You’ve got to lovethis T-Shirt that a teacher wore last week in Missouri!
Here are somefantastic ideas that I gathered in Springfield and St. Louis.
SMART Exchange -exchange.smarttech.com/
Where have Ibeen? I can’t believe I didn’tknow about this website, so I’m assuming some of you might not know about iteither. You can get incredibleactivities to use with SMART boards (or other types of technology). There are some fantastic PowerPoints touse with my songs and tons of free resources.
The Old Man WhoSwallowed Letters (NikkiMueller, Belleville, IL)
Nikki adapted thissong for a program her class presented. She used a flesh colored sheet and used giant felt pieces to make aface. The kids wore letter vestsand walked through the sheet and were “swallowed” as they sung the song. Each child got to think of their ownwords for the letter they were wearing.
For example: I know an old man who swallowed anA. What would he say if heswallowed an A? /a/ What could he eat if he swallowed an A? Avery, asparagus, astronauts… Adorable A!
B and D (Mary Ann Rosier)
Make a fist witheach hand and put up the thumbs with fists facing each other. “B” comes first in the alphabet so thestick is first. “D” comes after“B” so the stick is on the right.
B vs. D(Mary Myers)
Here’s anotheridea for helping children distinguish these letters. “B” has the bat (stick) and then the ball (circle). “D” has the donut first (circle) andthen the door (stick).
Music Box(Brandy Zollman, FLW, MO)
Keep a music boxon your desk and open it when it’s loud in the room. If there’s music left in the box on Friday they get a “sweettreat.” Brandy gives Smarties. Why? Because they’re smart!
Word WallSearches (Jeannie Meyers, El Dorado Springs)
Write word wall wordson different colored paper. Afterreading small books or poems the students locate the words they know and colorthem the appropriate color. Theycan also color words in old newspapers, magazines, etc.
Voice Box forInterest Boosters (Diane Beckham)
On individualcards write different styles for speaking (opera, mouse, monster, happy,scared, slow, etc.) Place these ina box called “The Voice Box.” Eachday a student chooses a new voice to practice counting, reading word wallwords, etc.
Circle TimeSong (Christine Bailey, Willard South El.)
Christine made upthis song to the tune of “My Darlin’ Clementine” to help her kids form a circleand get seated quietly.
Make a circle,make a circle,
Make a circle bigand round.
Make a circle,make a circle,
Set your bottom onthe ground!
Colores (Sherry Hughes, Springfield)
Use Spanish wordsfor the colors in the story “Scat the Cat.”
Rhyming Queen (TeresaDavison, Springfield)
When teachingrhyming words sing this song, “I am the rhyming queen. The best you’ve ever seen. I am the rhyming queen.” (Mama Mia) Then as the kids catch on to rhyming you can sing, “You arethe rhyming queen/king…”
What’s Up YourSleeve? (Brenda Olivares)
Cut the sleeve offan old shirt. Stuff name cards upthe sleeve and pull out one letter at a time as children predict what the nameis. You can also pull sight wordsout of the sleeve.
I’ve got lots “mo” great ideas from MO foryou! However, I'm off for the IL ASCD Conference so you'll have to wait until Saturday.
