Fun Group Games: Gotcha!

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Gotcha! -This is most definitely one of my all-time-favorite games! Fun to play and to watch!

Players stand in a circle, arms out to the side. Their left palm is up with their right index finger pointing down, touching their neighbor’s outstretched palm. When the teacher says “go,” the players in the circle attempt to both grab the finger of the person on their left hand and prevent their right finger from being grabbed by pulling it away (good to demonstrate this first or do a practice round). The teacher counts, saying “1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . (add suspense) . . . go!” If their finger is grabbed, they are out. If a player grabs a finger at the same time their finger is grabbed, they are neutral and get to stay in the game. Repeat several times until only two people are remaining (at the same time, the other players can start a new circle). The trick is in building up suspense before “go!” because many players will jump the gun, adding to the fun.

SOURCE: http://ce.byu.edu/yp/employment/pdf/training/2010_Training.pdf

Fun Group Game: Animal Sounds

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Animal Sounds-After we played this game with my 6^th graders, we talked about how this might relate to friendship or success in school. My students actually found some really good connections! We also played this in preparation for our Shakespeare play and discussed how, in this game, you have to be confident to get the job done, vocal so people can hear you, and enjoy what you’re doing even if you may feel a bit goofy. Although I played this with my 6th grade class, 4th and 5th graders can play this game successfully too.

Players close their eyes, and then a teacher moves among them whispering the name of an animal to each person. The challenge is to find all the other animals of one’s own kind, and the first group to be completed wins. No one can talk; players can only make animal sounds. Loud chaos ensues, and gradually order and unity emerge as animals find one another. Be prepared to shepherd people from danger, though usually the game is very safe. Many do not move much, but rather focus on listening and calling out to others. animals (aim to have the same number of each animal—around three of each) might include wolf, cat, pig, kangaroo, snake, lion, crow, monkey, frog, elephant, and others. It was fun to make it more challenging at the end, but throwing in choo choo train, pirate, leaky faucet, race car and other wacky sounds like that.

SOURCE: http://ce.byu.edu/yp/employment/pdf/training/2010_Training.pdf

Fun Group Game: I’m Going Hunting

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

I’m Going Hunting- This one is good memory practice and reinforces the alphabet. You could vary the game, but choosing a theme (things in your bedroom, a classroom, etc.). It may be helpful to modify this for younger kids by drawing a picture for each item, only choosing words from your word wall, etc.

This game is played in a circle. One person in the circle starts the game by saying, “I’m going hunting and I’m taking a(n) __________ (item that begins with the letter “a,” e.g., arrow).” The next person has to repeat what the person next to him or her said and then add something new from the next letter in the alphabet (e.g., “I’m going hunting, and I’m taking an arrow and a bow”). Keep this going around the circle until someone cannot remember everything he or she is to take. That person is out [or you start over, so no students are the loser]; see if the next person can complete the phrase. You do not necessarily have to choose something that you would normally take hunting—it can be funny. This game can also be called something else; you do not necessarily have to go “hunting.” You could call it “I’m going to [name of your school] . . . ,” for example.

SOURCE: http://ce.byu.edu/yp/employment/pdf/training/2010_Training.pdf

Fun Group Games: Enemy Circle

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Enemy Circle

One person is chosen as the “enemy spy,” and all other players stand in a circle formation holding hands and facing inward. The spy asks to enter the circle by saying, “Please, good people, let me in so I can have shelter from the cold.” The players allow him or her to come into the circle, and he or she stands at the center. He or she acts as if warming him or herself by the fire, and while doing so tries to figure a way out of the circle. The spy will then suddenly try to escape through one set of players’ locked arms. If captured, the enemy spy picks a new spy, and the original enemy spy has to sit in the center. If he or she escapes, he or she picks a new spy to come back and spy with him or her. When they try to escape, they will exit at different locations in the circle. The game continues as the circle becomes smaller and the number of enemy spies increases. Make sure to keep this game safe as they try to break out of the circle. Check your district’s policy on active games.

