It is a crazy time of year and we are here to help!

Spring is a great time to grow student engagement!

The National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization (NAITCO), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Farm Credit announced that eight general education teachers from around the country have been selected as winners of the National Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award for 2017.

These kindergarten-through-12th grade teachers won the award for the innovative ways they use agricultural concepts to teach core subject areas of reading, writing, math, science, social studies, STEM and more. Read more...

Good Things Come to Those Who Incorporate Agriculture:

NM Teachers Headed to National Ag in the Classroom Conference in Kansas City June 20-23,2017!

Our 2017 NM Ag in the Classroom Teachers of the Year team will be headed to Kansas City this June. The team from East Picacho Elementary in Las Cruces is made up of Ashley Cartright, Lucia Gutierrez, Abigail Husson-Matter, and Silvia Mariscal. One of the teachers, Jessica Bouloiseau, is unable to attend (for a good reason) as she is expecting her first child in May. Each teacher applied for a CHS scholarship to cover their registration costs. New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau and Doña Ana County Farm Bureau are sponsoring the remaining expenses to help them attend the conference and we cannot thank them enough!

Also headed to Kansas City with us is Mr. John Turrietta as he was awarded a White-Reinhardt Scholarship from the American Farm Bureau Foundation. Mr. Turrietta is a previous NM Teacher of the Year and currently teaches in Rio Rancho. Opportunities such as these are available to all New Mexico teachers!

Curriculum Matrix Featured Lessons:

Download Them Free Today & Grow Student Engagement!

How Doe s Your Garden Grow?

This lesson for lower elementary has 4 exciting activities that takes students from seed exploration, to germination, to plant starters, to investigating the life cycle of a sunflower! You won't want to miss all the awesome companion resources to make your lessons 'EGG'tra engaging!

Take It to the Next Level For Upper Elementary:

How Does Your Garden Grow? 3-5


	Get Kids Growing: Plant the Seeds, Harvest the Hope, & Cultivate Minds!

Get your students problem solving using this real world lesson where student plan a garden and have to present their plan. What will they investigate?

plants suitable for area
plant needs
sunlight
soil
temperature/growing season
insects
water
plant uses
real world problem solving

We have upper grades covered too!

Plant Parts & Functions

This lesson is part of a series called, "Too Much? Too Little?" created to introduce middle school students to the connection between soil nutrients and the food they eat. The lessons consist of a series of demonstrations and hands-on experiments that show that plants require nutrients in certain quantities. The lesson series allows students to investigate soil properties, learn how to properly prepare fertilizer nutrient solutions, identify deficiencies in plant nutrients using a key, and much more.

Hit the Easy Button! Each lesson on the Matrix comes with great companion resources and is aligned to the Common Core Standards (See bottom of lesson & click o n Common Core Connections tab).

You Can Go Too! Join us at the National Ag in the Classroom Conference in Kansas City!


	Meet Keynote Speaker Greg Peterson

Registration is now open for the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference taking place in June in Kansas City. The conference includes outstanding workshops, keynote speakers, networking with ag organizations and experts in the field, and the opportunity to see Missouri agriculture up close and personal! Keynote speaker, Greg Peterson of the Peterson Brothers, will be joining us.

Click here to learn more about this outstanding conference or register today.