Sharing Good News (Jessica Williams)
Write children’s names on craft sticks and place in a jar that says “Good News.” The teacher starts every morning by sharing her own “good news.” The children clap or cheer for her. Next, she pulls a stick and the class sings, "Tell me something good!" That child shares their good news and then the class does a cheer. The teacher pulls the second stick and they sing, "Tell me something good" and then cheer. Do three children each day and then put those who have had a turn in an envelope and start all over again when everyone has had a turn.
Whisper and Release Questioning Strategy (Mary Claire Porter)
When the teacher asks a question have the children blow their answer into their closed fist. When the teacher says, “What is it?” they “release” their answer by opening their hand and saying the answer out loud.
Fishbowl Families (Robin Singleton)
Write word families on fishbowls (an, op, ill, etc.). Write words using the different rimes on fish shapes. Children pick a fish out of the pond and put it on the correct bowl.
*Adapt for color words (word on fishbowl and fish of different colors), number words (number on bowl and dots on fish), or letters (letter on fish bowl and pictures of objects that start with that sound on fish).
Name Bingo
Play BINGO using children’s names and googly eyes. Write children’s names on sentence strips and give them googly eyes. “I spy the letter R. “ If children have an “R” in their name they cover it up with a googly eye.
Category Game
The children repeat after the teacher:
“Pink is a color.” (Children repeat.)
“Purple is a color.” (Children repeat.)
“A square is a color.” (Children yell NO!)
Adapt for shapes, objects in a house, rhyming words, numbers, and other categories.
“Important Box” (Melissa Arceneaux)
Instead of tattling to the teacher, children write out their complaints on paper and put them in the box. They must start with a capital letter and use good spacing and punctuation or the teacher won’t read their tattles at the end of the day.
Eating the Alphabet (Yolanda Coppedge)
You will need upper and lowercase magnetic letters, a bowl, spoon, and alphabet cards. Each child uses the spoon to scoop out a letter. They have to name the letter, make the sound, and say something that starts with the sound before matching it to the alphabet card.
ABC Tune (Marina Attix)
Did you know that you could sing the ABC’s to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” It’s great because L M N O P don’t end up sounding like “a lemon and a pea.”
Class Pictionary
Each day choose a different letter of the alphabet and write it on a large sheet of paper. Let the children cut out objects or draw pictures of things that start with that sound. Be sure and label their pictures. After introducing all 26 letters, put the pages together to make a BIG BOOK PICTIONARY for your classroom. Don’t forget to add a page for illustrators and the publisher (school, city, and state). You could also let the children dedicate the book and make a page that says “The End.”
Silly Band Writing
This is the coolest idea with silly bands. Explain that when you go for a ride in the car you have to wear your seat belt. When you write you have to put a seat belt on your pencil. Put a silly band on your wrist, hold your pencil, and then loop the silly band around the pencil. It will stabilize the pencil and make it easier for the children to write.
*A teacher also suggested holding the lid of the marker in your hand when you draw to get the correct grip.
Who Stole the Sound? (Candice Hall)
Adapt “Who Stole the Cookie?” to letters. Write letters on cookie shapes and place them in a bag. Pass the bag around and as children pull out a letter say:
Who stole the letter sound from the cookie jar?
Child’s name stole the letter sound from the cookie jar!
Who me?
Yes, you!
Couldn’t be.
Then who?
Birthday Do Dah (Mary Lehman
(Tune: “Camptown Racers”)
Our friend name is age years old
Do dah, do dah. (Wave scarf up and down on “do dah.”)
Our friend name is age years old
Oh, do dah day.
Let’s all shout “hooray!”
It’s a special day.
Our friend name is age years old
Oh, do dah day.
*Take scarves, streamers, or just wave your hand as you “do dah” the person’s age.
Tattle Stopper (Linda Rossiter)
Pick up some old tax forms at the library. When children start to tattle hand them a form and tell them to fill it out and then bring it back to you.