Kid Entrepreneurs

Shiza and Amaya selling inspirational signs (for only 10 cents), bookmarks, and the infamous "Stress Balls".  Kids love these balls of sand, but teachers and janitors are another story.

Chances are your first "entrepreneurial" experience was a lemonade stand.  You'd beg your parents to buy a packet of sugar labeled "Lemonade", some plastic cups, a poster board, and then proceed to sit in the hot sun hoping to convince every passerby to pay 25 cents for your cup of joy.  My brother was born to be a businessman.  Not only did he carry around a briefcase starting at the age of eight, but he was genius at convincing neighborhood kids to do anything.  This included working a lemonade stand and taking 90% of the profits, while he played SEGA Genesis in the air conditioning.  This wasn't a fair business model by any means, but regardless I have fond memories of the whole experience.  I believe we are born to make things.  I believe we are born to work together and I'm definitely convinced every kid loves to be an ENTREPRENEUR.

Are you interested in buying a bell on a string?  How about if we tell you they are "Reindeer Necklaces" and this will help Santa's reindeer find your house.

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?  An entrepreneur is any person who starts or runs a business and every successful business model starts with great advertising.  That's right.  How can we convince you to buy things you probably don't need?  With a great marketing strategy.  We talked a lot about what makes a good advertisement and this means you must know your customer basis.  Yes, just like great authors know who their target audience will be, great entrepreneurs know who they will be selling to.  In this case, that was pretty easy: students (as well as friends and family of our wonderful East Dubuque community).

We started advertising weeks before our "Grand Opening".  Let me tell you lockers are perfect.  They are magnetic, sturdy, and best of all the entire school has to walk by them at some point throughout the day. 

The "King Kongs" had one of my favorite desk shop names.  I'm not totally sure what the name has to do with painted doll furniture, handmade t-shirts, or spoon magnets....but I like it.

Did somebody say "business cards"?  Yeah, I'm serious when I say we are going to market ourselves and these slogans will make your day.  

"Dry-Erase Buddies!  We work extra hard to clean up after you!  We erase and write."

One of my favorite parts of this project is seeing my students work with their family members outside of school.  Curin and her grandmother used a real sewing machine and made winter headbands.  They were a total hit to say the least.  The only problem was they sold out every time they were brought to school, and after making around 15 their shop took a permanent vacation. 

Check out the D.I.Y. Girls and their winter headbands.  You can see some happy customers up front.  Avery and Chloe are also holding up some handmade dog toys (which were also a big hit).

FIELD TRIP!  We couldn't officially end our unit without making a visit to Candle Ready Cakes.  We learned from the experts about what it means to be an entrepreneur.  Special thanks to my co-teacher in crime Mrs. Eisbach for setting this field trip up and to Mrs. Haven for helping out as well.  I never got to decorate cookies when I was in 3rd grade!

This photo has nothing to do with our entrepreneur unit, but the kids were all dressed up for Halloween and I love it.  Thanks Mrs. Oberman for taking the picture and teaching me how to use iCloud.  I'm not quite down with the technology of the times yet.

At the end of the day I learned a lot from this project.  I learned that it takes an awful lot of chaos to truly make art, and anything worthwhile for that matter.  Ornaments broke, "Stress Balls" exploded, students argued about shop names, and somebody spilled an entire bottle of glue on my desk (and has yet to admit it).  Yet, in the end it's all worth it.  Every ounce of chaos.

Until next time.

Ms. Sprengelmeyer

ELECTION DAY!

One Magic Classroom Elections

Ella wants to know if you're ready for the greatest 3rd grade speeches of all time.  Well...are you?

If you've listened to the news at all over the past several months, we can agree on one thing - there's been far too much negativity going around.  We here at One Magic Classroom are determined to send some positive kid vibes your way, and I'm confident we will.  These kids may only be in third grade, but they've got a lot of important things to say.

"We will work together to completely stop bullying."

-Haydan

We spent several days discussing what makes an effective speech.  These students sure know how to PERSUADE their audience, and speeches alone were simply not enough.  They made campaign t-shirts, posters, cards, and last but not least "educational candy bags" (as I call them...ha).  

Check out some of the persuasive tactics our candidates used below.

Posters!

Slogans!

"Ella is FREEZING COOL!"

Campaign "Goody-bags" complete with Post-it notes and a pen to write your "needs" and "wants" on.  There's one word for that: C-L-E-V-E-R

[Not pictured: sugar packets (Bella), fruit snacks (Larissa), suckers (Lily), Cole (pencils)]

Before we get ahead of ourselves in a campaigning frenzy, let's go over some very important voting rules:

• Voters must be U.S. citizens.
• Voters must be eighteen years or older (unless you are voting for 3rd grade class president).
• Voters must register to vote in the state that they reside in (see definition below).  

