Engaging Classroom Games for any Subject: Series

            Student engagement has always been a top priority when planning each of my lessons. I usually try to play some sort of game during the week with the concepts that we covered. 

The games explained in my blog posts over the next four weeks are engaging ways to motivate your kids no matter what content you are teaching. All you need are Tiny Problems* and a few simple materials to make content review hands-on and loads of fun! 

*Tiny Problems are content related questions written on small pieces of paper.

This week’s games are called Balloon Pop and Dig it Out. 

Balloon Pop 

Materials: 

-Tiny Problems cut out. 

 

-Tiny Problems recording sheet

-Good quality balloons

 *A balloon inflator is optional but extremely helpful

Set up: 

Put one question inside each balloon and tie it tightly. If you want certain teams going after certain colors take that into consideration when choosing your balloons. Inflate the balloons accordingly. 

         

How to play: 

• Students need a Tiny Problems recording sheet (Optional: Dry erase boards to use as scratch paper.)

• Split students into teams and assign each team a color balloon. Give them 15 seconds to establish an order of who is going first to last.

• One person at a time will retrieve a balloon and pop it however they wish. 

• They grab the question that was in the balloon and head to their group where EVERYONE needs to answer it.

• When the whole team has an answer, they write it in the recording sheet in the corresponding numbered box. 

• The next student is off to grab another balloon. This continues until all the balloons are gone. 

You can go over the answers in class or collect the recording sheets. If you want to make it more competitive, set a timer and the group who completes the most questions correctly wins!

You can even write the questions on the outside of the balloon and put the answer on a piece of paper inside. They can ask the question to the class, see what some of their classmates respond and then get the answer out by popping the balloon to see who was correct.

Dig it Out

Add anything into the container you are using to make it a bit more challenging to grab those problems. 

Materials: 

-Tiny Problems cut out. (One set per team. I make them in different colors.) 

 

-Tiny Problems recording sheet

-A bag of plastic ball pit balls or a large amount of packing peanuts.

- Foldable laundry baskets or deep buckets. (One per team.) 

Set up: 

Put a set of Tiny Problems inside each laundry basket/ bucket. Dump ball pit balls, balloons or packing peanuts on top of all the problems. I even mixed in base ten blocks. 

How to play: 

• Students need a Tiny Problems recording sheet (Optional: Dry erase boards to use as scratch paper.)

• Split students into teams and assign each team a basket. Give them 15 seconds to establish an order of who is going first to last.

• One person at a time will retrieve ONE problem from the bottom of the basket and race back to their group. 

• They will read the card aloud to the group and EVERYONE needs to answer the question.

• When the whole team has an answer, they write it in the recording sheet in the corresponding numbered box. 

• The next student is then off to dig out another Tiny Problem. This continues until all the problems are completed. 

          

You can also put other items in the baskets as distractors or decoys. For example, base ten blocks, unsharpened pencils, block erasers etc. Another option is to add little action cards the size of the Tiny Problems that the students will complete if they bring those back to the group. Some ideas might be jumping jacks, spins or other movements. The possibilities are endless! 

That’s all for today, but come back next week for two new games in the series that will keep up student engagement in your classroom with minimal prep. Join my email list for more game ideas like this and an exclusive EDITABLE math freebie to get you started right away. Thanks for stopping by. 

Happy Teaching! 

Kelly

The Roaring 1920s for the 100th Day of School

The 100th Day of School is always an exciting day for elementary students. Lower elementary (Kindergarten, first grade, second grade and even third grade) focus on the number one hundred, counting to one hundred and doing math that equal up to one hundred. Teachers also join their students in dressing up like 100 year old people. I have seen some really neat shirts with 100 items on them. Families can get super creative with costumes and projects for the 100th day of school.

100th Day of School for Upper Grades

Sometimes it is more difficult to motivate older students to participate in "100 day" activities. Unless you make them age appropriate and motivating. This school year I was moved from 2nd grade back to upper elementary, so I wanted to be sure my students were able to celebrate the 100th Day of School in a way that didn't feel "babyish" or immature to them. 

With help from the internet and each other, the 4th and 5th grade team came up with an idea that we knew would surely surprise our students. This would be a mixture of social studies, reading, fun and engagement. We brought our students back 100 years to the Roaring 1920s! That's right! The age of flappers, jazz music, the Model-T and prohibition. 

The Content

I chose some of the biggest concepts that made an impact one hundred years ago and created a scavenger hunt for the children to solve based on our current skill of finding main idea and key details. 

