous about the country you want to visit?

Paragraph 2

1) Introduce your parents to something special about the culture of your country.
2) Describe something that is popular in the country, such as art, outdoor activities, or fun stuff.
2) Now mention some of the awesome foods that are available in this country.
3) You can describe some types of music or dance that your parents might enjoy seeing.


Paragraph 3

1) Give some interesting facts and details about your country.
2) What sea, ocean or other countries are nearby?
3) What is the population of your country?
4) What are the three largest cities?
5) Name 3 or 4 types of industry or work in your country.

Paragraph 4

1) Describe some famous actors or actresses from your country.
2) Who are some famous musicians from your country?
3) Give an example of something important that happened in the history of your country?

Paragraph 5)

Now give a small summary of the biggest reasons why you want to visit your country and why your parents would enjoy the trip. This is only two or three sentences.

Industry in Texas

Industry in Texas

1. How much to people in Texas make? Click here

What types of jobs to Texas have? Click here





Let's look at a locally owned and highly successful Texas business. HEB 
   

2. Terrariums

Try this website for some interesting tips and guidelines for building your own terrarium.

Terrarium website

National Make Up Your Own Holiday Day

National Make Up Your Own Holiday Day

If you could choose a reason for everyone to celebrate, what would be the occasion ?
Begin here

Congruent shapes

Along with our lessons about translation, rotation and reflection we need to understand the meaning of congruent.  This new word simply means that shapes are the same. However, for shapes to be congruent they must be the same shape and the same size.

Visit this website to learn more about congruent shapes. Click here to begin.

National Lacy Cookie Day

1. Celebrating National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day

Check out the following link for some super easy steps to making some super delicious cookies.  Maybe your parents will want to try them as well. What a cool way to finish out Spring Break and celebrate a sweet national day.







2. How good are you with word problems?

2.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

1. Enjoy this green and jolly holiday with some fun activities.

Free kids St. Patrick's Day games, puzzles and other children's fun stuff

Don't forget that being green or going green has a new meaning these days. We see it in different books, shows and programs. But, what does it really mean to Go Green?

Going Green is the new phrase to help us understand how many different ways we can recycle.  But, more than just recycling cans and papers, there are several ways that we can change our habits to reduce the amount or waste we create and the amount of new products that we use. This cool website called Kids Be Green will help you see the different changes that you can make to reduce, reuse and recycle in your everyday life.


2. What's your number?

National Pie Day

1.Today our school is celebrating National Pie Day a little early because we will be on Spring Break next week.  Our fun and outdoor activities today are centered on community building, fun and learning.

Here are some links that will explain the learning side and the social side of this interesting day.  Who know that three letters could have so much meaning?

Pi Math

National Pie Day

Months

Months

Days In Each Month On Your Knuckles - Funny home videos are a click away

Remember the months of the year in a rhyme


Thirty days have September,
April, June, and November,
All the rest have thirty-one
Except short February
Which in line
Has twenty-eight,
Leap Year makes it twenty-nine.


Thirty Days are in September,
April, June and also November
All the rest have thirty-one,
Except for February, which, when done,
Has twenty-eight that we assign
But Leap Year gives it twenty-nine


More options

Now look at these websites for holidays that our country celebrates throughout the year.  Pick one favorite and one new interesting holiday from each month.

Holiday Smart

Holiday List By Months

Kids Crazy List of Celebrations

Texas Stats

1.All of us enjoy watching a good competition. We love watching a basketball game, a football game, or even watching two students compete while doing multiplication problems on the board.

Have you ever thought about two cities having a competition against one another? What would be the point of going head to head? What prize would be given to the winner?

While we compete for trophies, or food prizes, the competition between cities is a little more intense.  Cities around Texas and around to world battle each other for the honor of being the largest, smartest, wealthiest, healthiest or coolest city.  They want to win these titles so that others will want to come live in their city, visit their city or speak positively about their city. Who would want to visit a boring place with no excitement? Who would want to attend college in a school with no technology or culture? So, now you can understand why cities want to compete against one another.

This link will give us some important information on the great State of Texas. We can learn a lot about a city based on how smart the people are, how many businesses are in the city, how wealthy they are, and what fun activities draw people to visit.


2. Money Math

	$	3	.	4	0
×					2

	$	2	.	0	0
×					4

	$	9	.	5	0
×					5

	$	7	.	3	0
×					4

3. Chart Reading

Chart #2

Think of four questions that could be created from reading this graph above.

4. We always welcome different ways of improving our writing.  The following Graphic Organizer is another way to look at organizing and writing a good paragraph.

Careers

1. Spelling Words
Choose a Study ModeScatterLearnFlashcards

Study these flash cards

2. Dream Job Think about what kind of work you might want to do when you grow up? Are you interested in a certain type of career? Do you know someone who does that work now? How do they inspire you?

Texas Indigenous Reservations

1. As the population of Texas grew larger and larger, the lives of Native indigenous groups and new settlers came into closer contact. The interactions between these groups of people were a mix of peaceful negotiations and some hostility.  The Native indigenous groups sometimes felt threatened by the new settlers.

On thing that is very important to know and understand about Native American indigenous groups is that all of the tribes were very unique.  If you can stretch your memory all the way back to September and the beginning of the school year, we studied 4 or 5 of these individual indigenous groups.

Remember how the Caddo and the Apache had different weapons? Do you remember that the Karankawa and the Tigua had different ways of building their houses? Well, there are a number of other ways that each tribe was unique and separate from the others.

Now, as the new settlers came to Texas and took over more and more land, the Native Texas needed ways to preserve and guard the language, lifestyle and beliefs of each tribe.  After several years of struggle between the Native Texas and the new settlers, the government decided to make special areas where the indigenous tribes could live peacefully and apart from others.  These designated areas were called, reservations.

Let's take a look at some of the characteristics and special features of different indigenous tribes and why it was so important to try and save their culture, beliefs and language.

Native Texan Facts for Kids

Texas Indigenous Tribal Names

Flags of Various Native Tribes

2. Looking at the following photos, what can you imagine is happening in the lives of these different indigenous peoples.  What can you see in their faces, the garments they are wearing, the surrounding area or the other objects they have with them? Write a descriptive paragraph about what you seen.