BRING AND BRAG OR SHOW AND SHARE?

One of the enduring rituals in early childhood has been sharing time. Most children love to be the center of attention and talk in front of their friends. However, you can also reinforce important speaking and listening standards with some of these ideas.

Show and Share
Instead of “bring and brag,” focus show and tell on a specific theme you are studying, such as a letter, science concept, shape, etc.

Podium
Provide a child-size podium (old music stand) for children to stand behind when they speak.


*Let children stand on a giant block to speak.


Visualize
Have children close their eyes as friends take turns sharing. Can everyone remember one thing at the end of sharing time?

Clues
Ask children to come up with three clues about what they have brought from home. (Parents could write these for young students.) After giving the clues, friends try and guess what it is.

Questions
Let the class ask 20 questions about show and tell items. Tally their answers on the board.

*The person sharing can make three statements about what they have brought. The class then gets to ask them three questions about it.

Show What You Know
Try “show what you know” where children can demonstrate what they have learned about a theme. They could do an art project, make up a song, do a skit, make a video, etc.

Hint! Designate a special shelf or table in your classroom where students can place their show and tell objects for friends to look at later in the day.

Specific Time
Assign students different days of the week for sharing time or designate one day for show and tell.

Show and Tell Challenge(Maribel Mohr)
Use gift bags and staple a note with a challenge, such as a letter, three dimensional shape, numeral, etc. Pass out the bags to the students at the beginning of the day. At the end of the day they can share what they've found.

*You could also send these bags home for the children to do with their parents.

PLEASE DON'T YELL

I wonder if teachers realize how “yelling” or using a harsh voice really impacts students? You could technically be a master teacher, but if you “yell” it certainly chips away at the positive image. Kids often evaluate teachers by saying, “He never yells,” or “She yells all the time.”

Henry Hush
(Hold up your index finger as you sing this song to the tune of “London Bridge.”)
Henry Hush says,
“Please be quiet.” (Pretend index finger is Henry.)
“Please be quiet.”
“Please be quiet.”
Henry Hush says, “Please be quiet.”
Shh! Shh! Shh! (Finger on lips as you lower your voice.)

If You Can Hear My Voice
In a normal voice say:
If you can hear my voice, clap your hands one time.
In a softer voice say:
If you can hear my voice, clap your hands two times.
In a whisper voice say:
If you can hear my voice, please look at me.

Continue lowering your voice until children are focused on you.


Student Heroes
5-4-3-2-1-zero (Hold up hand and put down one finger at a time.)
I’m looking for my
student heroes. (Make goggles with thumbs and fingers and place around eyes like glasses.)

*Call the names of children who are sitting quietly.

Volume Control
Some children have a difficult time monitoring their voice level. How about having a picture of a lion, a mouse, and a child? When they can talk in a regular voice put up the child. When you want them to use a whisper voice post the mouse, and when they can use a loud voice (like when they go outside) put up the lion.

Songs, Chants, Poems

Practice singing songs or saying rhymes with a “lion,” “mouse,” or “normal” voice.

WIGGLE WORMS

Have you ever been in front of your class and it truly looked like a can of WIGGLE WORMS?  Here's some tips to help them release wiggles so they can FOCUS!

Note!  Before doing these activities ask children to show you their “body space” by extending their arms slightly and twisting around. Remind them to stay in their body space as you do these activities.

Shake It Up
Hold up your right hand and shake five times as you count.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Hold up your left hand and shake five times as you count.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Hold up your right foot and shake five times as you count.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Hold up your left foot and shake five times as you count.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Count to four with each arm and leg…then three…two…one.
End by saying, “Oh yeah!” as you extend your arms and make the letter “Y.”

Adaptations: If children are wound-up do this with a whisper voice.

*Count to five in different languages.

*Do the vowel shake down where you say, “A, E, I, O, U,” and the “E, I, O, U,” and then “I, O, U,” and so forth.

Push the Wall
While children are waiting in the hall have them put their hands up against the wall and push it as hard as they can. Ask them to do push ups against the wall?

