We've all read the different posts and seen all those awesome brain break ideas that people have written about on blogs and Teachers pay Teachers, but now you too can make them "egg-citing" and maybe just a little "egg-stra" fun.
This is what I've done. I came up with a bunch of super fast, super easy things to do that take between 3- 5 minutes. Any longer and I've found that this year's class gets a little too...much. So here's a partial list of things in my egg jar:
- 10 jumping jacks
- a round of Hangman with our spelling/vocab words
- the Cha-Cha slide dance (I bought it off iTunes and have it on my iPod)
- Gangam Style (same set up as the Cha-Cha Slide - they LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one)
- Yoga in the Class (just a few stretches, nothing fancy)
- a game of Silent Ball (You sit on top of your desk and toss a ball to someone. If they speak or drop the ball, they're out. The best part EVERYONE IS SUPER DUPER SILENT for about 5 minutes!)
- Action Math (Write double-digit addition or subtraction problems on the board and form the group into teams. Each member of the team has to do 1 action to the problem. The first team to solve the problem, wins a point.)
- Story in the Round (Each person has to come up with a sentence to add to a story starter I give them. All oral, so no writing needed - just imagination!
- Emotion Ball (a volleyball with different sentences written on it. What ever sentence the student's thumb lands on when they catch it, they have to say with emotion out loud. Sad, laughing, angry, depressed, etc.)
- Game of Telephone
As you can see, hardly any prep or materials needed to do these. Hangman, and action math you do on the whiteboard so no paper needed!
When I introduced these for the very first time, I said nothing - just put this jar up on the table when they first came in the door. They were so intrigued with this strange, yet colorful thing, they deduced that whatever was inside, must, must, must be fun indeed. Now they constantly ask who gets to pick an egg next. I usually find the quietest kids that are on task and paying attention or following the rules. That usually gets the others to follow suit so they can get to pick next.
You can even change it up a little. During February, I got these: heart-shaped containers that do the same thing. So out go the eggs, and in come the hearts. I got mine at the Dollar Tree during the season of Love and they are constantly changing things out with the seasons - so you can find them for Halloween or St. Paddy's Day, or any other holiday they make them for.
Here are my heart containers. I love how they are red and pink.
And now for my Celebration!
My second project was fully funded through Donor's Choose! Yay! This project is focusing on phonics. My last one focused on math and this year my students have had a blast playing all the games we received. I'm so happy that a second project came through - just when I had just about given up on it. Thanks Donor's Choose! You made my day! I'll post later when my students get the materials and show everyone what we are going to do with them. Now next year is going to start off on just the right foot!
Tomorrow is the Talent Show - ironically after having kids threaten each other to be nice/play by their rules/do what they want OR face eviction from the talent show (which by the way they have to AUDITION for) NONE of my kids made it in. But that's not going to stop me us from going tomorrow morning. I look forward to it and it means that I don't have to entertain teach for hour and a half. I'll tell you all about tomorrow. In the meantime, leave a comment below if you have tried the egg thing or have another great idea on doing brain breaks in your classroom!
Shauna
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