We make it snow even when the sun shines...
Posted by Amateur Teacher on Saturday, January 14, 2012
Oh yes. It snowed today. Inside, even. Ok. Not really. BUT we did have a snowball fight in our little room today. "Stop lying!" you say? Well, it did! However, our snow was not made of ice crystals... it was made of paper. I've told you before, in the great state of Georgia we just don't get that much snow and we have to get creative if we want any type of winter fun. So, when IzzyShare's Facebook status asked what folks did on their indoor recess days and someone responded with "snowball fight." Well, it caught my attention. I decided then and there that Room 36 MUST have a snowball fight.
Yesterday, we did a "Give one, Get one." The kids love this because 1. they get to walk around the room, 2. they get to "teach" each other, and 3. we get to play the luau music. And who doesn't want to hear the luau music? If you've never heard of "Give one, Get one" then hear me out. It is the bomb. Here is how it works:
1. Each student gets a blank piece of paper. Have them fold it in half, then in half again, and one more time (you'll have eighths). Trace the folds so you have eight sections.
2. Have students choose ONE FACT to write about what ever it is that you're studying (ours this week was Sequoyah) in their first block.
3. Have music ready and when the music starts the students should walk around the room and GIVE their ONE fact to a classmate and GET that classmate's ONE FACT in return. I bribe my kids and tell them the first kid to get their eight facts and sits down back at their desk gets an m&m. Each kid that gets their facts and sits down after that also gets an m&m. M&m's work wonders, I tell you.
4. When you can tell everyone is getting close to being finished start lowering the volume of the music until everyone is eventually done.
5. Have students share one of their facts with the class.
It's a great review activity and you will be flat out AMAZED at how quiet your babies will be!
With all that said, we used those review sheets from yesterday and crumpled them up to make our "snowballs" today. We laid down some ground rules before our "fight." The first one a kid came up with was "Don't put it in someone's shirt." That was her experience with snowballs so we wrote it down on the board. "Don't throw it as hard you can." "Don't throw it at someone's face." That was a hard one to follow... I definitely took some snowballs to the face. "Stay on your knees at all times." I didn't want them running all over the room. And, last rule, "Laughing only." This one they followed beautifully. There was no talking during this game, only giggles and squeels. It was pure happiness. With those ground rules established, we put in our favorite luau music again and let the wild rumpus start! When the music stopped, we grabbed the snowball closest to us, uncrumpled it, read the facts about Sequoyah, balled them back up, waited for the music to start... lather, rinse, repeat. I haven't had that much fun with this group ever. Let me say, that today has been my favorite day of the year. We'll have to have to throw things and have fights in our room more often.
Yesterday, we did a "Give one, Get one." The kids love this because 1. they get to walk around the room, 2. they get to "teach" each other, and 3. we get to play the luau music. And who doesn't want to hear the luau music? If you've never heard of "Give one, Get one" then hear me out. It is the bomb. Here is how it works:
1. Each student gets a blank piece of paper. Have them fold it in half, then in half again, and one more time (you'll have eighths). Trace the folds so you have eight sections.
2. Have students choose ONE FACT to write about what ever it is that you're studying (ours this week was Sequoyah) in their first block.
3. Have music ready and when the music starts the students should walk around the room and GIVE their ONE fact to a classmate and GET that classmate's ONE FACT in return. I bribe my kids and tell them the first kid to get their eight facts and sits down back at their desk gets an m&m. Each kid that gets their facts and sits down after that also gets an m&m. M&m's work wonders, I tell you.
4. When you can tell everyone is getting close to being finished start lowering the volume of the music until everyone is eventually done.
5. Have students share one of their facts with the class.
It's a great review activity and you will be flat out AMAZED at how quiet your babies will be!
With all that said, we used those review sheets from yesterday and crumpled them up to make our "snowballs" today. We laid down some ground rules before our "fight." The first one a kid came up with was "Don't put it in someone's shirt." That was her experience with snowballs so we wrote it down on the board. "Don't throw it as hard you can." "Don't throw it at someone's face." That was a hard one to follow... I definitely took some snowballs to the face. "Stay on your knees at all times." I didn't want them running all over the room. And, last rule, "Laughing only." This one they followed beautifully. There was no talking during this game, only giggles and squeels. It was pure happiness. With those ground rules established, we put in our favorite luau music again and let the wild rumpus start! When the music stopped, we grabbed the snowball closest to us, uncrumpled it, read the facts about Sequoyah, balled them back up, waited for the music to start... lather, rinse, repeat. I haven't had that much fun with this group ever. Let me say, that today has been my favorite day of the year. We'll have to have to throw things and have fights in our room more often.