Spark Student Motivation - Minute to Win It Style!

I just love linking up with Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching. Her Spark Student Motivation linky is truly a favorite of mine.

You may remember my post from February's Pick 3 Pinterest Linky. One of my pins was a link to Valentine themed Minute to Win It games. I was so looking forward to doing a competition during our Valentine's Day celebration. After another major snowstorm, we ended up out of school the entire week before Valentine's Day. The following week was winter break. So, our Minute to Win It competition took place this past week.

I chose three games.

The Heart Pick-Up!

The students had to use chopsticks to move the hearts from one plate to the next.

Stack-A-Heart!

The students needed to stack the hearts as high as they could.

Marshmallow Toss!

Students needed to get as many mini marshmallows into their cup as they could in one minute.

These activities were so much fun. The kids had a blast. Spacing out the individual competitions throughout the week helped keep the students on track. Our academic work needed to be complete to participate in the final "championship round" on Friday against the two other 5th grade classes.

The other 5th grade teachers and I have already started talking about doing another Minute To Win It tournament in the spring. It was just too much fun not to repeat.

Don't forget to check out Head Over Heels for Teaching for move ideas to spark student motivation!

Teachers Are Heroes - TpT Site-Wide Sale

Teachers Pay Teachers is having another fabulous sales to honor superhero teachers! The site-wide, one-day sale is tomorrow - Wednesday, February 25th.

Everything in my store will be 20% off. Add the promo code HEROES and  get an extra 10% off at check out.

Decimal Twisted Scoot is one of my newest products. It's a great way to get the students moving while reinforcing common core standards.

Head to my store and see all the products I have to offer. Happy shopping!

Spark Student Motivation : Let's Go Shopping

Keeping students engaged and showing them the real life applications of the standards is something I am constantly trying to improve on. In an effort to do just that I had my students "Go Shopping!"

Last month when we were working on decimals I pulled out my stack of supermarket flyers and created a shopping list for my students.

They worked in pairs to find the items in the flyer and solve the given word problems.  After completing the problems, they were given a challenge of spending as close to $100 as they could without going over. This was a great activity for my early finishers.

This activity also worked very well with my ELL students. Before we started "shopping" I made sure that each item I picked had a picture that went with it. We also talked about how the flyer is organized into categories such as dairy, produce, frozen foods, and meats. That discussion led to identifying the meaning of the words dairy and produce. What started out as an accommodation for my ELL students ended up being beneficial to most of my class.

I was surprised at how many students were not familiar with supermarket flyers. Others wanted to know if I stole them from the supermarket. (This question made me a bit concerned about their opinion of me - although I am pretty sure they were kidding.) I assured them that at the end of the week, the supermarket is very willing to donate the expired flyers to teachers.

Store flyers are a fun way for students to practice math concepts. In the past I have used them for comparing and rounding decimals as well as multiplying and dividing decimals. I have also given the students the opportunity to create their own word problems and then switch with a partner to solve. The possibilities are endless.

Be sure to check out Head Over Heels for Teaching to discover other ways to motivate your students!

Pick 3 - February Pinterest Linky

I love linking up with PAWSitively Teaching  and Inspired Owl's Corner for their Pick 3 Linky. It mades me stop and look at all my pins. There are so many ideas I have pinned for February that it made it difficult to pick just three.

The Common Core, time on task, and restrictions on food in the classroom have made Valentine's Day parties look very different these days.  These Minute To Win It ideas are perfect for upper elementary students on Valentine's Day. I can't wait to use them this year.

Click on image to view original Pinterest link.

These Valentines are adorable. I hope I am motivated enough to make them for my students. I am sure they would get a kick out of them.

Click on image to view original Pinterest link.

I have seen this idea several times on Pinterest in many different forms. I have always wondered how I could implement the idea in my classroom. These Valentine scratch tickets are such a fun way to celebrate. Who doesn't love taking a chance?

Click on image to view original Pinterest link.

If you like these pins, consider following my Pinterest boards for more inspiration. 

An InLinkz Link-up

February - Currently

I am happy to be linking up once again with Farley over at Oh Boy, Fourth Grade for Currently.

Here is what I am up to this evening.

Head on over to Oh Boy, Fourth Grade to check out all the other Currently links.