Oldies but Goodies

Whoo-hoo!!  It's Friday!  Seriously, every single week I still get so excited when this day comes around.  Don't get me wrong - I love my kiddos - but the promise of a little rest over the weekend is just wonderful.

We are nearing the end of the 3rd quarter at my school, so we are in a crunch to get all skills checked off and assessed after we had FOUR snow days over the past two weeks.  Today, in an attempt to keep energy and morale up in my classroom in between a few required assessments, I reached waaaay back into my memory to come up with some fun activities that would still keep our momentum going.  As much as I love learning new teaching methods, I have to admit we had a lot of fun going "old school" today!

Before I describe all we did, let me set the scene: Today was pajama day.  Today marks one week until spring break.  It was a rainy day. Ok, now I can continue :)

First Oldie-but-Goodie:  With attention spans scattered and only about 3 little ones sitting like humans correctly in their chairs, I knew we needed to get up and stretch it out... but we had to take our spelling test before lunch!  What do we do?!  Why, introduce the students to the game of Sparkle!  I know most of you know how this game works (like I said, it's an oldie!) but just in case you've forgotten the rules, I found this link to explain. 

Not only did my kiddos love it, but they were focused and listening to each other (welcome back, well-behaved class!).  We were also able to celebrate their fabulous display of good-sportsmanship when we finished our game.  The best part of this was I had many wonderful and personal best scores for spelling tests today - SPARKLE worked!

Second Oldie-But-Goodie:
Remember how I said it was pajama day?  Yeah, I had to utilize that.  When recess was changed to indoor due to rain, I once again pulled out an old trick.  I have a bunch of stuffed animals in my reading nook that go along with our favorite stories, so I told the students we would have our first class D.E.A.R - Drop Everything and Read.  I let them cuddle up and read to a stuffed animal all around the classroom and they LOVED it!  I think sometimes I forget in our fast-paced curriculum just how much students need the opportunity to read at school.  Some just love reading, but for others I know school is the only time they are exposed to so many books at their level.  It was so cute to see them reading their little hearts out to their stuffed animals!

Sometimes, it's good to revisit the classics :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

P.S.  I'm working on my first March Madness math and reading packet for TPT, so check back Monday for a freebie!