For 3rd grade elections, our simple handmade "Voter Identification Card" will work just fine.

I'm told "BRICKS AND IVY" is Cubs terminology.  

I don't know sports related facts or terminology, my 3rd graders teach it to me.

Kaden can hardly wait...to vote for HIMSELF (just kidding).

A self-portrait says SO much about our voters.

Anyone notice Gracie's election themed nail polish?

HEY KIDS!  Any chance you can hold up some really important terminology cards?

(Thanks).

• Register: a prerequisite to voting, in which you sign up ahead of time to legally place your vote
• Campaign:  people working together to achieve a common goal (i.e. elect a given candidate)
• Ballot:  a process of voting, typically in writing and in SECRET.

Where does the secret "ballot" process take place?

At the SECRET Reading Fort!

I VOTED!

We cannot forget to share with the world our civic duty of voting, so wear your sticker proudly and shout to the world "I VOTED and I'm proud of it!"

MEET OUR CLASS PRESIDENTS!

Vice President Z. Tierney (pictured left) and President H. Dutler (pictured right).
Yes, I told them to do a presidential pose.

On a serious note.  I really do hope each and every one of you go out and vote tomorrow.  I don't care to hear your negative rants (this late in the game), just go place your SECRET ballot and wear your sticker proudly.  

In honor of Cole's cardigan, I've got to end this blog post with a Mr. Rogers quote:

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So let's make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we're together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you please, be my neighbor?

                      -Fred Rogers

Let's all learn from Fred this year and be NEIGHBORLY, no matter who we vote for, or who ends up being president...TOMORROW!

MEDIEVAL TIMES

MEDIEVAL TIMES!

The Case of the Missing Crown:
a One Magic Classroom Production

Yeah, this is cute.  I know.

Whether you're seven or seventy-seven years old, you've probably dreamed of being a king or queen  of the manor (castle) at some point.  I recently visited Medieval Times in Chicago with other adult "nerds" who wanted an excuse to dress in robes and eat with their hands.  Not only did I purchase a seventeen dollar light-up wand, but I also got a photo with "FALCON MAN".  This little experience left me in a magical "la-la-Lily-land" of sorts, and inspired me to write a play for my students.

Download your own copy of "The Case of the Missing Crown" for free here! 

Introducing: The One Magic Medieval Royalty.  They may look friendly, but they will take everything you own if you mess with them. 

The Medieval Period took place more than 500 years ago in Europe, 476 (AD or CE) - 1500 to be exact.  Truth be told, life was NOT easy for the majority of those who lived in "Medieval Times".  Unless you were among the 10% who were knights, nobles, or clergy-- life was a bit like one long detention, full of hard labor on someone else's land.  If you were really unlucky, you may have ended up being a "gong farmer", which means you cleaned the toilets out at night.  (For kids who complain about everything…Take that!)

The King and Queen of One Magic Castle.

Speaking of royalty, let's talk about the social order during the Middle Ages (from highest to lowest ranking):

• King, Queen and Clergy (i.e. high ranking members of the church like Cardinals and Bishops)
• Nobles and Lords - Land owners who usually lived in castles
• Knights and Vassals - (vassals got land from Lords by doing work for them)
• Commoners - peasants or serfs who worked the land but never owned it

Can you tell these two are "entertainers" of the castle?  

A magician to your left and troubadour to your right.

Troubadours were medieval lyric poets.  They often sang or recited love poems.  Our troubadour Keoki even made a free-style dance to go with his poem. 

  

We also roll played a few other characters from the Middle Ages:

 

These four castle workers mean business.  The positions from left to right:

• Scribe - before printers, there were real people called scribes who made copies by hand.  Josh (above left) is not only a professional copyist, but a newly appointed knight.
• Grand Master - commander in chief of the medieval military (dang, those are big boots to fill!).
• Artillator - Medieval bow and arrow maker (master archery dude).
• Master of the Horse - Head horse trainer (before fast cars and jet planes).

The Gutierrez "Coat of Arms".  I highly recommend this as a means for locker identification in elementary or high school.

The coat of arms is a unique pictorial design that identifies families.  Each design has specific colors and symbols, which have different meanings.  For example GREEN (yes, my favorite color) represents hope, joy, and loyalty in love.  Important stuff.

I hope you enjoyed pretending with us today.  I'll end with with the greatest note ever written.  Thanks Audri.

At the AUCTION!

Ladies and gentleman, start your bidding….NOW!

Kid Picker Auctions INC. introduces you to the first ever One Magic Classroom AUCTION, with your host: Wyatt the Wrangler.

Wyatt getting ready for the first item up for bidding (a set of vintage Genesis records).

