Teaching with Contests

I ran across a really fun blog today. TeachingWithContests helps teachers find contests that will motivate students and assist in getting free materials. If you're interested in this type of thing, I encourage you to visit their link. I included a few contests that I am thinking about entering with my class this year.

2010 LEGO^® Smart™ Creativity Contest

What is more fun than a Lego contest? All you have to do is to go the Lego education website, enter, and come up with a way your class can be creative with Legos. I'm actually thinking I'll have the students come up with a brilliant plan. They send you all of the materials and it's totally FREE. . Since there is absolutely nothing to lose, I already signed up for this one. You can win up to $1000 worth of prizes.

Siemens Change the World Challenge

This contest is for elementary, middle, and high school science students. The goal is to design and implement a project that will benefit the environment. A project like this would take a lot of work, but what better way to get students engaged and excited about science?



Letters About Literature

This contest is hosted by Target. Each student thinks of a book that has made a big impact on them, and writes a letter to the author. Target doesn't actually send the letters to the authors, but I think I will try and have the students do this (assuming their author is still alive) in addition to the contest.

I like this contest because it promotes authentic reading and writing experiences. Also, the prizes are Target gift cards. How bad can that be?