Five for Friday - Back to School Thoughts and Activities

Oh my gosh!

I'm so tired!

You would never guess that we

only had 3 days of school.

 

At least it's Friday,

so I can share my

1.  We started school and I really missed my two girls.

I'm glad I have the weekend to spend some time with them.

 

2.  I found a fun idea on Pinterest

and used it during one of our first math lessons.

 

The kids created some "Math About Me."

They filled in the sheet with math

that was all about them.

Of course we did brainstorm some ideas

 beforehand and I also shared a few examples.

I used it as a bit of an assessment so I had some

idea of ability levels.

For each question, they could give their answer

as a number or an equation.

 

Example: How many people are in your family?

They could answer 4 or write an equation

that equaled 4.  2X2, 4+0, 2+2, etc.

They really did a nice job on this activity.

It's a FREEBIE in my TpT store.

 

3.  Speaking of Pinterest, have you checked out

the new teacher boards?

 

If you haven't, be sure to click here and start following!

I've found so many great ideas.

I love the boards because people are not sharing products,

but ideas only!

 

4.  Transition Idea

I call it, "When I Say..."

 

I tell the kids,

"When I say hippopotamus, go and get in line."

Then I say words such as

hip

him

happy

hippopotamus

 

The first time I do this,

all the kids start moving with the first word I say.

They quickly learn that they have to listen.

 

You can use any word.

I like trying to think of funny words.

 

5.  Look at this cute gift

a student gave me on the first day.

Yes, those are all Dum Dum suckers.

I would like to share them

and eat a few, but it looks so cute!

 

Are you back at school yet?

How is it going?

 

Don't forget to head over and link up for



 

Click on the button and link up your post about

a healthy eating tip, recipe or product.

 

Enjoy your weekend!



 

 



Tricks of the Trade - Attention Getters and Transitions

Today I'm joining Jessica from Joy in the Journey and

Becky from Compassionate Teacher. 

They are sharing ideas for getting your students' attention

and transitioning throughout the day.

They have some really great ideas to share.

 

 

Here are a few ideas that I use in my classroom.

 

If You Can Hear Me...

 

I use this one when my class is a little bit too loud.

I will say, "If you can hear me, put your hands on your head.

If you can hear me, put your hands on your hips.

If you can hear me..."

It's funny how quickly kids start to listen and join in on the directions.

 

Begin When I Say the Word...

 

This is a trick for transitions.

I give the directions to the class.

Then I tell them, "Begin when I say hippopotamus."

Of course, you can choose any silly word such as:

humongous, orangutan, antelope, etc.

Here is the trick - Don't say the word right away.

If my word is hippopotamus, I would first say:

hippo, happy, hipster, hypnotize.

Then....hippopotamus.

 

Go and Touch....

 

Here is another transition tip.

Again, I start by giving my directions.

I then give my students three additional directions -

Go and touch three blue things,

two red things

and one white thing.

Of course, you can choose any colors or other directions. 

It just gives the kids a chance to move around the room

before they have to sit down and get started on a project.

 

I'm sure you have used some of these techniques.

What are some others that you use in the classroom?

Share them here or link up with Jessica and Becky.