Tuesday, December 18, 2012

IDEAS FROM INDIANA


My, oh, my!  Indiana was popping with great ideas!!!  There were so many that I’ll share some today and some tomorrow.  It’s like Christmas every day when I do a workshop because of all the new gifts/ideas you give me!

Park Your Car  (Gina Courtois)
Make a large parking lot with the numerals 2-12.  Give students two dice and a play car.  Students roll the dice, add the numbers, and park their car on the answer.
Queen of Reading (Christi Frazier)
Purchase a crown (from the good old Dollar Store) and wear it during reading groups as a sign that you are the “Queen of Reading” and they have to wait to talk to you.

Slap-a-Word  (Amy Ritter)
Write sight words on cards and spread them out on the table.  (You could write the words on seasonal shapes like gingerbread men.)  The children put their hands on their heads and when the teacher calls a word the first child to slap the word and read it gets the card.  The student with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.
*Could be adapted for numbers, letters, vocabulary, math facts, etc.

Pioneering Day  (Naomi Trojan)
Plan a school-wide Pioneering Day so students can learn history and do an activity that relates to that era.  Each grade level does a different activity.

Science Buddies  (Naomi Trojan)
Get an older grade and pair them up with younger students to help with projects.  Both older and younger students get to take home a project.
*How about a “Dig It Day” where students pretend to be archeologists and dig for artifacts?

Stickers (Naomi Trojan)
Give students small stickers when they receive a perfect score on a worksheet.  When they collect 30 stickers they get to cash it in and choose something from the treasure box.

Body Trace  (Katie Wilson)
This is a great way to get the kids thinking, writing, and working together.  At one of the stations have large pieces of butcher paper rolled up with a rubber band.  One child lays on the paper while the other child traces the outline of their body.  They then “fill” the body with words.  After the station time (8-10 minutes) is over they turn it over and reverse rolls.  When they are finished, roll it up, cut it in half, and give each child half to take home.
*Ask children to write adjectives, nouns, sentences, etc. on their body.
Toss Across
Tape a clear sheet over each square on a toss across game.  Slip sight words, numbers, etc. into the squares.  Toss bean bags on the game and read the words that are turned over.

F.R.E.D.  (Betsy G.)
Create a F.R.E.D. (Families Read Every Day) folder that children take home nightly.  Students record the title and their favorite part of the story.  The goal is for all students to read 100 books by the end of the year.  Plan a big celebration for everyone!

Pop the Balloon  (Penny Cooper)
Write antonyms on small pieces of paper and insert them in balloons.  Blow up the balloons and tie.  Children pop the balloons and then try to find their partner with the opposite word.

Smellie Spellies  (Melissia Hole)
Use scented markers to write different word families.  (Use a different scent for each word family.)  After the children read over the words ask they to close their eyes, smell, and identify the word family by smell. 
*Use spelling words for older students.