Sentence Edit (Heather McGrew)
Children learn to check their work with this drawing.
If they start with a capital they draw a circle.
If they remembered to finger space they draw a smile.
If they remembered punctuation they can add a period, exclamation point, and question mark.
They can add hair as they check their work.
Scented Marker Assessment (Mandi Lutha)
As a quick assessment, draw a star on a student’s paper with a scented marker.
*Have you seen these new scented crayons? Cool!
Five in a Row (Karri Rice)
Materials:
small box (pencil boxes work great)
3 blank dice, wooden cubes, or foam cubes (one a different color)
pad of paper (Cut paper in fourths and staple at the top.)
2 pencils
Game:
On cubes or dice write letters. On two of the cubes write consonants and on one cube write the vowels.
1. Students will roll all three dice. (The vowel goes in the middle.) Students blend the word and write it down. (You can have students add a check if it’s a real word.)
2. Have kids do 5-10 words.
3. The kids have a paper of words they can read and show off.
*To enhance the game make one dice diagraphs or consonant blends.
T-Shirt Bag (Annie Reynolds)
Sew the bottom of an old T-shirt. (Older kids could do this themselves.) Cut out the arms and neck so you have a sack. This is a great way to recycle t-shirts and it’s perfect for grocery shopping.
Simmon Says with a Phonological Twist (Pattie Vincent)
Vary “Simon Says” by stretching out sounds of body parts.
For example: Simon says touch your /l/ /e/ /g/
Say rhyming body parts.
For example: Simon says touch your lack. (back)
Take a Picture. Build a Library! (Annette Rogers)
Do a family project once per month and use these for a bulletin board. Children get a free book when they return their family picture.
For example: October/pumpkins
November/turkeys
December/trees
January/snowmen….
Touch Math
This is a hands-on way for children to learn to count, recognize numbers, add, subtract, etc. You can get free training supplies at:
touchmath.com
Chicken Dance for Retelling/Sequence (Joyce Nevers)
Let children do the movements to the chicken dance as they retell a story.
First – fingers and thumbs together
Next – elbows out and flap
Then – arms like wings with elbows out and wiggle bottom
Last – clap 4 times
The Shark Song (Rachel Franks)
I saw a shark do do do do do do.
I saw a shark do do do do do do.
Daddy shark do do do do do do. (Arms out wide with fingers like teeth.)
Momma shark do do do do do do (Open and close arms from elbows.)
Baby shark do do do do do do. (Open and close hands.)
Grandpa shark do do do do do do. (Curl up fingers like toothless.)
Go Noodle (Tami Cubillas)
gonoodle.com has great brain breaks and videos to keep the class on track.
Wolkis Wonders (LeAnna Wolkis)
Check out these fabulous bulletin board ideas, back to school tips, and great ideas!
https://sites.google.com/a/pvlearners.net/lwolkis/home/mrs-wolkis
Right, Left, Clap, Curl (Heather McGrew)
This is a great way to cross the midline:
Right hand over left.
Clap hands and cross fingers.
Curl in.
*Use this to say the months, count, etc. as your curl your arms in and out.
We Can Solve It (Karen Lee)
Use the tune of “We Will Rock You” to encourage students when things are difficult.
For example in math: We will, we will solve it!
Hard things: We can do very hard things.