Here are the voice cards I said I would be making at some point. I finally sat down and made them! I use voices when I'm having the students read, chorally answer, or share with a partner. It's such an easy way for them to be entertained while learning/practicing skills, and they love it! It is another strategy to keep the kiddos engaged, and honestly, a teacher can never have too many of those tucked away. Again, cut these out, laminate them, and keep them on a ring for easy reference! Enjoy, and I hope you find these useful!
What a nice Friday it's been, and yet I'm still glad it's over! I'm not sure if I will be blogging this weekend or not. Parent-teacher conferences are upon us next week in my district, and I'm going to need to store up my strength this weekend! ;-)
Click the link below the pictures to download the voice cards.
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I gave you all some EPR cards to hang on a hook yesterday. Continuing in that same direction, I've created some transition cards. These can also be cut, laminated, and hung on a hook. We all know that kids need to MOVE. Primary kids really crave and need an outlet for their pent up energy, and brain breaks and movement can help with that. It helps to keep them fresh, connected, and engaged, which in turn, allows us teachers some sanity. ;-) We do a lot of transitioning between our desks and the carpet. Most of our core instruction is done on the carpet, and we like to use all sorts of fun, engaging actions to help us as we move on over. It's such an easy way to make things fun while moving those muscles and bodies around. Enjoy these transition cards! At some point I will be creating voice cards also, so be on the lookout for those soon!
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Special bonus post! The hubby is saying it's time to stop working on school work and close up shop for the night, but I thought I'd quickly post this last thing for the day. Earlier in the summer I posted about active EPR (every pupil response) that I use in my classroom. I made some EPR cards to go along with some of the actions I use. These cards can be printed, laminated, cut, put on a ring, and hung on a hook for easy classroom reference. I use EPR to have students either show me they're done with something or to show me their choice or response when asking a question. This is a great way to get every student involved, and it is a small activity they can do to keep moving! Let me know if you have any questions. Here is the link to download (or you can click the pictures below): http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/EPR-every-pupil-response-Cards
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Primary kids love cheering on their classmates and friends. K-2 students do not mind being "silly", and the movement of cheering can stimulate blood flow to the brain and just provide a simple way to add some excitement to the classroom.
Instead of just clapping or using round of applause, we like to use "fun" cheers in our class. These cheers include things like "The Lookin' Good Cheer" (where students pretend they are looking in a mirror and slicking back their hair on each side while they say "ooh ahh" - then they point at the person(s) they are cheering for and say "lookin' good"!), "Hip Hip Hooray" (where students put their hands on their hips, and say hip hip while moving their hips from one side to the other, then saying hooray while putting their hands in the air), and "Snap, Crackle, Pop" (where students say snap while snapping their fingers, say crackle while rubbing the palms of their hands together, and say pop while clapping once loudly). There is a whole set of cheers cards at http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2004/06_june/06_2004a.html. There is a link in the 1st paragraph to get the Adobe Acrobat version of the cards. Press that link, print, laminate, and hang up on a ring in your classroom for easy access.
I keep these cards on a hook in my room, and I refer to them often. The kids absolutely LOVE it. I introduce 1 or 2 cheers a week at the beginning of the school year until the students know them all. Once the class knows them all, we rotate and do different cheers each time! Over the years we've made up some of our own cheers, but this list will definitely get you started.
We also use some of these cheers for EPR. When we ask the class a question, we allow the students think time. To show they are ready to share, they have to do whatever cheer we ask for. Then the teacher knows when the students are ready to share with a partner/group/friend/class. We use the above mentioned cheers, but we also use some EPR "movements." For instance, we might say, "when you have thought of your answer, show us by doing chicken wings." Some of the other actions we use in addition to the cheers include: elephant trunk, spider on your head, raise the roof, fist pump, funny nose (thumb on nose while wiggling fingers), mickey mouse ears (open/close fists by ears), sparkle/sparkle fingers, and sign language applause.
These types of activities may seem simple, but the students LOVE them! Enjoy incoporating them into your classroom routine and climate, and they will soon become second nature. =)
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