Motivation: 10 Minute Filler

I have this time during the day that I have a lot of kids gone from the classroom.  Some of them are still in pull out music, some of them are still in ELL pull out, some are still shopping in the Holiday Shop, then there are the random children that are at "emergency status" for the bathroom/nurse/office…  

This year I am all about having them make up words during that time.  It's a competition, a challenge, and they love working together in groups.  

I write up random words or a phrase onto the whiteboard… such as "Winter Wonderland" or "Sneaky Tiny Elf", "Silly Snowman", etc. and then announce it's Word Time!  They rush to grab binder paper (easier to count their words), and start making up words with the letters.  

Somedays it's only 10 minutes, somedays I can give them a full 20 minutes.  They love it though!   

These were a brainstorm for Winter Wonderland.

Just sharing in case you need a little filler during these crazy busy hectic days!  Linking up with Joanne and her Saturday Spark Student Motivation linky.

   

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Wednesday Workshop: Voice Levels

Hello everyone!  I'm linking up with Jivey and her Workshop Wednesday to share what I'm doing to control the noise levels in my classroom during workshop time.   I'm totally fitting this into the "set up" part of Workshop.

First up, I still love using Daily 5 and MATH in my classroom.  I love the small groups that I can work with, and I love that the kids are actively engaged in meaningful activities.  We have practiced expectations, but even with my great group it's still important for a daily reminder.  

I found this app for the iPad that I absolutely love!  It was free - which made it extra nice, and it actually works in my portable when the wifi isn't working.  It's called "Too Noisy".  As you can see from the pictures above - the meter changes when there is too much noise.  It's pretty sensitive.  During math centers, I keep the ipad on the side of the room that my hands on group is working - same side as my small group since it's the only space for those 2 groups to be on the floor...  both groups share my big carpet area.  I believe it helps the kids to pay attention to their enthusiasm.  

I also picked up these voice posters from Pinkadots Elementary.  They are a great reminder to the kids during work time what expectations are (plus they are cute).  I use these for other things more than just workshop, but you probably get the point...  During workshop the group kids are allowed to talk to each other, but it has to be a whisper level.



I also have this freebie from Fifth in the Middle - her NOISE letters.  In past years I always had the kids spell out incentives for best behavior.  I still do that, but I wanted there to be a consequence as well that was separate.  If it gets too noisy after a warning, the letters start to disappear.  It's pretty amazing how fast it goes to the expected level.

I hoped this helped you.  :)  

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