Lemonade Stand

This one is for Alex.

When life gave her lemons, she really and truly made lemonade.

I am so excited about the reveal of my Lemonade Stand mini unit, for 3 reasons: 1.  I love the activities, and think it will bring many fun memories for my class!  2.  I created all the clip art in this one!  3.  *And most important and exciting*--half of the proceeds from this packet will be donated to an AMAZING organization that I can't wait to tell you all about...

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation  

I stumbled upon the website for Alex's Lemonade Stand while creating my lemonade packet.   I read the story of the foundation's founder-- 8 year old Alexandra "Alex" Scott, who bravely fought, but lost her battle with cancer.  She was diagnosed with neuroblastoma shortly before her first birthday.  The day after her fourth birthday, she told her mom that she wanted to open up a lemonade stand and give the money she earned to all the doctors and nurses "to help other kids like they helped me."  She opened her stand after coming home from the hospital, and raised $2,000!  As Alex fought for her life, her parents continued to have the lemonade stand each year, and news of what they were doing spread all over the world.  By the time Alex passed away, she had helped to raise $1 million for childhood cancer research.  Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation funds cutting edge research projects, and provides travel programs for families of children fighting cancer.  

It is SO easy to get involved and help this amazing foundation.  I know spring and summer months inspire our students and children to have lemonade stands, and what an incredible teaching moment and service project to have a lemonade stand to remember Alex and help the children who are still battling the disease.  

As a mother, Alex's story broke my heart, but also inspired me.  What an amazing, selfless, brave, and incredible little person she must have been.  She made such a huge difference with her life!  

I know that I want to help this foundation in some way--and what an amazing gift this blog is to share this story with others.  Even if you don't need a Lemonade mini unit, you can go directly to the site to donate.  www.alexslemonade.org

To preview my Lemonade Stand mini unit, click the lemonade stand below:

We Made...Lemonade!

We are lovin' lemons lately!  The "lemon madness" started with a "how to" writing lesson.  The kids helped me brainstorm everything we would need to make lemonade {they didn't know I already had everything there at school!}  Then, we worked together to write how to make lemonade on an anchor chart! We had to use the words first, next, then, and finally.  The kids even wrote their own recipes for lemonade! After a little writing, we needed a treat!  So we took all of our ingredients and made...lemonade!!!  Many of us, including me, had never made lemonade from REAL lemons before--so we were all pretty excited to get to squeeze the lemons into our pitcher!  *Yep, didn't bring one of those handy juicers...could have been helpful!*  Anyway, we had a lemonade tasting party, and we decided that our first grade lemonade was very yummy!

This lemonade lesson kicked off a little "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade" mini unit that I will post more pictures of later!  Fun stuff!