Leverage the Power of Active Educators, is the theme for the 2017 National SHAPE America Convention & Expo which will attract and engage approximately 5,000 health and physical education professionals from around the world who are searching for new products, services and technologies. Event highlights include more than 300 program presentations and industry experts in health, physical education, recreation and dance; world-renowned celebrity keynotes including NFL® athletes, New York Times best-selling authors, and Olympic champions; networking and social events; and a multi-faceted exposition with vendor demonstrations. Plan ahead and take advantage of this fabulous professional development only a few hours’ drive away!

FMI or register go to  SHAPE AMERICA 2017

For a complete list of professional development opportunities from the Maine DOE, please visit our PD Calendar at http://www.maine.gov/doe/calendar/.

Please submit your applications for readers in your classroom,
or to be a reader by January 1, 2017.

Download Signup Form Here

Our 2017 book "What's in the Garden" by Award-winning Children's author, Marianne Berkes, who has spent much of her life as a teacher, is illustrated by Chris Arbo. The interactive rhyme and riddle format will lead to many discussions of fruits and vegetables grown in our state from Apples to Pumpkins!

Each classroom will receive a copy of the book, with lesson ideas inside, and information on Maine Agriculture through a volunteer reader from the area. Read more below about this fantastic Agriculture Literacy program that started in Maine in 2008!

Read "ME" Agriculture has been a very successful program since 2008, reaching over 87,000 Maine students. We are pleased to announce its return during Ag Week in March, 2017. Volunteers will read and donate books about agriculture to Pre-Kindergarten through 4th Grade Classrooms across the state. They will tell the students about their farms, programs or connections to agriculture and leave lessons and information for the teachers to use, all supplied by MAITC. Funding for this project is a direct result of the Maine agricultural specialty license plate and grants from Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

Volunteers will read this new book on Maine fruits and vegetables to classrooms across the state. If teachers request a pre-teach, or are looking for ideas for activities to use in the classroom, please visit TeachMEfoodandfarms.org and the National Ag Literacy Matrix searchable from the MAITC homepage. Both sites have free online lessons aligned to state and national standards.

All Maine classrooms in grades PK–4 and volunteers from agriculture are invited to participate. At this time there is no limit to the amount of presentations you schedule or materials you request. You may sign up both teachers and volunteers OR you may submit just teachers or just volunteers and MAITC will provide the missing component.

All forms must be returned to the MAITC office by January 1, 2017 to ensure that all volunteers and classrooms receive the books and materials.If we do not have the completed forms we will not issue materials. Requests received after that will be filled as long as materials are available, with completed forms. MAITC cannot receive the funding for the program without the necessary data. If you have questions, please contact the MAITC office.

Thank you in advance for your continuing support of Ag education!

Sign-up form for teachers and volunteers

Whether it is climbing the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park or hiking along a local stream, nature provides awe inspiring moments at every turn. June is Great Outdoors Month. It is a great time to take your classroom outdoors. Or, if you are a parent, why not pack up a picnic and take your family on an outdoor adventure to explore your corner of our beautiful planet? Use the resources below, to get you started:

• Get Outdoors

• Let's Go Outside!

• Why Take Your Students Outside?

• Discover the Forest (also in Spanish)

• Activities: Junior Explorer

• Activity: Neighborhood Explorers

• Lesson Plans: Teaching With Historic Places

If we want future generations to have a bountiful, healthy, and biologically diverse world to live in, everyone has to do their part to help preserve our planet.  If we start teaching them when they are young, we can help them develop positive conservation habits that will become part of their everyday life. Earth Day is April 22.  We have pulled together some resources, activities and lesson plans on energy, conservation, and the value of keeping our planet green.

• Energy and Environment Facts

• Energy Kids for Teachers

• Get Your Energy-Saving Questions Answered

• Homework Resources - Environmental Protection Agency

• Protect the Environment at School

• Science Fair Projects - Environmental Protection Agency

• Activity: Energy Calculators

• Activities: Games, Quizzes and Other Cool Stuff

• Lesson Plans: Teacher Resources and Environmental Lesson Plans