SOURCE: http://ce.byu.edu/yp/employment/pdf/training/2010_Training.pdf

Fun Group Games: Killer Frog

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Killer Frog- I love this game. It’s fun, easy to learn and not too rowdy…

Everyone sits in a circle. One person is chosen to be the “detective” and goes to a place where he or she cannot see or hear what is going on in the circle. Everyone in the circle closes their eyes. A teacher walks around the circle and taps someone’s shoulder, who now becomes the “killer frog, “but no one else knows who the frog is (at first). The detective comes back in. the participant who is the killer frog sticks his or her tongue out at random people around the circle, trying not to be noticed by the detective. When the frog sticks its tongue out at someone, that person must lay down as if dead. the detective gets three tries to guess the killer frog’s identity. If he or she succeeds, someone else is chosen for the next round. if not, he or she is the detective again.

Source: http://ce.byu.edu/yp/employment/pdf/training/2010_Training.pdf

Start of School Classroom Tour

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

When I was a brand new teacher, I was a bit overwhelmed with everything I had to cover in the first few days of school. There were tons of procedures, campus features (office, library, etc.) and expectations to go over. Here were a few notes (not an inclusive list by any means) I made to myself to help me remember some of what to cover:

Teacher’s space– 5 places off limits to students: teacher’s desk, any drawers (plastic or filing cabinets), behind the back table, front desk/podium storage on the back wall near the window. These are for storage and teacher use. Nothing interesting there anyway!

Line up– the line starts at the door, and ends by the computer desk. The line will only leave the room when the Line Monitor determines the class is ready to leave.

Turn in table– under the red sign labeled “when you’re finished”. Each turn in slot is labeled according to the type of thing that should go there. Make sure your papers have the correct heading before you turn them in or you will lose points.

Paper– lined paper, plain paper and scratch paper are in trays in 2 places in the room: 1) on the turn in table under the red sign labeled “when you’re finished”. 2) on the back shelf near the reading books

Computers and Library– Computers are only for use when directed by the teacher. Classroom library books may not leave this room unless you talk to Miss W. first. The librarian will ask for names of people wanting to check out books at the end of the day. Please be respectful with Miss W’s books. She purchased them with her own money.

Desks: Each desk has the same materials. Math book, 2 spirals (1 for math and one for writing), a clipboard and a set of classroom folders. Each student has 5 folders: 1 for each subject and 1 to take home and bring back each day. Only the Orange folder labeled “Take Home” should ever leave school.

Writing Submission Sheet

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

My students were notorious for turning in incomplete writing assignments. They would forget to include the rough draft or outline or something. So I created this easy page to run of on a colored sheet of paper and cut into fourths. My students were required to attach this submission sheet to the front of any writing assignment and fill it out. This helped in numerous ways:

They were less likely to forget parts of the assignment
It was easily identifiable in a stack of papers as a writing assignment
I could easily write comments, scores, etc. on the submission sheet
Everything in the assignment would be stapled together!!! Less loose pages flying around = victory!

Click here to download:

Story submission sheet

Writing submission sheet

*These are Word documents, so you can easily modify them to fit your classroom. I used a cute font that you might not have installed on your computer, so make sure the format works on your computer before you print it.

Letter To Your Teacher

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Teachers are responsible for so many aspects of a student’s life- not just the academics. It’s helpful to give students an opportunity periodically to tell you whatever is on their mind. However, some students will tell you they don’t have anything to say. So here’s my solution:

To get this poster, right click on it and select “save image as.” Then you can save it to your computer and
resize it before you print it. I printed mine on a regular 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of card stalk.

I print this page up at the beginning of the year (to save time writing up the prompt multiple times), and put it on the board about 4 times a year as an in-class writing assignment. One year, I had a particularly social group of 6th grade girls and there always seemed to be some dramatic catastrophe going on between them {sigh}. I chose to do this writing assignment during one particularly dramatic episode and it turned out to be very helpful for me as their teacher to hear about what’s going on without “prying into their lives.”