March Madness
Well, hello blogging world! I'm very nervously entering the blogging world! This is my third year teaching third grade, and it is by far my FAV grade! I'm just going to jump right in with our week in third grade! We started March Madness with our AR points this week! I have some readers this year!! Every single student reached surpassed their goals this 9 weeks! Not only did they all attend the AR party, but we were also the top scoring class in third grade, so they got an extra party!
Best. Day. Ever.
Our first AR challenge day, we were actually the top scoring class in the ENTIRE school!! This challenge day we fell short to a 5th grade class by a measly 17 points! I read The Book Whisper during the first few weeks of school, and it completely changed my reading approach as a teacher. You really need to read it.You can purchase it here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+book+whisperer&sprefix=the+book+whisperer%2Caps%2C540
Anywho, I have some readers! I wanted to start March Madness at the beginning of March, of course, but time is just flying! I literally can't believe we only have 6 weeks of school left!
Anywho, I have some readers! I wanted to start March Madness at the beginning of March, of course, but time is just flying! I literally can't believe we only have 6 weeks of school left!
This is what our our board looks like! I made 4' circles in a Publisher file, I was able to fit 2 on a page. I printed it on orange paper (aren't Astrobright papers ah-ma-zing?), drew black basketball lines, laminated, and cut them out. I long for a Cricut one day! Added black letters and put them up. I used neon index cards, and they worked PERFECTLY! I made the bracket lines with painters tape. The bottom is crooked, but I was bending down at a weird angle. My students do not mind!
These are the rules, and they are available in my TPT store! I also included an editable version, if you'd like to tweak the rules for your room. I also included letters to print and cut out, if you don't have bulletin board letters or a Circut machine.
I'm so grateful for The Biggest Loser's idea of the at-home challenge. Every student not advancing to the next round will still be eligible for the at-school challenge! My kids are SO PUMPED about this challenge! I'm trying to teach them to lose gracefully, still work towards a goal, and still cheer on classmates. I really am proud of them. Many advanced by tenths of a point!
These are the results of Round 1!
I have students who are are reading 2 or more grade levels below, and the fact that they are earning 50 plus a 9 weeks blows my mind! Many of our 3rd grade level books, and almost all of those below 3rd grade are worth half a point when you score 100%, so think about the amount of reading they are doing, in addition to a full class load! I hadn't added up how many points my class has for the whole year, because I run individual reports everyday. Until today. As I added up each child's total thus far, tears literally filled my eyes. I am looking at my students receiving SPED services, students reading drastically below grade level, students on level, and students up to a 6th grade reading level, and they are ALL reading an IMPRESSIVE amount of books!! I love to teach math, I've always considered myself stronger in teaching that subject. I adore reading myself, but I just always felt stronger with math. I keep my students all day, so I teach all subjects. To see this number....I had to sit and just let in all soak in...and the fact that we still have 6 weeks left to add to it....
1,832.2
One thousand eight hundred thirty two and two tenths.
O.M.G.
You catch my drift.
To say I'm proud in just an understatement! I'm excited to see what the next 6 weeks hold for our reading! I hope these points help them realize they are amazing readers and I hope they hold onto to this love of reading forever!
As crazy as it sounds, I really haven't had a clip chart to show the amount of points they earn, they get a daily report from me, so they are fine with that. However, with the impressiveness of my smarties, I created these clip charts and they are a freebie in my TPT store. I have one for the whole school year and one for the current 9 weeks. Each student has a small clothespin to chart where they are.
