Challenge and Contest for December

During the month of December we will collect as many Christmas stamps as possible and display them in the elementary foyer.  The oldest Christmas stamp we currently have is 49 years old.  What year was it printed?  Post your answer here.
So, students, teachers, and anyone else who reads this post:  During the Thanksgiving holiday when you may be getting together with relatives, ask them if they have any old Christmas card envelopes that just might have stamps on them.  If the envelope is exceptionally interesting, please send the entire envelope.  Grandparents and great-grandparents can be great savers!   Maybe you will be lucky and be able to contribute the oldest Christmas stamp!

The classes who contribute the oldest as well as the class that contributes the most Christmas stamps will receive a treat in January.

Nearing 50,000 Stamps!

After the last collection of 9,093 stamps we certainly didn't expect another great collection.  But, wow . . . we collected 3,297 stamps for a grand total of 47,417.  The classroom collections ranged from 26 to 2,360 stamps.  Eight classrooms participated.  If those classes that didn't participate had collected just 26 stamps each, we would have had 338 more!  Teachers, thank you for encouraging your children to collect!

Challenge:  Will you be the class that donates the 50,000th stamp?  If you are, your class will receive a treat!

1,072 Hits

This Blog has been visited 1,072 times by people from the following countries: United States, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Romania, Indonesia, Germany and Singapore.  Now we have to figure out a way to get them to send stamps to us!

What a Summer!

The total stamp collection from the first twelve weeks last spring was 25,027.  The summer collection totaled 19,093 for a grand total of 44,120 stamps.  Can we reach 50,000 in the next two weeks?  A tip from a family who collected thousands of stamps - post a large envelope in the bathroom where you work.  If you need a label explaining the project, email me and I'll send you a PDF.  Keep on collecting!  

Welcome Back

The new school year has begun and stamp collection here at school and in community business places will resume.  We will be updating this Blog so check in often.   Many children have been collecting stamps all summer.  Some of their collections are in the thousands and include many very old and interesting stamps.  We're excited!

Wishing for a million....

We were working on some pages about how much a million is when I answered a question about what I would wish for a million of. I originally wished for a million hours of free time. Then I found out how many days and years it would take by multiplying and dividing. I came up with 114 years! Finally I changed it to 1,000,000 minutes of free time. Please post on the blog if you can find out how many years 1,000,00 minutes is.
Posted by a student in fourth grade.

New Website - The Lonely Planet

The Lonely Planet site has wonderful continental and regional interactive maps.  Check it out! 

Celebrate 10,501 Stamps Collected to Date!

Celebrate!  We have collected over 10,000 postage stamps!  The stamps continue to come in at a fairly regular pace.  Thank you!

Research These Stamps

Help us provide information on the following stamps.  Post the information below in comments.

Do the Math

We have collected 10,501.

Round that number to the nearest thousand.  Use that number to answer the following questions.

1.  What fraction of a million stamps have we collected?

2.  What percent of a million stamps have we collected?

3.  How many more times will we need to collect 10,000 stamps to reach our goal of one million?

Be sure to explain exactly how you arrived at your answer.

Freerice Website Recommended by a Parent

Freerice, WFP's online vocabulary game that feeds the hungry, was recognized as an "outstanding" site by the 15th annual Webby Awards! Freerice has already provided enough rice to feed more than 4.6 million people.

Take this opportunity to tell your family about the amazing game that not only educates but also helps build a world without hunger - for free! www.freerice.com

I tried this site and I loved the map skills section. 

Do the Math

We have collected 9,388 stamps. 

1.  How many more stamps do we need to get to 10,000?

2.  How many groups of 10,000 are there in a million?

3.  This week 15 of 20 classrooms participated.  What percent of classrooms participated? 

Reminder: Explain how you got the answers.  If someone has already posted an answer and you can think of another way to solve the problem, post your explanation.  If you think that someone answered a question incorrectly, please kindly suggest the correct answer.

Week 7 Total Nearing 10,000!

We have now collected 9,388 stamps with 80 countries represented.  We are truly amazed at the quantity and quality of the stamps.  We love the grandparents who are going through the old mail they have saved over the years.  Thanks to them we have some very old stamps which we will try to feature on this Blog very soon.  Some parents are putting up collection containers for stamps where they work.  Great idea!  If you would like a label and an information sheet to attach to your collection container, email me and I will send you a PDF to use. 

