RAFT Hands-On Education

¡ Olé   mis amigos! Holy Guacamole! It’s once again time to celebrate Cinco De Mayo—the 5 th of May! Instead of all the controversy around Mexico in the past year, this may be an excellent opportunity to educate your students and allow them to ask questions about what they hear on the news. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day from Spain (which is September 16 th )! “ ¡ Ay, caramba!” as Bart Simpson would say…. This is “la verdad” (the truth): when the French invaded Mexico in 1862, Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza’s force of 4,000 soldiers defeated 8,000 French soldiers in the Battle of Puebla on May 5 th . The Mexicans’ courage inspired Mexican Americans (Chicanos) to celebrate the victory even though the French occupation continued four more years. Later in the 1960’s and 70’s, Chicanos involved in the civil rights movement associated Cinco de Mayo with their quest for respect in the U.S. They identified with the Native Mexican and Mestizo (people of mi...

“The cultivation of flowers and trees is the cultivation of the good, the beautiful and the ennobling in man, and for one, I wish to see this culture become universal.” Those words, from J. Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day, got me thinking about how caring for trees and respecting all living things greatly impact future generations. National Arbor Day (held this year on April 27th) is an annual observance celebrating the role of trees in our lives and promoting tree planting and care. This holiday was first observed in 1872, in Nebraska, but tree planting festivals are as old as civilization. Trees have appeared throughout history as the symbol of life and hope. As teachers, we can encourage students to appreciate trees, nature, and all living things for future generations to enjoy! Here are a few STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) ideas to help you spread agricultural information and enthusiasm for trees on Arbor Day with your students: SCIE...

I just watched a fascinating PBS video on how much plastic is in the ocean. Counting down to this year’s Earth Day on April 22nd, the video got me thinking about how teachers can help students become responsible consumers as well as future caretakers of our earth! Take plastic waste, for instance. Do you realize that plastics are one of the worst pollutants in our world today? From poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our waste streams and landfills, the exponential growth of plastics is now threatening the very survival of our planet! In response, this year’s Earth Day is devoted to educating people about the problem of plastic pollution! As teachers, we can use this opportunity to inspire student interest in this problem and hopefully effect fundamental changes in human attitudes and behaviors about plastics! Where to begin? I suggest you check out the main site about Earth Day: Earth Day Netw...

Do you ever get that sinking feeling that you have so much yet to do with your class, but you are running out of time? Feel like you are about to hit an iceberg around the corner with the end of school activities approaching? Can you survive without a life jacket? Believe it or not, the 106 th anniversary this year of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15th got me thinking about how it might feel to be a stressed-out teacher at this time of year! It occurred to me: you don’t have to crash and fall apart! Just like a raft carrying you home to safety (here goes another analogy), let the Resource Area For Teaching (RAFT) help you with a shipload of supportive ideas to point you back on course! Ahem… Ok, I know, I know… enough already with the Titanic puns…. But, really, when you think about all the testing, lessons, assessments, end of school plans, and so forth, it can sometimes feel like time’s shrinking faster than ever, leaving you little to offer besides prescribed less...

The enthusiasm was infectious March 28 th on the grounds of Monroe Middle School!  Everywhere parents, students, and teachers from Campbell Union School District explored and celebrated student innovation and creativity in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) at this year’s STEAM Showcase 2018!   Hosted by Campbell Union School District, over 47 exhibits highlighted maker projects and products from TK to 8th-grade students, RAFT, local libraries, and other groups. Those who visited our RAFT table received kits made with the generous support from employees at ON Semiconductor. Over 200 kits (each serving 10 students) were handed out for free to teachers and students, impacting a total of 2,000 students with creative hands-on STEAM activities! The RAFT table was constantly full of curious folks, including students eager to investigate and ask questions about the array of exhibits and kits we offered, which included the following: Motor...