My Week in Review & a Math Freebie!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs again. Be sure to link up and tell us about your week! 

The first two have nothing to do with teaching, but were definitely highlights of my week. 

1. I went to Napa to cheer on some friends running the Napa Marathon. The picture below (in the heart of wine country) is where we set up camp, planked, cheered and rang cowbells as people ran by. Sometimes it's more fun cheering than being the one running!

2. I watched the Grand Lighting for the new Bay Lights exhibit. The exhibit will be on display from dusk - 2:00am for the next two years. You can watch a live stream of the lights here. This picture doesn't even begin to give the view justice. 

Since this is a teaching blog, maybe I should share a few things from my week in the classroom. Here we go - 

3. We've been working really hard on expanded form and place value. We've counted with base ten blocks, written on our desks, etc. Some students were still having a bit of trouble, so I quickly created a review sheet for homework practice. You can pick up your free copy here. 

4. Do you play Around the World with your students? My students love this game. They really get into it and cheer on their classmates when they are doing well. 

Here's a quick explanation if you don't know how to play: 

Student A stands next to Student B and I call out a math fact we've learned. Whoever says the answer first gets to move on and is now paired with Student C. This keeps going for every student in the class. The biggest challenge is for a student to make it all the way around the world (classroom) by beating each classmate and saying the answer to the math facts the fastest. 

I had a student make it all the way around the world this week! The rest of the class wasn't jealous or disappointed; they were genuinely excited for him and loved the "Around the World" certificate I quickly made up after he won. 

5. We spent Friday afternoon in the computer lab on Read Write Think. As a culminating project to our Presidents' Day unit, the students worked with partners to write an acrostic poem about Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. They've written several acrostic poems this year, but this was the first time they typed them! The acrostic poem generator at readwritethink.org is excellent. You can check it out here. You can save and print the poems when they are complete. 

How was your week? 

Heather