Elementary Matters is an educational blog focused on Elementary grades 1-3. These posts will make an elementary teacher's life easier by sharing information about how the brain learns best. It includes time savers, suggestions for classroom management, hints on effective teaching of reading, writing, and math, and several ideas for squeezing Science and Social Studies into daily instruction. These posts include links to several videos, articles, resources, and plenty of free materials.
I've been through lots of Open Houses. The purpose of the Open House is usually to let parents know what's going on in school. There are loads of blog posts about setting up your classroom, scavenger hunts, parent stations, brochures, and presentations.
I do all those things, leave plenty of things for parents to take with them and get to know my classroom and my procedures.
But I do something else that seems to be an added extra that makes a difference:
I play happy music!
You know, that kind of music that just makes people feel good.
I got this idea years ago when I went to an all-day conference and was walking into my "mid-afternoon" seminar with dread: it's a tough time of day, and I was feeling like I'd prefer to take a nap.
When I walked into the room, the presenter was playing "happy music". I don't remember the specific song, but I remember it made me feel like moving.
I immediately felt a smile on my face, and I looked around the room and everyone else was smiling and moving to the music.
Research tells us music can affect our feelings.
So I play "happy music" to help people feel good about my classroom.
THIS POST has a freebie list of song ideas to download!
Every
year, I sit down with my brand new class and have a little chat about
why we come to school. My second graders figure it out right away: we
come to school to learn.
That's when I make my yearly promise.
I'm very dramatic when I make the promise. I include dramatic pauses, and I make the same gestures whenever I say it.
I move my right hand outward as I say the first part, then I move my left hand outward as I say the second part. It goes like this:
These phrases are used all year long, and I repeat the gestures each time. After a while, I don't even have to say the words, I just do the gestures, and the kiddos realize they need to put the effort into their learning.
This is an awesome read for the first day of school!
Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak, Ph.D is appropriate for kids K-3.
If you've ever read my blog before, you'll know that I am absolutely fascinated by the brain and how it works. This book explains how the brain works in kid-friendly language!
It tells the specific parts of the brain and the specific jobs they have, and how each brain is different, which makes us all uniquely different.
I particularly love the part that discusses things that kids have learned, such as playing soccer, that were hard at first, but with practice, got easier! They might have even made mistakes, but the mistakes helped them learn!
If that's all it was about, this book could be used any time of year. The reason this makes a great beginning-of-the-year book is because it tells the reader they can stretch their own brain!
Who wouldn't want to stretch their brain?
Isn't that our job as teachers? To stretch their brains?
(I refuse to believe that our job is to have the kiddos score well on tests!)
I feel it's our job as teachers to teach the children to be better learners, and to stretch their brains as much as they can!
That leads me to this fun resource, based on this awesome book.
It has some activities to let the children tell what's already in their brain, a chance to challenge their brains a bit more, and a few coloring pages to give them a chance to think about their brains! See the image or see HERE for the link to this fun resource! Enjoy!I Can Stretch My Brain!
The beginning of the school year is all about procedures.
The kiddos learn procedures for lining up, choosing books, signing out to the Library, how to pass in work, what to do when work is finished. We teach them the procedure for fire drills, procedures for lock down, procedures for evacuation drills. We teach them the procedure for going to lunch, going to recess, and going to Phys. Ed. class. We teach them the procedure for reading groups, playing learning games, math time, and using materials in the classroom.
And so on.
Here are some things to think about when teaching procedures!
When addressing a new procedure, I'll get right up and act out different scenarios. I find the kids really pay attention if I act out what NOT to do! (Adding a little humor helps the memory!)
For example, when acting out how to get into line, I might:
neglect picking up my materials
forget to push in my chair
run, flailing my arms
cut in line
get into an argument about who got in line first
Isn't it amazing how they'll always notice what's done wrong when the adult is doing it?
And they're not shy about pointing out what I did wrong!
Once they've had a good discussion on what NOT to do, it's time to have someone model what to do. Have a few volunteers act out the right thing to do. Be sure to comment on each thing the child does right! This is a good chance to give positive attention to some of those kids who REALLY need attention!
"Notice how John pushed in the chair as he walked by."
"I like the way Bobby walks at a good pace."
"Did you notice how Marie let Anna go first?"
"I noticed Bradley kept his arms by his sides when he was walking."
"Of course Theresa put her math tools away properly before walking to the line."
The old saying goes "Practice Makes Perfect", but I think "Practice Makes Permanent" is more accurate. (I'm sure you know the difficulty of trying to break a bad habit, or "unlearn" something you learned incorrectly!)
After having several children acting out the right way for the procedure, it's not over. Find time later in the day for more children to model it again. Every time they go through that procedure for the next couple of days, have them stop and think about what they've learned.
"Before we line up, turn and tell your partner what we've learned about the right way to line up."
"Close your eyes and picture yourself lining up the way we practiced."
"After you share with a partner, take a deep breath before you line up."
"Put your hands on your head if you know the right way to line up."
"Name something your partner won't think of that's important to remember when lining up."
You know, it's amazing we ever finish going over the procedures and get on to the real learning! But seriously, if you take the time to teach the procedures properly, the rest of the year goes smoothly.
