I have a very active class this year and it has been so helpful to have a flip book of activities to do with my students. I made a book of activities so I can grab it and quickly do an activity when my class is getting antsy or needs an activity break! I have found that incorporating activities is such an important part of the day for my students. I found great activities on the origins website at : http://http//www.originsonline.org/res_classroom.php. This website has been a life saver for me! Like a said, I printed out activity cards and I made them in to a quick flip book (see pictures). I also have them on cards in a box so after we do an activity for the week I put it in a box and every Friday the student of the week pulls out a Morning Meeting Activity to do. Does anyone have any suggestions for more great activities to do with students?
**I typed a bunch of great activities up and I was going to paste them in to this blog but I haven't figured out how to do that so if anyone can help me with that I'd really appreciate it!
I do not want to nit pick anything, but I remember our facilitator tellings us not to call the Activites, "Games". The only reason I bring this up is because I made the mistake at the beginning of the year calling it a game. They think that we are doing the activities just to have fun, when really the point is to build on sometime of social, moral, academic concept.
ReplyDeleteHere is an example of an activity I did to help teach students the importance of taking their time and concentrating.
Materials: Pencil(2), crayon(2), marker(2)
You set up two teams, or split your cirlce in half. At the end of the the two lines you have now created you should place the materials (one of each). You tell the students that they are going to hold hands and pass a message from the beginning of the line to the end of the line, much like telephone, without words. As the teacher you hold the hands of the two students at the beginning of the line. You give them a pulse of one of the three options
1. one squeeze
2. two squeezes
3. three squeezes
They have to pass this on to the next person and so on and so forth. When it gets to the end of the line the last students picks up a pencil for one squeeze, marker for two squeezes and crayon for three squeezes. If they match then they were successful.
To add difficulty have the two teams race. They will likely make mistakes. This is where you can teach about the importance of taking your time and making sure the answer is correct before you move on. This works well before tests and things like that. I plan on doing it before MCA and MAP. IF this does not make sense let me know and I will clarify.
Thanks for putting in the part about not calling the activities games. We always call it our morning activity and if I take them outside (when it's nice out) for a stretch break I call it a group game or group activity. I never looked at it the way you describe. It makes perfect sense! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI do a "brain break" each day where we do the different activities and I do greetings each day, but I know I need to type them up and make a ring like you so that I incorporate different activities instead of sticking with the same ones. Would you be able to email some of them to me, Heather?
ReplyDeleteLaura, I will email you those activities!
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