I collect everything.  I have thirteen vintage bicycles, four banjos, six guitars, twelve lanterns….you get the point.  I pretty much like stuff I don't need and have a very hard time passing any "Yard Sale" or "Auction" sign without stopping.  I've grown up amongst clutter and eccentric collectors my entire life (being raised in my father's antique store), so you could say it's literally in my blood.  Hands-down some of the best memories I had as a kid, were attending auctions with my family.  

Now this was a hot item.  My favorite childhood book (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) AND a creepy doll.  A great gift for anyone who loves camping or sleepovers.

(CLICK below for the LIVE AUCTION VIDEO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xEP9P9V7r8&feature=youtu.be

So what's all this junk collecting have to do with your class Ms. Sprengelmeyer?

Everything.

You see, money management is a part of life.  You'll be handed plenty of money in your lifetime, the choice is yours what you are to do with it.  And what better way to bribe children into behaving like angels all day, than with "GOOD BEHAVIOR DOLLARS"?   That's right, when you make good choices you earn dollars to be spent at an auction; consequently when you make bad choices, you lose money (and yes, even go in DEBT).  We'll talk more about that later, but for now let's take a look at some really happy kids and discuss some important FINANCIAL terminology you'll use for the rest of your life.

Josh Skywalker is happy to receive some "bling" for his good choices.

And so is Audri.

And Kendra.

FINANCIAL LITERACY 101

Deposit:  When you ADD (or put) money into your account.

Withdrawal:  When you SUBTRACT (or take away) money from your account.

Interest:  The money your account earns for simply just sitting there for an extended time!  Unless you are borrowing money, in which case you will be charged interest (i.e. you will pay more).

DEBT:  This one isn't very fun kids.  If you make lots of "poor behavior choices" in One Magic Classroom (or life in general) you will OWE more money than you currently have.  And when you're offered a credit card in shiny envelope (with high interest) just say "NO"!

I'd like to end my blog post, with a few really cute pictures of kids in my class carrying one of the things I collect (LANTERNS).

Riley is guiding us out of the darkness.

And these kids are just messing around.  Put your name on the board.  All three of you!

It's a hard thing to write something that makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time.  I often think some of the best songs ever written take me on a roller-coaster ride of emotions.  I'll end with this.

The Little Boy and the Old Man

Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the old man, "I do that too."
The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."
"I do that too," laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, "I often cry."
The old man nodded, "So do I."
"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems
Grown-ups don't pay attention to me."
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.

                                         -Shel Silverstein

                                       

CARNIVOROUS PLANTS ATTACK!

WHEN CARNIVOROUS PLANTS ATTACK ONE MAGIC CLASSROOM!

THIS IS BROCK. 

BROCK WAS EATEN BY A VENUS FLYTRAP.

Sometime during my childhood (yeah...the 80s) I watched a movie called Little Shop of Horrors .  It's about a florist who raises a plant that eats HUMANS!  You heard right, humans.  We learned all about carnivorous (meat-eating) plants in class, so I thought we might as well dedicate a post to Little Shop of Horrors and get eaten by the plants we learned about.  Makes sense…..right? 

A scene from the movie Little Shop of Horrors (1986).

THE COBRA LILY

Presley was having a wonderful evening trotting to her grandmother's house with cookies, when suddenly….she smelled a wonderful nectar and decided to try it out.  Unfortunately the Cobra Lily lured her down the funnel of darkness, where she was only to become "Presley soup" for this carnivorous plant.  

What is a carnivorous plant?

THE VENUS FLYTRAP

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!

Carnivorous plants are meat-eating plants.  Most catch small insects, but some of the larger pitcher plants can even consume frogs and RATS!  They grow in boggy areas, where the soil lacks nutrients that most plants need to grow.  You'll find more carnivorous plants in the United States than anywhere else in the world!  So don't forget to ask mom and dad for your new plant pet this winter.  Just remember:  Don't feed them fertilizer.  They hate fertilizer!

VENUS FLYTRAP

Madison has no idea Macaulay Culkin already made this face famous in the biggest movie of 1990 HOME ALONE!  This was such a big movie, that my cousin Chris Martin had to sit on the floor (due to lack of seats at a sold out show).  See photo below.

FUN FACT:  Macaulay Culkin now plays in a band called The Pizza Underground.

GIANT AFRICAN SUNDEW

"This is the Giant African Sundew.  It is a carnivorous (meat-eating) plant that grows in all parts of the world.  It eats insects and bugs.  Each leaf has sticky hairs that the insect sticks to.  One interesting fact I learned about the Giant African Sundew, is that the sticky liquid shines in the sun to attract bugs."

-Danielle

Did I mention we wrote INFORMATIONAL ARTICLES as well about our plants?  Well, I'm mentioning that now.  Informational articles are FACTUAL.  That's right, full of totally awesome facts that make you just want to jump out of your seat for joy and yell "FACTS!"

