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Every kids yoga teacher needs a few good yoga games for kids and teens. Here are some fun yoga games for improving attention and concentration.
The day has finally come, the day that you head back to school and meet your new kindergarteners! It is an exciting time for everyone, but there are sure to be some nerves, too. What better way to get
FREE "I Can Eat a Rainbow" nutrition and healthy eating activity for kids. Teach children about the importance of eating colorful fruits and veggies.
BOOM! Sink the ships in this free printable, Hundreds Chart Battleship math game to help kindergarteners counting with 100s chart.
Welcome to our series on social emotional learning in the elementary classroom! We are going to be chatting about some effective strategies and procedures you can easily and quickly apply to your classroom for improvement in student self-awareness, self-control, and social skills. During the month of January, we will cover four different SEL topics. January has always been my favorite month to teach, because I was always able to do a reset with the students I already had a relationship with. We could then really hone in and improve SEL skills to in turn take a deep dive into instruction. The less you are having to stop and redirect student behavior, the more time you have to teach. We know that is more important now than ever. This month, we will cover four topics that I felt were most needed right now that could cover the most behaviors: listening, making good choices, kindness, and resilience. Let's talk LISTENING and FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS. Why is listening important? Active listening is a vital skill in the classroom, as well as in life. You listen to directions, announcements, instruction, conversation, and more. As a student, I was not always the best listener. I tried really hard to listen, but I lacked the strategies to comprehend what was being said. I was more of a visual learner, so auditory was difficult for me. I think we sometimes forget that our students need to be explicitly taught the strategies and skills we expect them to apply. I have found that students need explicit SEL instruction all throughout the year. The problem is that we don't have the time to do that. I tried to think of ways you could easily and quickly incorporate it into your day, because it's so important to keep your classroom running smoothly and to decrease undesirable behaviors. The best time I feel to teach these, if you can, is first thing in the morning, during morning meeting. I have come up with some quick mini lessons, along with quick and fun activities, to teach each SEL topic. This week, we are going to look at some strategies to increase active listening in your classroom. Listening Strategies and Tips Call and Response The first thing you need to have in place is a call and response. I would only do one or two at a time. One that I always do is: Teacher: 1, 2, 3 Eyes on Me Students: 1, 2 Eyes on You When I teach this, I practice it a ton. It is important that students STOP AND LOOK AT YOU. Do not let them continue what they are doing. They will not be actively listening if they are still doing something else or talking while you are talking. Be firm about that expectation and wait until everyone is focused on you. We want to establish a muscle memory of them stopping, looking at you, and listening until you are finished. It's so important to have high expectations here. There are many different call and responses out there to choose from. Just be consistent with one or two for a while before changing to a different chant. Voice Volume and Tone If you know me, you know that I am not loud at all! Ha! I am pretty quiet so I use that to my advantage in the classroom. The lower I talk, the more they have to really listen. I also make sure that I keep a calm tone when I speak. This is also very important to have a calming environment because they tend to mirror what they are seeing. Something that I have found that has helped a ton with listening is buying a microphone headset and speaker. I just got one off of Amazon. It saves my voice and my energy, and I can use a calm tone that students are more likely to listen to. Keep Directions Short and Direct Stick to one-step instructions. Be direct and clear with your instructions, as well. If you can also add a visual, that will greatly help students. As students get better with one-step instructions, begin to slowly introduce more steps. Echoing One of my favorite and most effective ways to give instructions is through echoing. I will say the instruction in a sing song voice. The students know to echo me when I use that voice. Not only does it help them better comprehend the instructions, they also are busy being engaged which cuts down on opportunities to get off task or misbehave. Read Aloud Books The best way to begin a discussion with students about an SEL topic is through a read aloud. We want them to understand why listening is important. It helps us to be a better friend, we learn more, we are more caring, we understand what to do next, etc. I really love the book, The Worst Day of My Life Ever! by Julia Cook. The character in the story is having a very bad day because he chose not to listen to others. Students get to follow along on how those choices affected his day. His mom gives him tips on how to be a better listener and how to follow instructions that students can also apply. (I have made a resource that contains all of the mini lessons for teaching students to be better listeners, along with quick activities for a week focused on this topic.) Two other good ones are Lacy Walker, Nonstop Talker and My Mouth is a Volcano. Songs and Videos I love to incorporate music to help students