Babble Break
How about a three-minute "babble break" where children can talk to their friends? You could give them a topic to discuss that relates to a unit of study, let them tell jokes, or just chit chat.

Hanky Panky
Tell the students when you throw the handkerchief (or tissue) up in the air they can start doing a silly dance and make funny noises. When the hanky hits the ground they must freeze. Do this several times to get rid of wiggles.

WAVE!
To do the WAVE, ask children to look at you. Explain that when you point to them, they can stand up, wave their arms in the air, and then sit down. (This is often done at sports events.)

Hint! Do the wave several times. Do it forwards and then reverse and do it backwards.

Wiggle Worm Game

Make flash cards more fun by adding a few joke cards that say “wiggle worms.” When that card comes up, children stand and wiggle, wiggle!

RIDE THAT PONY

Here's a fun activity that children can do with a partner to use up some energy.

https://bit.ly/drJRidePony

The second version is longer and faster than the first.

https://bit.ly/drJRideFaster

Handout Link:  https://bit.ly/drJPonyBadges

ROCK ON DAY

"Collect Rocks Day" was yesterday (9/16), but rocks are everywhere every day. Rocks can be a perfect spark for scientific investigations if you add a little STEAM. When you collect rocks or look at rocks, explain that scientists who study rocks are called geologists. Remind the children that they can be geologists, too!

Take a nature walk and invite each child to pick up ONE rock. You might need to limit the size to a rock that will fit in their hand. Take the rocks to the classroom and ask the children to observe their rock for one minute without talking. Go around the room and ask each child to make one statement about their rock. Encourage them to use descriptive words.

*Ask older children to write descriptions about their rocks.

*Place the rocks in a basket. Gently shake the rocks and then pass the basket around the class to see if each child can find his rock.

*Let the children sort the rocks. What was their sorting rule? Can they sort them another way?

*Check out a book on rocks from the library. Place it in the science center along with a magnifying glass. Ask the children to do research and identify the different rocks they collected. (Remind the children to return the rocks to nature after they have finished investigating them.)

*Are rocks older than you or younger than you?

*Make a list of all the things that rocks are used for.

*Have children make a design and build something with rocks.

*Let children paint rocks or use other art media to make paperweights.

*Place rocks in the math center for children to explore with the balance scale.

*For homework, ask families to take a walk and look for different kinds of rocks in their neighborhood.

*Encourage children to start their own rock collection with this idea. Cut an egg crate in half. Attach a pipe cleaner handle and use it to collect little rocks and pebbles.

PLAY DOUGH DAY

Play dough is multi-sensory, engaging, creative, and open-ended. Talk about PURPOSEFUL PLAY! National Play Dough Day is September 16th, but you can use it every day as a tool just like a worksheet or video game. Play dough also develops small motor skills which help children write. Here are just a few ways to integrate it into centers and independent learning in your classroom.

Comprehension
Let children make their favorite character and use it to retell a story.

Make something that you learned from the book.


Phonics
Rhymes – Make two objects that rhyme.

Sounds – Make objects that start with a consonant, blend, or diagraph you are working on.
Vowels- Make an object for a long vowel sound and short vowel sound.

Writing
Make something you like (or don’t like) and write about it.

Make something from a book you have read and write about it.

Make letter plates by writing letters with a permanent marker on plastic plates. Children roll play dough and make the letters on top.

Make letters (or words) using a bubble font. Children roll dough and fill in.

Make something that is a noun. How can you make it plural?


Math
Make objects that match numbers.

Make a set and then decompose it.


Science and Social Studies
Reinforce information from a science or social studies unit with play dough. Children could make animals from a habitat, parts of a flower, tools of community helpers, healthy foods…endless possibilities! 

Here's a link for my FREE Play Dough book:

Click to download pdf file

Play Dough Book is 46 pages of ideas and activities.

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WORLD GRATITUDE DAY

Gratitude is an emotion of expressing appreciation for what you have, rather than what you don’t have. Psychology Today reports that gratitude can be cultivated and it can increase levels of happiness when you do. Energy, optimism, and empathy are by-products of gratitude. World Gratitude Day is September 21st, so integrate these activities into your lesson plans this week.