We have had 764 pageviews of this Blog from the USA, Indonesia, Hungary and Thailand, using Windows (62%), Macintosh (32%), iPad (4%), iPhone, (1%) and BlackBerry (1%). 

Thank you to everyone who is helping with this major undertaking.  Keep on spreading the word and passing along a link to this Blog.

Prince William and Kate Middleton

My grandmother went to England last week to attend her dad's funeral.  While she was there she went to the post office and got some stamps.  That's how she got these.  She asked the postman to cancel them.  She gave them to me to keep.

Posted by a third grade student. 

New Stamps Commemorate Start of Civil War

The Postal Service released two new Civil War stamps which went on sale April 12th.

Honorary Stamp of the Week

Being four years old hasn't stopped a student in junior kindergarten from making his/her contribution to the stamp collection.  As we were counting stamps this week we discovered this one!  It was from an activity sheet the students were working on.  Yes, it is a stamp and beautifully colored too!  Should we count it?  Of course!  Who could NOT count it?  It will be stamp number 1,000,001!  We wonder what grade this student will be in when we reach our goal of a million stamps.  Post your guess in comments!  HONORARY: Conferred as an honor, without the usual requirements or functions.

Weekly Stamp Collection - Total 7,441

Each Tuesday we collect stamps from each classroom.  There is always great excitement in finding out where the stamps came from, who/what is on them and what new sizes and shapes we received.  All stamps are carefully trimmed and sorted by categories such as people, plants, animals, art, US states, foreign, military, patriotic symbols, holidays, vehicles, sports, scenery, etc.  Foreign stamps are posted on a world map on a bulletin board in the 4th and 5th grade hallway.

This week we received over 800 stamps from a parent of a first grader who has some connection to a phone company.  H-m-m-m-m . . . think about people that you know who work someplace where a lot of mail is received and ask them if they might save them for you.  I'm a great "rebater" at Menards.  I wonder who opens all those envelopes?

Thanks for helping us collect and keep those stamps coming!

People on Stamps

Take a careful look at these stamps . . . but don't expect to find YOUR picture on one of them since "no living person shall be honored by portrayal on US postage."  Check out the criteria used in the US stamp collection process.  Please consider selecting a stamp pictured below and doing some research on the person.  If you submit your work to us we may post it here or on the bulletin board at school.

New Sizes

This stamp from Canada is a contender for the largest stamp in our collection.  Look how small the stamp from Uruguay is in comparison to the US stamp.

Do the Math

 This week (Week 4) we collected 1,574 stamps.  Last week we collected 567 stamps. 

1.  How many stamps did we collect altogether in these two weeks?
2.  How many more stamps did we collect this week than last week?
3.  How many fewer stamps did we collect last week?

Post your answers with explanations of how you arrived at them in Comments.  Remember not to use your name.  You can post anonymously or use your class title like 2A or 3B.

Love This Blog

I enjoyed exploring the amillionstamps Blog. It was easy to make this post. I will be sharing information on the Blog with my students. It's great to see such clear photos of the stamps and I like the fact that for most stamps you can click on them to view a larger format.

Calling All REAL Stamp Collectors

We have received some "stamps" that came from envelopes that are preprinted with an image of the stamp and purchased from the post office.  Is this a real stamp?  Can we count it?  Please comment.

14 New Countries

Fourteen new countries are represented in our collection this week including Slovensko, France, Belize, Andora, San Marino, Eritrea, Columbia, Turkey, Singapore, Greece, Fiji, Chile, Thailand, and France.  This brings our total to 64 countries.  Please be reminded that we are collecting ALL stamps, domestic as well as foreign.  This week, the Stamp of the Week stumped us until we did some research.

This week, a custodian and a teacher contributed some or all of their collections which they began as young children.  How many more can we dig up that have been stored away in attics for years?  Spring is a great time for cleaning.  What might you find that could help us?  As I was searching in the attic of my 95 year old mother-in-law's "collection of cool stuff," I found a carefully bundled collection of letters from her grandfather in Stenderup, Denmark to her immigrant father in Iowa.  The letters are dated from 1926 through 1946 and a few of them are stamped with a swastika suggesting that the letters were censored.  Sad to say, the letters are written in Danish and I have had only two of them translated so far.  Interestingly, most of the stamps have been removed.  : (    Who knows?  Maybe I'll find a stamp collection if I continue my search.

