freerice.com

For the last hour and fifteen minutes of my job, I am in charge of the afternoon computer rotation. I get three different groups of kids for twenty minutes each. The first group is made up of 6th graders, the second of 4th and 5th graders, and the final of 2nd and 3rd graders. We alternate math games and literacy games every other day.

Today I was looking for some fun math games that the older kids could play. I remembered that freerice.com (if you've never visited this site, head there now!) had a few different subjects you could pick from. When the kids came in, I told them that they could either play games at multiplication.com or practice multiplication tables and donate rice to people who need it at the same time. I had thought that most of them would choose the games (which is why I gave them the option), but almost every single child chose to help feed the hungry. I explained to them a little more about what they were doing, and as they were playing, I would hear a, "I feel so good about myself," or a, "This is a really cool thing!" I was so proud of those kids, working hard to get the multiplication facts right so they could donate more rice.

And when it was time for their next rotation, none of them wanted to leave. One kid said, "If you make me leave now, your making me let people die!" They loved it so much that I'm trying to find a way to keep track of all the rice they've donated so they can see how many people they've helped to feed.