P.S. Have I told you lately that I'M GRATEFUL FOR YOU!!! Thanks for reading my blog!

Model Gratitude
Make it a habit to include things you appreciate into daily conversations.

Brainstorm
What does it mean to be thankful? Write children’s responses on the board. What are some synonyms for thankful?



Lists
Children love to make lists, so let them make a list (draw pictures or write) of all the things they are grateful for.

ABC
Can they think of something for each letter of the alphabet that they are grateful for?

Gratitude Journal
Let children make a special "gratitude journal." Encourage them to write what they are grateful for each day for a week.


Grateful Greeting
Start the day by going around the room and asking each child to say something they are grateful for.

End with Something GOOD
End the day by having children say something good that happened at school that day.

Hot Potato Pass
Children sit or stand in a circle and begin passing the hot potato (ball or other small object) around. When the music stops or when the teacher blows a whistle the child holding the potato must say one thing they are grateful for.

HOMEWORK DEBATE

Every year around this time I hear horror stories about primary grade children having several hours of homework each evening. The child ends up crying - the parents end up yelling – what’s the point?

First of all, if a young child goes to school and sits and listens and works and learns for six hours, they deserve to do what they want when they get home. The need to play, move, laugh, yell, imagine, and be KIDS!

Homework should teach children responsibility. Homework should be a tool to help parents see what their child is doing at school. Homework should extend learning from the classroom to the home. Homework should be MEANINGFUL!

If I were in charge of the world, primary grade children would NOT be allowed to spend more than 30 minutes on homework each night. They might be asked to read 20+ minutes and then have ONE other assignment. I would try to make the assignment engage with the parent and connect the real world with what’s going on in the classroom. For example, the assignment might be to ask their parents what a veteran is and to find out who the veterans in their family are. The assignment might be to ask their parents how they use math in their jobs. The assignment might be to cut out a picture from the newspaper and write one or two sentences about it. Drill and kill worksheets should be banned!

My daughter brought up the point that many parents WANT homework and are impressed with lengthy assignments because they think it will make their children smarter. In the book Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators,Teachers, and Parents, Harris Cooper put together a variety of research studies on homework. He found that in elementary school, homework has almost no impact on academic achievement. In middle school, the results are mixed. In high school, moderate levels of homework can help the learning process.

Here are some ideas that might encourage children to develop responsibility and positive attitudes about homework.

Tic Tac Toe Homework
Make a tic-tac-toe grid and put a different assignment in each section. Children can do as many activities as they choose, but they must do at least 3 to get tic-tac-toe by the end of the week.
Hint! This is perfect for the parents and children who actually “like” homework because they can do all nine.



Homework Folders
You will need a pocket folder, crayons, and markers to make a homework folder. First, let children decorate the outside of their folders. Trace around their “left” hand on the left pocket. At the end of each day children put completed work in that pocket and it is “left” at home. Trace around their “right” hand on the right pocket. Use a homework sheet similar to the one below. Fill out assignments for the whole week and place it in the “right” hand side of the child’s folder on Monday. On Friday save homework sheets in children’s folders. Review with parents at conferences.

Weekly Homework Sheet

Monday ________________ Tuesday ______________

_______________________ ______________________

_______________________ ______________________

Parent Signature/Comments Parent Signature/Comments

_______________________ ______________________

Wednesday_____________ Thursday_______________

_______________________ ______________________

_______________________ ______________________

Parent Signature/Comments Parent Signature/Comments

_______________________ ______________________

Clipboard Homework
Each child will need a clipboard that she can decorate with her name, stickers, etc. Each night clip the homework assignment to children’s clipboards. (Think outside the box with interactive activities, rather than worksheets!) Make sure parents know that their job is to look at the clipboard each night, help their child with the assignment, and send it back to school the next day.



Monthly Calendar
Send a calendar home at the beginning of each month and ask parents to complete at least ten activities and return by the end of the month.
Note! You can download these free on my website drjean.org.