Five For Friday with a Giveaway

Love February,Valentine's Day and Winter Olympics! While most of you guys are getting freezing temperatures and snow storms, I get to enjoy warm weather with a little bit of rain at this time of the year. Sorry about that :) Even though it's 90 degrees here, I still managed to get sick. This flu virus, or like they call it here "Gripe Dominicano", usually stays with you for about 3-4 weeks. I am on my 3rd week now :(

I've linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share with you my weekly five.

                                         

                                                               
Today, most schools are driven by data and standardized tests, and so little time is allowed for children's social and emotional development. I strive to incorporate as many of such activities as possible.
Last Monday I introduced "100 Acts of Kindness" Challenge to my 3rd graders. I decided to allow for it  2 weeks and have a big Kindness Celebration on Valentine's Day. We talked about how we can make the world a better place by doing nice things for our friends, family and neighbors. I made a printable with the list of simple acts of kindness and handed it to each child. You can download it here.

To my big surprise, they jumped right into it. This girl received a card from her former BFF :) So funny!

Here is the picture of out "Kindness" heart on the second day of the challenge.

And here it is on Friday of the same week.

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." - Mother Theresa

                                                                   

As we learned about the layers of the Earth, I decided to throw a little art into this lesson.We made playdough earth models. I found this craft on Pinterest :) The kids loved it! They really enjoyed making the layers. And when we cut the planets in half, they thought that was so cool, that they asked me if they could take their creations home.

It can be so frustrating to read poor student handwriting! I believe, that it is essential to begin emphasizing the importance of neat writing in elementary school.

I created a simple form with the purpose of motivating my students to write neatly. I glue it into my students’ notebooks (inside cover) in the beginning of each school year. Every month I reward the students with neat handwriting (and those, who have shown some improvement) with small stickers. I’ve been doing this for 3 years now and it’s amazing how much of an effect such a seemingly small idea can have.

We've been reading, singing, writing, matching and memorizing multiplication facts 0-5. Although most of my students already know them pretty well, there are some that would benefit from extra practice. So, here is a fun game I came up with just the other day while practicing math facts with my students. I wrote a multiplication fact for each child on a little piece of paper and taped it to each student's shirt (answer not included but memorized by the student). The task was to come up to each of your classmates and give the answer to the multiplication fact written on his card. If you are correct, he draws a star or a heart on your card. The person, who receives the most stars (hearts), wins.

The winner of this challenge received a sweet treat :)

                                                               

I am very proud and excited to be a part of an enormous giveaway hosted by An Apple For The Teacher who recently hit her 300 follower milestone! Over 60 teachers donated their products!  To participate, please head over to her blog. She has more surprises in store for the lucky winners. 

                           

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Have a nice weekend!