The Week Ending October 14th: Quick and Easy Match-Up Games

If you have read any of my posts, you know that I like games and activities that are quick and easy--and inexpensive. This activity is a variation on an old favorite--and it meets all of those requirements...


For our vocabulary study this week, I wrote each word on one half of a paper plate and the definition on the other half.  I made sure the "half-plates" were well-shuffled and then passed them out face-down.

I asked the students to guess how long it would take for each plate to find its partner.  After settling on a reasonable time (a bit inflated, mind you), I set the timer.  The goal is for everyone to find their match before the time runs out.  This encourages teamwork instead of competition.  By agreeing that those who are finished can help the "unmatched" find their partners, there is more involvement throughout the game--and more exposure to the words.

Once everyone has found their match, we stop the timer.  By challenging them to beat that time, you can usually squeeze in a few more rounds of practice.  I am always amazed when they clamor, "Can we play again?  Just one more tiiiimmmmeee?"

I often have students in my classroom who are not able to participate fully in the core curriculum, but are a part of our classroom and need a way to participate.  For these students, I make a notch in the plate so they are looking for a "puzzle piece" match instead of a content match.  With this support, they can participate with their peers. For those with more significant struggles, I may also outline the plate middle in a color.  Yellow works best because it is not as obvious to the student who has the other side of the plate and is looking for a content match.

There are a hundred (or more!) adaptations:  antonyms/synonyms, math facts, even my beloved algebra!

Don't you have some aging paper plates in the back of your cupboard?  A quick activity for Monday may be easily within your reach!

Have a great weekend!  Head on back to the party at Clutter-Free Classroom !

Magnetic Pages Make Life Easier!

Sometimes I feel like I go out of my way to make things more difficult!

Now maybe you all know this trick, but it was new to me!  For YEARS, I have made calendar tags--and other things to put on my (magnetic) white board.  I would print the item, cut it out, put it on a piece of colored background paper, laminate, cut again, and then buy and apply small magnetic strips to the back.  By this point I had either lost pieces of the project along the way or I had lost interest (or I had killed off a few necessary components in our ancient laminating machine!)

Enter Avery magnetic sheets.  The good thing about magnetic PAGES is that you can cut out any size or shape you want--and you don't have to line anything up within the label margins!  It's just like printing on 8.5 by 11 paper! The same is true about full pages "labels," but that is the subject of another post!

                   
I made rectangles on my computer and typed a word.  I made a bigger rectangle around those, filled in the shape with color, and sent it to the "back".  I filled in the names of the month, the numbers and a few other labels that I wanted, adjusting the size as necessary.

I printed the labels on the magnetic pages (using an ink jet printer).  Then I cut them out on my beloved paper cutter, and... DONE!  The whole project took me less than an hour!  They're fairly resilient and while the magnets won't hold much weight--that wasn't my purpose.  My real purpose was to get the job done and get it done quickly.  Mission accomplished!

If I were more creative, I would have used different colors and a bit of clip art.  But this is the no-nonsense part of the board.  We look at the date a million times and we post who is absent (and, at times, keep track of total enrollment).  Sometimes, I just like to look at that part of the board when I am exhausted and frustrated, and say, "Thirty four sixth graders!  That IS exhausting!

So... easy peasy!  Amazon had a discounted price at one point and I am sure they are available at lots of places (and there may be other manufacturers too)  But for my purpose, these worked great.

Test:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4jzf7IrF9Y7bFNPTlp5Q3hROGc

And the time I saved... well... there's a good chance I spent it BLOGGING for more ideas!

TBA Birthday Week Continues!

The birthday fun continues at TBA!

Today's TBA question was "Who is/was your favorite teacher and why?"

My favorite teacher was my SIXTH grade teacher!  I wonder if that is why I have chosen to teach sixth grade?!

Her name was Mrs. Moore and she was a new, young teacher...

In fact, the year I was in sixth grade, she invited our WHOLE CLASS to her wedding!

Three stand-out memories.
1)  The mother of one of my classmates passed away during our sixth grade year.  For the remainder of the year, Mrs. Moore took M and I out to breakfast early on Thursdays before school.  She reminded M to drink her milk, and gave her pep talks that I am SURE saw her through a difficult time.

2)  Mrs. Moore loved Peanuts characters.  Her room was bright and cheerful and inviting.  It was a FUN place to be!  I think that is why an inviting room environment is so important in my own classroom today.

3) Mrs. Moore had a special cupboard filled with novels.  If you were really interested in reading, she let you choose from her collection. I think this is where my true love of reading began!

Join in the fun at TBA.  You could win a prize!  Click the link and head on over!