More Brain Breaks!

I posted  several months ago a range of 1 minute Brain Breaks that can be incorporated into daily classroom activities. See here for my previous post.

Since then I have stumbled across some magnificent youtube clips that can aid these Brain Breaks. Most are songs but some are dances that can also be used for creative and performing arts, class transitioning, physical education, and assembly ideas.

A Tooty Ta - this is a fun time filler, as well as warm up before PE:

Shake Break - this is a fun, catchy dance for infants-aged kids:

I Like to Move It - this clip, from the most recent Madagascar film, is an absolute favourite in my class. It gets the kids going and they sing their little hearts out!

Elmo and I Know It - I have blogged about this previously as I used this as a theme for a school assembly. It's a kid-friendly parody of the popular LMFAO song "Sexy and I Know It". (See here for previous blog):

Ants in Your Pants - a fun brain break dance to shake the ants out of your pants!

Come to the Carpet - this transition song is probably more suited to younger children:

  

Crazy Frog Ding Dong Song - this is our 'clean up' song; as soon as the music starts, my students know it's time to pack up/clean up, and they do so whilst bopping away to this (ridiculously annoying!) tune:

Duck Song - this catchy and quirky song is a repeated request in my room, and my students know it by heart:

 If You're a Kid - students must dance and follow directions to this video:

  

The Gummy Bear Song - I am not even sure where this originated from, but my students actually suggested this one to me:

Chicken Dance - an old favourite that needs no introduction!

Minions Banana Song - this is a short clip from the Despicable Me sequel, and it's a bit cute:

Share It Maybe - Cookie Monster's parody of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Baby". It's super cute and catchy as everyone knows the tune:

Tongue Twisters

 

Tongues twisters: a great alliteration activity. Kids love to create their own tongue twisters based on the first sound in their name. Here are just a few from my year 1 class:

• Mel made a muddy mess
• Shelly shopped for shiny shoes
• Lauren loves licking lollipops
• Charlie chomped on chewy chocolate

Here's a nifty handout/poster for classroom use, demonstrating some well-known tongue twisters: 

Bug Hunt

During our Minibeasts unit, Year 1 went on a Bug Hunt around the school. We had some simple rules to follow, such as wearing gloves and leaving things where we found them.

Even around our school in the middle of Sydney, the students were amazed at the animals they found - from birds to spiders to stick insects.

Easter Eggs

I blew the yolk out of these eggs and students used straws to blow paint to create the splattered effect on the shells.

It's probably easier to hard boil the eggs when working with little kids, as we managed to smash a few (not to mention the dizzy spells from blowing out the yolk through a tiny hole).

HSIE: Class Pet

 

Meet Bruce. He was our class pet during our Kindergarten unit on ‘Pets’.

The students were responsible for feeding him and keeping his fishbowl clean.

Students took him home over the holidays and unfortunately Bruce met an umtimely end during one vacation at a student's house. RIP Bruce.

Home Reading Questions

 

Hand this out at the beignning of the year, after benchmarking students and sending home their first home reading pack.

It says:

Dear Parents,

This year, as well as improving students’ reading fluency, we would like to strengthen their comprehension skills. Here are some suggestions for questions you could ask when reading with your child to help accomplish this:

Before you read the story:

·    Look at the front cover. What do you think the story will be about? Why do you think this?
·    What type of writing do you think it is?
·    Who wrote this story?
·    Who illustrated this story?

Whilst reading the story:
·    Who are the main characters?
·    Where is the story set?
·    When do you think the story might be set? How do you know?
·    What do you like about (character’s name)?
·    Can you find me a verb/noun/adjective on this page?
·    Why do you think (character’s name) did what he/she did?
·    What would you have done if you had been in their situation?
·    What do you think might happen next?
·    How do you think (character’s name) felt when (event in the story) happened? Why do you think that?
·    What is the complication in this story?
·    How was the complication resolved in this story?
·    If you had to be friends with one of the character, which one would it be? Why?

After you have read the story:
·    What did you like about the story?
·    If you could rewrite the ending. What would you change?
·    Do you think the title of the book is appropriate? What would you change it to?

Regards,
__________________
Classroom Teacher

Kind Deeds

 

Here's a little activity I like to do with my Values class each week: Kind Deeds.

Students first set goals: they must think of five kind deeds to undertake at home or at school over the course of the following week. We then spend time sharing and reflecting on them the following week. 

Attention Grabbers

 

No more raising your voice or having students repeat a mundane clapping rhythm to try and gain their attention. 

Use some of these attention grabbers in the class - my students have even begun making up their own and suggesting them for classroom use.

 

Banana Split Procedure

For this procedure, we completed it in reverse: the kids wrote the procedure first and then made the banana split. They had to follow all the instructions to make the procedure.

 One student forgot to add a banana in their procedure so they only ate a bowl of ice cream. It was a good lesson in ensuring all steps were covered.

First was the writing application:

Then came the fun part: making the banana split - delicious!

 

 

Kids Say The Darndest Things

There's always a laugh to be had when teaching infants-aged kiddies. With their limited vocab, I am always in stitches - I could write a book!

I often write down some of the classic things my students say, and collate them for an end-of-year handout or for the school magazine.

Here are some samples from my Kindy and Year 1 classes in recent years.
Can you decipher what these kids are trying to say?

Class Garden Project

 

Our school started up a class garden project (very timely as we were learning about living things).

Each class planted something different; flowers, herbs, vegetables…..

The students enjoyed caring for the plants and watering them daily.

At the end, we made a salad from our vegetable crop and it was delicious!

 

 

Giant Hanging Fruit

 

Healthy Eating Unit

These giant hanging honeycomb fruit were purchased from eBay for next to nothing, and are a great hanging display for my Healthy Food unit in PD/H lessons.

Grammar: Tense

 

Love this Tense poem and it's a great cheat sheet for student's workbooks.

............ (couldn't resist) .................

Smencils

 

I love love LOVE Smencils!

I get a box every year as my birthday gifts for the kids. They are great because it’s a universal gift that all kids, regardless of age, love and look forward to getting. We do it as a lucky dip, but whatever the scent, they take their pencil everywhere they go!

Values: Jelly Bean Prayer

Jelly Bean Prayer

Love this beautiful jelly bean prayer, and so did my Bible Studies students this year at Easter time.

Red is for the blood He gave.

Green is for the grass He made.

Yellow is for the sun so bright.

Orange is for the edge of night.

Black is for the sins we made.

White is for the grace He gave.

Purple is for His hour of sorrow.

Pink is for a new tomorrow.

A handful of jelly beans,

Colourful and sweet

Is a prayer, a promise,

A loved one's treat!