FABULOUS FRIDAY

Happy Labor Day! Yes, I know it's Monday and not Friday, but since it's a holiday I thought I'd share a happy teaching memory. Every Friday in my classroom we'd celebrate FABULOUS FRIDAY. It gave the kids (and me) something to look forward to all week.

I'm going to share a blog I wrote in 2013 with you, which makes me a little nostalgic for the "good old days." However, save these ideas in a special place and let's hope and pray that you can actually make some special memories with these celebrations in the not too distant future.


Someone once commented that you should do what “they” tell you to do the first four days of the week and Friday you should shut your door and teach the way you want to. That’s pretty good advice, don’t you think?  (Isn't this a brilliant idea!!!)

Friday Fairy
When I taught first grade in the 70’s the Friday Fairy visited my class each week. You don’t know the Friday Fairy? She would fly in while the children were eating lunch and put a little piece of candy in each of their desks. (The fairy was actually a 5th or 6th grader.) I’d probably go to jail now for doing that and giving kids sugar! However, there might be some adults walking around right now who have a fond memory of that little treat.


Here are some other ways to celebrate Friday!

The Friday Dance
Come on, everybody and take a chance. (Step back and forth as you snap your fingers.)
It’s time to do the Friday dance. 
Everyone get up on your feet.
Clap and get the Friday beat! (Clap hands.)
It’s Friday! It’s Friday! It’s Friday! Yeah! 

(Hands in the air and dance around.)

Friday Free Time
The last 15 minutes on Friday let the kids take off their shoes and do whatever they want!


Game Day
Invite children to bring board games (NOT video games) or card games from home and play the last 30 minutes of the day.

Sit Where You Want
Friday afternoon let children switch places and sit wherever they want.


Chew and Write
To encourage writing about what they learned during the week give each student sugar free gum to chew. They can chew the gum as long as they are writing.

Jamboree
Get together with another class or all the children on your grade level and sing! A different class could be in charge of this event every week.

P.S.  I thought you'd get a kick out of my kindergarteners from 1981.  Notice they don't have on shoes.  It must have been Friday because they got to take their shoes off the whole day then.

BRAIN BREAKS IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH

According to research, brain breaks actually increase INSTRUCTIONAL TIME by reinforcing skills and helping children stay alert and interested. Write your favorite brain breaks on index cards and place them in a bag. Pull one out and you’ll be ready to release those wiggles on line or in class.  

Here's a link for some of my favorite brain breaks.

https://www.drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljNWNWalMwQjh5UnM/view?usp=sharing

Thanks to Claudia Hernandez (Garland, TX, ISD) for translating the brain breaks into Spanish.

 

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RReNLABNmd-eYsQAkS9BkI0UI2LhtnIz?usp=sharing

FINGER GYM FOR FAMILIES

One teacher said at the beginning of the school year she asks her students these questions:
     How many of you have your own television?
     How many of you have your own computer?
     How many of you have your own pair of scissors?

It's not surprising that the majority of the children raise their hands to answer the first few questions, but very few have their own pair of scissors. Most children are pretty good at tap and swipe, but they definitely need more activities to engage their small muscles. Here are some "hands-on" ways to send those little fingers to the gym at home.

Tearing Tub - Place tissue paper, wrapping paper, construction paper scrapes, etc. in a plastic tub and encourage the children to tear them. Can they make confetti? Can they tear shapes and use them to make a collage?

Cutting Pool - Put paper scraps, junk mail, catalogs, etc. in an old plastic swimming pool. Add some safety scissors and cut, cut, cut.
*Children will also enjoy decorative scissors.
*It’s also fun to cut up leftover cooked spaghetti noodles.

Hole Punch - Using a hole punch with paper, cards, or paper plates will strengthen small muscles.

                                         

Stringing - Children can string cereal with holes, beads, cut up straws, large buttons, or pasta.
*Use old shoelaces, dental floss, or string with the ends wrapped in tape.




Penny Pick Up - Lay 3 pennies on the table for children to pick up with one hand. Can they place the pennies back on the table one at a time? Can they pick up the pennies with the opposite hand?

Clothespins - Have children pick up pompoms or cotton balls with a spring clothespin and put them in a bowl.

Pouring - Give children pitchers and other containers in a water tub to practice pouring.

Sand Play - A sandbox is a natural place where children can dig, mold, pour, and wiggle little fingers.

Play Dough - Add cookie cutters, scissors, plastic hammers, and other objects for further exploration.

Tongs & Tweezers - Give children tongs to move small toys or other objects from one plate to another.

Sewing - Provide children with sewing cards or make your own from old greeting cards and cereal boxes.

                                                            


Lids- Fill small jars and plastic containers with small toys. Children get to remove the lids, open the containers, take out the objects, and then reseal them. It’s like opening presents!

Construction Toys - Blocks, Legos, and similar materials enable children to use small muscles, as well as their imaginations.

Baby Dolls - Dressing dolls will utilize small muscles. Washing doll clothes and other toys is also fun.

Puzzles & Pegboards - Offer children puzzles, pegboards, and other table toys where they can develop small motor skills.

Art - Painting, drawing, pasting, and other art activities will get little hands ready to write.

Shaving Cream - A sure winner for all times is a squirt of shaving cream on desks or tables. Children can make designs, draw, or write. You’ll get tabletops and hands clean as the children have fun!

MATH BOX

What's a math box?

                                           

If I were in charge of the world I would create a math box for each of your children so they could explore with hands-on materials. Although I'm not in charge of the world, I still think this is a super idea that some of your families might prepare for their children.

