Third Grade Champions

We've been raising money for ALS/Ice Bucket Challenge through a Penny War fundraiser. The class who raised the most money would vote on a teacher to take the Ice Bucket Challenge. Our principal and one of the kindergarten teachers had taken the challenge already. Students were asked to bring in all of their spare change. Pennies, dollars, and golden dollars counted as positive, and silver were negative. Now, I am incredibly competitive. INCREDIBLY. So naturally, I was determined to motivate my students to win. It just so happened that we're studying the government as well. A teachable moment: DIPLOMACY! We held a diplomacy meeting with the other third grade class, developed the Treaty of the Third Grade, and declared the second grade persona non grata (for their act of aggression against us by placing 4 quarters in our bin). We even drafted a formal letter declaring war against them and hand delivered the letter with handfuls of silver coins (lol). My kiddos really rose to the occasion. They donated so much money! One of my students donated $31 in pennies and dollars. I was so proud of them. In all, the third class ended up with 45 positive points (3 times more than the second place winners ^_^). They raised close to $86 and various classes donated about $41 in silver. We voted on one of the second grade teachers to take the challenge, and I volunteered to take it as well since they worked so hard to win. Of course, I have videos....