PITCHER PLANT

"This is the Rajah Pitcher Plant.  It is a carnivorous (meat-eating) plant that grows in tropical countries.  It eats flies and small frogs.  It has slippery leaves that the insects can't cling onto, so they fall in!  One interesting fact I learned, is that some can be the size of footballs!"

-Izaiah

And don't forget the…..

BLADDERWORT!

Brady was trapped by a BLADDERWORT!

What you learned from today's lesson:

1.  Carnivorous plants are meat-eating plants.

2.  Carnivorous plants grow in boggy areas, where the soil is poor.

3.  Home Alone was the biggest movie of my childhood (after JURASSIC PARK of course).

"We are all special in our own way, the moment we choose to be."

        -Seth Godin

Feliz Cumpleaños GRANDMA!

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, abuela!

There are few things I love more in this world than letting my students imagine what they'll be like when they are older.  A lot older.  So we're kicking off the new school year GRANNY STYLE, and learning Spanish while we're at it.  That's right, every Friday we're learning Spanish here at One Magic Classroom INC, and this week we are learning about numbers.  READER BEWARE....you might just enjoy learning another language after seeing these kids celebrate their senior citizen birthdays!!!

Numbers in Spanish from 1-30 are unique, meaning that you have to learn them all by heart (you can find a list of them here).  After that, you can CHEAT.  That's right!  I'm teaching my students how to cheat at learning Spanish by using this here short cut:

First, you learn the numbers in tens:

30 = trienta

40 = cuarenta

50 = cincuenta

60 = sesenta

70 = setenta

80 = ochenta

90 = noventa

You add an "y" (pronounced "ee"), then add the number, and BOOM!  Now you can wish your granny:

¡Feliz Cumpleaños! = Happy Birthday!

Grandma = Abuela

Happy Birthday Granny!
Feliz cumpleaños, abuela!

If you can't tell, granny doesn't like getting her picture taken.

Tengo noventa años  =  I'm ninety years old 
(Literal translation in Spanish: I have 90 years)

Granny turned 90! (and she doesn't look too happy about it)

Tell a kid to "get fierce" and this is the face they will give you.

"Granny, do you have any friends who also have birthdays?"

"OF COURSE I DO MY LITTLE SUGAR DUMPLINGS!"
(translating this is a little too advanced for us right now)

Meet my cousin Mildred! 
"Conoce a mi prima Mildred"

"Tengo noventa y nueve años."  =  "I'm ninety-nine years old."
(She's still the queen of Scrabble on Fig Newton and Game Night….at the elderly home that is, and still rockin' that headband from prom 82 years ago!).

"Don't forget my mailman, Mr. Dinkletter!"
"No te olvides mi cartero, Sr. Dinkletter"

"Tengo cuarenta y siete años"  =  "I'm forty seven years old."

Rumor has it Señor Dinkletter even sleeps with his eyebrow up like that.  

In case you're wondering how to ask how old someone is, it's:

¿Cuántos años tienes?  =  How old are you?

REPURPOSED JOURNAL FUN

Every foreign language student needs a journal to write down everything they learn.  And you're in luck kids, because your teacher struck gold in the free pile at work!  That's right, somebody didn't want these Spanish picture flash cards from 1972…..what were they thinking?  My cousin Kimi and I spent countless hours cutting out paper and tying knots for all these journals this summer (while watching reality t.v. shows…but you didn't hear that part).  

"Dad, I can speak Spanish!" -- Papá, yo hablo español!

Gage really knows how to draw some miniature legs on a grown man.

"Meat Boy loves Español!" -- "Meat Boy" ama español!

"And writing his Spanish vocabulary facts in his journal!"

The wise Yoda Hayden says: "If you learn one thing children, it's that "la carne" means "meat" in Spanish.

Introducing…..the first ever…..MAN-GIRL JOURNAL!

I'm not exactly sure how to translate this one...but I think it might be: 
DIARIA CHICA-HOMBRE

And lastly, the most sophisticated journal of all:

POOP! 
(That's CACA en español, in case you were wondering)

Sorry, but I had to put this one on here. 
 I still have a 3rd grade sense of humor.  
Besides, poop and airplanes go together, right?

WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM TODAY'S LESSON:

1.  How to say happy birthday in Spanish (¡Feliz Cumpleaños!).

2.  Think twice before you throw away some Spanish flashcards from 1972 in the garbage.

3.   Poop jokes are still funny.

TEACHER CRAFT OF THE DAY!

You heard right my friends.  Ms. Sprengelmeyer will be sharing a neat-o-burrito teacher craft every blog entry as well.  This week I repurposed some old records that were about to go in the trash.  These once "golden oldies" are now magic name plates!

Well, there you have it, our first blog entry with a new super MAGIC bunch of really creative and inspiring kids.  Until next time my friends.  

Let the magic begin.

     "A different language is a different vision of life" - Federico Fellini