You can use any container, such as a pencil box, diaper wipe box, etc.

You can put any math manipulatives in the box such as:

Dice
Math cards (1-10 or 10-20)
Math fans (http://www.senteacher.org/print/mathematics/)
Deck of cards
Rekenrek
Inexpensive calculators
Counting items with a small cup
Set of tangrams
Dot cards
Small Calendars




Dealer's Choice!
O.K.  So it's wishful thinking that every family would make a math box, but I bet that almost every family has a deck of cards around their home.  Here are some activities that you can share with your parents to help their child practice math skills in fun and meaningful ways.

*Note!  These games can be adapted to different age levels and skills.

                                        

Sorting
Ask children to sort cards by color, suit, number, etc.

Order Please
Remove the face cards and then have the children put the cards in numerical order.

Patterns
Can children make a pattern with their cards? 
                                                                        

Memory
Use two suites of cards for this game. Shuffle cards and place them face down in rows on the floor or a table. Children rotate turning over two cards. If their cards match they may keep them and take another turn. If their cards don’t match they turn them back over and the next player has a turn. The game continues until all pairs have been matched.

Top It
(This game was formerly known as “war,” but “top it” sounds more politically correct.) Remove face cards and shuffle. Split the deck and place face down. Players remove one card at a time and turn it over. The player with the highest number takes both cards. If they turn over the same amount they place 3 cards face down and turn over the 3rd card. The highest number takes all the cards. The game continues as long as time permits.

Add It Up
This is similar to top it. Children turn over one card at a time. The first player to correctly add up both numbers gets both cards.

House of Cards
Can children build a house using cards? This takes some engineering skills!
Check out this video that shows how to build a house with cards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBEFOEnwRk8

Dealer’s Choice
Go Fish and Crazy Eights are other traditional card games families can play.

HIGHWAY SHAPES AND NUMERALS

Yesterday I suggested ways to use the highway letters, and today I've got hands-on fun with the highway shapes and numerals.  What a great tool to make for virtual or in class learning. 

                http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/RacecarHighwayNumbers.htm 


Writing Numerals – Children can trace over numerals with toy cars or they can roll play dough and place it on top of the numerals. They can also trace over numerals with a dry erase marker and erase. 

Hint!  Put a green dot where they should begin and a red dot where they should end.

Counting – Have children get in numerical order according to the number they are wearing. 


Songs – Wear number vests as you sing “Five Little Monkeys,” “I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a One,” and other songs. 


Inequalities - Put up two numbers and have children choose “<” or “>” to go between them.  


Addition and Subtraction – Have children make number sentences using the numbers and signs on the vests. 


Fact Families – Move numbers around to demonstrate different fact families. 


Tens and Ones – Let children demonstrate tens and ones with vests. 


Word Problems – Use number vests to engage children in solving word problems. 


Dot to Dot - Pass out numbers and have children scatter around the room. Give one child a large pointer. That child takes the pointer and goes from “0” through “10” by “connecting the dots.” 

Highway Shapes – Do similar activities by putting highway shapes in clear sheet protectors. 

Here's a video where you can watch me demonstrate these activities:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbW1C0Wqw5c

HIGHWAY LETTERS

I’ve been “advertising” these for years!! Best of all, they are free at makinglearningfun.com! These would be great to model for parents online, but you could also run off copies for children as you introduce different skills.  If you put them in clear sheet protectors they can be used over and over again.

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/RacecarABCcards.htm

Here are a few ways you can use the highway letters.

Toy Cars- Let children drive over letters with toy cars.

Writing- Trace over the letters with dry erase markers. Erase and use again and again.

Hint! Put a green dot where they start and a red dot where they stop.

Play Dough- Roll play dough and place on top of the letters.


AV - After Vaccine

You'll also want to use these highway letters after a vaccine is discovered with some of these activities.

Songs - Pass out a letter to each child.  As you sing alphabet songs, they can stand up when their letter is sung.

Phonics- Practice blending C V C words. (consonant, vowel, consonant) with vests. Add the “silent e” to words to change the vowel sound.

Chunking- Start by asking children who are wearing “a” and “t” to stand. What does that say? Ask “m” to stand in front of “at.” What does that say? Tell “m” to go away and have “r” stand in front of “at.” Have children suggest other letters to stand in front of “at.” Reinforce other word families with this strategy.

Spelling Words- Slowly call out sight words or spelling words. (Stretch out the sounds.) Children come up if they are wearing that sound and make the word.

ABC Order- Children arrange themselves in alphabetical order according to the letter that they are wearing.

Here's a video where I demonstrate these highway letters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsRrBwqdvcQ

A LITTLE LOVE FOR ASL!

I know you probably get tired of hearing me promote ASL, but now more than ever it can be a powerful way to engage children and activate their senses. I’m excited that Mariela Andersen has interpreted some of my favorite videos. You'll find the links on my website  http://drjean.org/

ASL – Dinosaur Boogie

http://bit.ly/drjeanASLDino

 

ASL – Wiggle Willie

http://bit.ly/drjeanASLWiggle

 

ASL – Alphardy

http://bit.ly/drjeanASLAlph

ASL – Macarena to 100

http://bit.ly/drjeanASLMac100

ASL – Today is Sunday

http://bit.ly/drjeanASLSunday

Mariela Andersen

"Being able to provide equal access for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children through ASL means the world to me! I am so thankful to be able to support them in their most natural language. I hope that anybody who lives or works with Deaf and Hard of Hearing children chooses to learn sign language to be able to connect with them on a deeper level." 

Check out her YouTube channel to view more of her interpretations. Click here.