better remember a strategy. You will get a song I wrote in the unit call "I Am Listening", but I have also linked some classroom approved videos you can show before or during your mini lesson about listening. Be a Whole Body Listener I Am a Good Listener (begin at 1:00) Why is Listening Important? Listening Game The Dance Freeze Song The Listening Game: Cosmic Kids Listening Mini Lessons Incorporate mini lessons into your morning meeting devoted to listening. I like to focus on one topic or skill per week. These lessons are quick and to the point. I also like to create an anchor chart with my students so that they have a visual reminder to refer to. Students also make a mini anchor chart to add to their SEL notebooks. Listening and Following Directions Activities Practice the Strategy For each lesson, I review the anchor chart and sing the listening song to open the lesson and review what we have learned. I then read a portion of the read aloud, The Worst Day of My Life Ever! I do this similar to an interactive read aloud, including text dependent questions that also start discussions about listening. After the story, I teach a new strategy that we then practice. I will take you through each day of this unit. We already covered day one and the anchor chart, so let's move on to day two. On day two, we learn a new listening strategy and then students listen to the story Go Away Big Green Monster. I do not show them the illustrations; they have to draw the monster by listening to the description. This is a fun way to practice active listening! They love to share their monsters with one another. On day three, we learn another listening strategy and play Listen, Draw, Check. You can use this game in all content areas for review. The game is very similar to Battleship. They have to be really great listeners and follow the directions to match my game board, which we check at the end. On day four, I introduce the students to an SEL animal character. Each character is a different animal and has a poem. For this activity, students have to follow the oral coloring instructions and color their Listening Lion. They also get a copy of the poem to trace. Finally on day five, we read the whole story and then discuss what lesson the author was trying to teach the reader. I then assign a writing activity (differentiated sheets included) in which they have to apply what they have learned about listening and following directions. This is a great way to wrap up the unit and assess their understanding. Listening and following instructions are skills that apply to so many parts of the school day, so they are vital to a smoothly run classroom. When you are having to stop and address behaviors, it is draining. Let's set our students up for success by giving them the tools they need to thrive in the classroom. I would love to hear and share with others if you have any great listening strategies! Thank you so much for stopping by this week! Be sure to come back next week for our next SEL skill, MAKING GOOD CHOICES. The following two weeks will be all about KINDNESS and RESILIENCE. You can grab the Listening and Following Directions Activities below or by clicking on any of the photos!
Have fun learning to subitize dot patterns to ten with our fast-to-prep, engaging math game. This printable card game is ideal for small group math rotations or center work. Students will play with a partner or small group to match numerals to the dots of their board, aiming for 5 in a row. What is subitizing When students can subitize, they are able to tell the number of objects in a set, instantly - they don't need to count each item. Most commonly, you can teach students to subitize with dots, ten frames and fingers. Subitizing Patterns - Standard and Non-Standard 'Standard' dot patter arrangements are those common patterns you see on dice, dominoes and math equipment. Learning to subitize non-standard arrangements is important too and will require your students being able to visualize the common or standard patterns and manipulating them in their mind. Work with the standard patterns first. Playing board games is often a child's first experience with dot patterns, those on a dice. Play lots of games and specially-made learning games, like this one of ours - 5 in a Row! Extend your learners - conceptual subitizing When your students are confident with the patterns of a particular activity (perceptual subitizing) we encourage you to teach conceptual subitizing. This is where 2 patterns are shown to a student and they can combine them (add them) instantly to know the total. Think of throwing a double 6 in a board game. They would know instantly that this is 12 if they are able to conceptually subitize. To encourage this in 5 in a Row, ask them to flip 2 cards, and find the total before covering the 2 numbers. They may need to count the total the first few times they play, but with repetition they will know the total of 2 cards, instantly. Play it over and over to give them this opportunity to develop. Our game 5 in a Row will help teach subitizing to ten with standard patterns. It is a perfect place to start your learners! Non-standard dot pattern arrangements We've also prepared something extra for you to extend your fastest learners - and it is FREE today! Roll and Cover is so easy to prep (just print the page). It will help teach subitizing of non-standard patterns for 1 to 6. Students roll a standard 6 sided die and place a counter over a matching number (non standard pattern). Playing this will help them bridge the gap between standard and non-standard patterns. Find it here in Google Drive: Roll and Cover Free Game From the Pond
There are so many ways to use math task cards in upper elementary and middle school. This game uses math task cards with a bit of a twist!
