What Do You Do With an Extra Day???

If you had an "extra day" in your life, what would you do with it?  Hmmm. . . a question loaded with possibilities???  A prompt to see if you are a "deep thinker?  A trick to see if you are generous and humble??? The correct answer would be something like, "Oh, I have been waiting for time to build that orphanage!"  Whereas an answer like "Probably sit around playing games on facebook," would win you  a loud "beeeeep," meaning you are very self-centered and don't bother "friending" me!

There is one more possible answer, though, IF you are blessed enough to be an elementary school teacher:  "Why, I would try to make all my lessons today about the number 29, or at least related to Leap Year!"   Ding, ding, ding ---- we have a winner!  So, Happy February 29th to you all!  That is just what Jenny and I did, and I might add, we were glad we only had a half-day today! 

We started the day with fancy crowns on our heads.  Every day is a better day if you are wearing a crown.  It makes you feel like a princess, or a Queen, or at its most basic, makes students look at you a little more often!  (Hey, we take what we can get!)

Princess Jenny XXIX of Niger

Queen Barbara XXIX of Niger

As a class, we are reading the book, Sign of the Beaver.  I try to have them do something different each time we read a chapter.  So --- today I read the first 29 words and the last 29 words in the book!  They had to figure out what was in the rest of the words I left out.  (We are on chapter 18, so there are lots of possibilities!)
We then divided into teams:  Team "SUN" and Team "EARTH."  Each team had to make up math problems that had the answer 29 for each one.  Tomorrow we shall trade papers and see what the answers are.  Oops, little problem:  All of them have the answer "29!"   Hmmmm . . . have to rethink that one.

Team "SUN" and Team "EARTH"

What is it about a little "friendly competition" that kids love???  After our midmorning community break for cinnamon buns (only happens on Wednesdays), each student had to do a task related to "29" --- outside paces, 29 red things to find, etc.  When completed, each made a 29-bead necklace, and received 29 M & M's from Princess Jenny.

Whew!!!  That about covered the "milking" of the number 29.  We then discussed why we have leap year, but soon found out it was "old news" to our brilliant kiddos!  Oh well, Jenny and I had fun, which makes it a "day well-spent!"