Thank you to everyone for collecting and spreading the word to everyone that you know!  Contrary to what a student said when she heard that we had over 5,000 stamps, we have barely just begun.  She said, "Wow, we're almost there!"  Her comment explains the main reason for our collection project.  Children as well as adults have a difficult time conceptualizing what a million really is.  We hope to change that since we live in a world of billions and trillions.

50 Countries Represented in the Collection!

After three short weeks of collecting stamps we have 50 countries represented.  Incredible!  Thank you to everyone who is working hard to help us meet our goal. 

NOTE:  Because of our ever changing world, we are listing the countries (Protectorates, Territories and etc), as they appear on the stamp.  We will be conducting research to find up-to-date info and will pass it on to you in future posts.  If you can help, please comment!  We need a source for a list of current countries.

The students will be posting one stamp from each country on the Blog.  Look under the link titled: Countries Represented in Collection at the top of the Home Page.


Japan – Nippon
Repoblika Demokratika Malagasy
Madagascar
Canal Zone
Bermuda
India
Canada
South Africa
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Mexico
Netherlands
Poland
Spain
China
Ethiopia
Republic of Korea
Russia
Germany
Denmark
Australia
Philippines
Papua New Guinea
Kenya
Czekoslovaki
Yemen
Macedonia
Turks & Calicos Islands (British Overseas Territory)
Aruba (Part of Kingdom of Netherlands)
Costa Rica
Peru
Antigua (Twin Island Nation – Barbuda)
Helvetica - Switzerland –  Official Name “Swiss Confederation”
Finland
Monaco
Former Yugoslavia
Brazil
Nicaragua
New Zealand
Slovenia
Jordan
Kingdom of Cambodia
Austria
Egypt
Hungary
Ivory Coast (Republic of Cote d’Ivoire)
Libya
United Kingdom
United States

Stamps in Many Shapes and Sizes

Check these out and please feel free to comment on them.  This Blog is open to everyone.  We hope that you will learn some things when you visit as well as share information for others to learn from.  Students and adults may comment.  Thank you for not using names.

We received the other Pacific 97 triangle stamp.  Notice how four of them were printed together.

USA Christmas Stamps

It appears to me that several people have gone through old Christmas cards to locate stamps.  What a great idea.  You might want to contact grandparents and ask them to help us add to this collection which spans the years 1963-2010.  The stamps are photographed above according to value.  The last two do not have a value on them but include the date 1981.  Can anyone do some research to determine the value of them?  (Click on the pic for a larger view.)

Card from Italy

Our school media specialist was kind enough to post a request for stamps on a listserve of which she is a member. She received a post card from Italy saying "Ciao from Italy." That gave us one more stamp from Italy!

View Countries Represented in Our Collection

To view the countries from which we have collected stamps click on Google Earth.  This will be updated each week.  Someof the third grade students designed the map.  We hope that it works!

An Interesting Stamp Collected this Week

 

This 32 cent stamp was issued by the USPS in 1997 along with a red one featuring a U.S. Stagecoach.  It was deisgned to commemorate San Francisco's Pacific 97 Stamp Expo.  Both the mid-19th century clipper and the stagecoach are associated with mail delivery in California.  Does anyone have the red stagecoach stamp?

Do the Math

We arranged some stamps in ten rows with ten stamps in each row.  How many stamps are in the arrangement?  Be the first to post your answer below.  Please explain how you got the answer.  If a posted answer is correct, please do not post the same answer unless you can explain a different way of arriving at it. 

Teachers, feel free to use this problem in your classroom and post the answer.  (The problems will not always be this easy!)  Also, consider making up a math problem at your grade level and posting it for others.

Mystery Stamps

Can you find out where these stamps were printed?  Post your response in comments below.

Explanation of the Stamp Project

CLICK HERE for the explanation.  Use the browser back arrow to return to the Blog after reading the information.  Email me if you cannot view this file. (Your email message will not be posted on the blog.)

Where Are the Collection Sites for Stamps?

Collection containers can be found in pre-K - grade 6 classrooms and the elementary office.  Watch for containers coming soon to local businesses.

Welcome!

Welcome to the A Million Stamps Blog where you can follow the progress that we are making.  Watch for information on how you can help us collect a million stamps, view some of the more interesting stamps that have been collected, view the suggested Website links which can help you and your children understand just how many a million is, and add your comments or questions about the project.