I've never actually seen a desk monster. I don't think they're dangerous at all, but they are pests! And they're tricky, because they hide during the school day, but come out and wreak havoc when no one is around.
Here's my evidence of their existence:
1. They've been known to eat important papers.
2. They leave footprints on the desks of students in the form of dirt, pencil markings and crayon markings.
3. If there's a bad infestation, they make nests out of children's papers by crumbling them up at the back of their desks.
Luckily, I've found a few things that can help keep these guys at bay:
Don't keep any stray papers in your desk. Keep any important papers in a folder. Desk monsters can't open folders.
Keep food away from desks. If you spill a little snack, clean up the crumbs right away.
Keep all the books and materials in your desk in a neat and orderly manner.
That's it! If you follow these three simple rules, the desk monsters won't be able to make nests, and will move onto another classroom. (Maybe your brother's classroom!)
As a second-grade teacher, I get many students who struggle with social skills and working with others. I like to start the beginning of the school year with plenty of activities to build those important skills.
Here are 5 ideas for Back to School Team Building Activities!
1. Musical Shoes - While sitting in a circle, have everyone take of their left shoe. As the music plays, they pass the shoe to the right while taking the shoe being passed from the left. As the shoes dance their way around the circle, stop the music randomly. Whatever shoe they are holding, they need to find the owner and make sure they know that person's name. They also have to find their own shoe, so there should be a good deal of chatter and giggles as they hobble on one shoeless foot. Teachers can choose for the kids to exchange different information such as their favorite book, number of children in their family, or their birthday month.
2. Silly Songs - There are plenty of silly songs out there. You can find them on Youtube (like My Aunt Came Back above - guaranteed giggles and requests for repeats) or on CDs, or perhaps you know some from summer camp! Here are some I've had success with:
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
There's a Hole in the Bucket
On Top of Spaghetti
Going on a Bear Hunt
Madalina Catilina
The More We Get Together
Found a Peanut
The Hokey Pokey
This Land is Your Land
Make New Friends
I've Been Working on the Railroad
Even if you don't consider yourself a singer, the kids will always remember these songs. Plus, there are even more advantages to group singing: There have been studies that show when people sing together, their hearts start to beat to the same rhythm.
3. Introductions - Children should work in pairs to learn 3 things about each other. After some practice, they come back together to do formal introductions of each other. It might sound like this: "This is my new friend Mary. She likes gymnastics, reading, and the color pink."
4. Cooperative Musical Chairs - This is like the traditional Musical Chairs, but with a twist. The game starts with one less chair than children. When the music stops, they all find a chair, but when there's someone left, someone must make room for this student. Remove chairs each time, so the students will keep having to find a way to include everyone in the group. Beware: Giggles will follow!
5. Who Am I? - Make up cards with famous names on them that the kids will be sure to know. (Book characters are fine!) Each child wears a card on their back so that others know who is Children have to ask questions of the other children to try to figure out the name of the character they're wearing. (With my little ones, I give loads of hints, and sometimes show them all the cards ahead of time to narrow it down. We want them to be successful!)
For more ideas on Team Building, see the post HERE.
Music is magical! Music can change our moods. Music can lift your spirits, and bring you out of your doldrums.
A few months ago I posted about Music for the classroom. I gave ideas for music to play for optimum learning, and why it is important for learning. You can read that post HERE.
Today I wanted to focus more on the happy music. You know, the music to have playing while the students arrive in the morning (see THIS post) or during an Open House.
Below you'll see several links for the kind of music I play in my classrooms when "happy music" is needed. As the children walk into the room in the morning, I want them feeling good, so I play happy music. I also play happy music during brain breaks, or any point in the day where children seem to need a "lift".
We also have an Open House coming up soon. The children come with their parents to meet their teacher for the first time. I usually have some fun things for the children to do when they get there, but you can be sure I'll have some fun music playing in the background! It gives a happy feel to the entire room!
Here are a few ideas for fun music. Music collections designed for kids!
I find "oldies" collections are great fun for all generations. The Big Band stuff is fantastic in the classroom, and who doesn't love the Andrews Sisters?
Here's a list of fun stuff I have on my ipad, that I play just to put myself in a good mood. (You know, cleaning, setting up the classroom, when you need a lift!) It works for kids, too!
Most of these are "classic rock" you can't miss playing this music!
I really like to find ways to celebrate all those special days, but it's not easy to squeeze everything in.
Mardi Gras is just about fun, and it's at a time of the year when the children really need something to lift their spirits, so I find a way to squeeze it in... by having the Mardi Gras theme overlap what I need to teach anyway! Like Math!
Well, for one, I thought I'd squeeze a little Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day into math time with these math problems:
Here's another fun way to "squeeze in" Mardi Gras without losing time developing important skills: Mardi Gras No Prep Printables! These practice important skills, but have a Mardi Gras theme. These are great if you are going to be out for the day or are so busy you don't have time to plan!
But first, I'll read them a book on Mardi Gras and let them make some masks on Monday. (That way, the math problems will make a whole lot more sense on Tuesday!)