Mit diesem Rhythmus -Spiel lernt ihr euch in einer neuen Gruppe kennen und könnt euch die Namen besser merken.
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Kindergarten Math Made Fun Unit 9 is here, and it's all about SHAPES! This hands-on, engaging and FUN unit will get kids excited about basic shapes! Not
Set a friendly tone in your classroom with these 30 "Get to Know You" games perfect for back to school or when welcoming a new student.
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DIY Portable LEGO Kit with 24 Free Printable Activity Cards
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens party could be a great occasion for enjoying with your friends. It would be smart on your part to give the celebrations a fillip by designing cool games that tap the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for the group assembled. They keep the spirits high as you revel in […]
There's a good chance you have a pack of UNO cards at home or in your classroom. Here are 5 math games you can play with them.
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Back to School Activities that are great for an online classroom or inside a classroom.
Over in our TpT store we offer a free printable math activity - Build a Fence. The activity is so fast to prep - no cutting required on the game mats and the number cards take less than a minute to snip. To the included game instructions, it is perfect for students who need practice in: numbers to 20 counting out groups of objects to model a number comparing numbers Number Sense Children, either independently or in a group, will build a fence with popsicle sticks on their game mat to match a number card from 11-20. After building (encourage verbal counting) encourage math talk! Talk about: how many more sticks needed to make 20 how many more sticks than 10 is it an odd or even number it is bigger or smaller than the last fence you built how much bigger or smaller count the sticks again, touching each stick (great for students without 1:1 correspondence) There is no 'winner' in this game, just lots of counting and number sense. Today however, I would like to share another 4 ways to use the game so you have 5 alternative ways to use this resource once you make it. Addition Game each player has a mat take turns to roll the die add sticks to match your die roll encourage awareness of how many more needed to make the full set of 20 - ask students questions to foster this, e.g. how many have you added in total so far? how many more do you need? Patterns encourage students to make repeating patterns using colored sticks students can record their patterns on scrap paper before they make a new one Subtraction students take 2 cards and subtract the smaller number from the larger number students build a fence to show the answer, e.g. 15-11 would yield a fence of 4 Compare Fence students play in pairs each student take a card and builds their fence fences are compered and the biggest/smallest is determined challenge students to find the difference in the size of the fences and record as an algorithm on a whiteboard We hope this posts gives you some creative ways to use this resources. If you are not in a position to print at the moment, you could play by building a fence with sticks directly on the table. Our printable pages add an element of fun and engagement that is often needed to motivate children, but behind the printable pages are solid and essential skills and concepts. Hop over to our store to find this pack - FREE:
FREE geography matching activity with the 7 continents of the world. Perfect for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarten to introduce the continents.
At our house, we LOVE Nerf guns! Here are a collection of the most awesome Nerf games to make and play. This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Favorite Nerf Gear: The Nerf N-Strike Elite Firestrike and the Strongarm Blaster are both good guns to start with. The Firestrike is best for younger kids – my […]
