Thursday, March 8, 2012

MO IDEAS!


You’ve got to love this T-Shirt that a teacher wore last week in Missouri!

Here are some fantastic ideas that I gathered in Springfield and St. Louis.

SMART Exchange - exchange.smarttech.com/
Where have I been?  I can’t believe I didn’t know about this website, so I’m assuming some of you might not know about it either.  You can get incredible activities to use with SMART boards (or other types of technology).  There are some fantastic PowerPoints to use with my songs and tons of free resources.

The Old Man Who Swallowed Letters  (Nikki Mueller, Belleville, IL)
Nikki adapted this song for a program her class presented.  She used a flesh colored sheet and used giant felt pieces to make a face.  The kids wore letter vests and walked through the sheet and were “swallowed” as they sung the song.           Each child got to think of their own words for the letter they were wearing. 
For example:  I know an old man who swallowed an A.  What would he say if he swallowed an A?  /a/  What could he eat if he swallowed an A?  Avery, asparagus, astronauts…  Adorable A!

B and D   (Mary Ann Rosier)
Make a fist with each hand and put up the thumbs with fists facing each other.  “B” comes first in the alphabet so the stick is first.  “D” comes after “B” so the stick is on the right.

B vs. D (Mary Myers)
Here’s another idea for helping children distinguish these letters.  “B” has the bat (stick) and then the ball (circle).  “D” has the donut first (circle) and then the door (stick).

Music Box (Brandy Zollman, FLW, MO)
Keep a music box on your desk and open it when it’s loud in the room.  If there’s music left in the box on Friday they get a “sweet treat.”  Brandy gives Smarties.  Why?  Because they’re smart!

Word Wall Searches (Jeannie Meyers, El Dorado Springs)
Write word wall words on different colored paper.  After reading small books or poems the students locate the words they know and color them the appropriate color.  They can also color words in old newspapers, magazines, etc.

Voice Box for Interest Boosters (Diane Beckham)
On individual cards write different styles for speaking (opera, mouse, monster, happy, scared, slow, etc.)  Place these in a box called “The Voice Box.”  Each day a student chooses a new voice to practice counting, reading word wall words, etc.

Circle Time Song (Christine Bailey, Willard South El.)
Christine made up this song to the tune of “My Darlin’ Clementine” to help her kids form a circle and get seated quietly.
Make a circle, make a circle,
Make a circle big and round.
Make a circle, make a circle,
Set your bottom on the ground!

Colores  (Sherry Hughes, Springfield)
Use Spanish words for the colors in the story “Scat the Cat.”

Rhyming Queen (Teresa Davison, Springfield)
When teaching rhyming words sing this song, “I am the rhyming queen.  The best you’ve ever seen.  I am the rhyming queen.”  (Mama Mia)  Then as the kids catch on to rhyming you can sing, “You are the rhyming queen/king…”

What’s Up Your Sleeve?  (Brenda Olivares)
Cut the sleeve off an old shirt.  Stuff name cards up the sleeve and pull out one letter at a time as children predict what the name is.  You can also pull sight words out of the sleeve.

I’ve got lots “mo” great ideas from MO for you!  However, I'm off for the IL ASCD Conference so you'll have to wait until Saturday.