     

Click here for the Activity.

We split the children up in teams. They read the passage and figured out the main idea based on the supporting details. Once the children did this, they scanned the QR Code to check their answer. At the bottom of the screen, it would tell them which passage to find next and so on. As the children moved through all the cards they would finally reach the end. They would then grab the math task cards (based on the same concepts they just read about) and solve the word problems while the other groups finished. 

After the groups were finished, we made a large Venn Diagram on the board and spoke about what we learned from the passages. The children really enjoyed learning about the 1920s time period and comparing it to today. 

Click here for the activity I created for the Roaring 1920s

If you decide to try this in your classroom for the 100th Day of School, please tag me in any social media posts so I can see your photos! Thank you for stopping by my blog!

xoxo Kelly

The Floor Is Lava Classroom Transformation

This classroom transformation was inspired by my two sons. One morning they were playing this strange game around our house where they climbed on the furniture and told me they couldn't touch the floor. When I asked them why, their response was, "Mom, the FLOOR IS LAVA!" I have heard of this game before from my students, but this was the first time my boys were playing it. That's when my wheels began turning and I brainstormed my next classroom transformation. 

The Story

Before this classroom transformation began I needed to set the stage for my 4th and 5th grade students. I dressed in my best Hawaiian garb and explained that we needed to save the island from a volcano that kept erupting and wiping out small villages. I explained that the Head Tiki was very angry and he would only agree to stop the volcano if he was presented with jewels and gems. 

I advised them that their brains were the only thing that would help these poor people in danger. They needed to complete tasks, answer questions and earn gems, all while avoiding the LAVA!!! But the volcano will only erupt if the red light and alarm goes off. I begged them to please tread lightly and save the village!

We entered the room, I handed them a lei for their team color and began to explain the challenges for the day. They were pumped and ready to go! 

The Content

I knew right off the bat that I wanted to use The Floor is Lava Transformation as a review. We were finishing up the steps of the writing process and identifying different types of figurative language, so I wanted to revisit these concepts. 

During the classroom transformation there were two activities going on. One was a scavenger hunt around the school and one was earning gems by answering questions. 

Writing Process: 

This activity was the school scavenger hunt. I split the students into partnerships and assigned them a color for the whole day. That's the color lei they got to wear. To begin this scavenger hunt, they needed to read a passage about the different parts of the writing process. It helped them review all the steps of writing before they began the clues. 

Once their team finished reading the passage, they were given a clue about a location in the school. When they figured out the location, they needed to show me the clue and tell me where they were headed. When they arrived at the location, there was a large envelope with a question in their team's color about the writing process. The students took their color only, answered the question, checked it with me, then grabbed the next clue for another school location. This would carry on until the whole scavenger hunt was completed. 

On each question card was an additional puzzle. They needed to write that word down on their recording sheet because later they would need to unscramble the words they collected to answer a riddle. 

            

    

Figurative Language:

While the teams were figuring out their clues for the scavenger hunt an alarm would randomly sound and a red strobe light would blink. This alerted the students that the volcano erupted and THE FLOOR IS LAVA! The students needed to get to a safe place because they needed to present the Tiki with gems so he would stop the lava flow. This is when the children hopped along the rocks on the floor to get to one of the colored balloons. 

Attached to a balloon was a question about figurative language. If the team answered it correctly, they earned the gem to present to the Tiki...without touching the floor of course!

Once all the teams presented a gem successfully, the lights came back on and the scavenger hunt commenced. The kids truly loved this engaging review activity. 

The Decor

The Floor is Lava wasn't that difficult to assemble. I used a lot of butcher paper from my school for this transformation so that made it cheap. I will list the items in the classroom and where I got them. 

1. Volcano: Butcher paper from school and hot lava table cloth from Amazon. This was the first item I assembled and taped to the wall before I did anything else.
2. Flames: I ordered one roll of these flames on Amazon and covered the other walls around my room. 
3. Leis: I ordered this box of leis from Amazon and gave one to each student. I matched the color with their team for the day. I will be able to use these in the future as well. 
4. Full Body Skeleton: I actually used this skeleton as a Halloween decoration so I repurposed him for this transformation. I got him from Target during Halloween. 
5. Hula Skirts: I used these hula skirts as decor across my windows. I got them from The Dollar Tree a few years ago and used them for my Jurassic Park transformation but I reused them again for this one. They also have a good option on Amazon if it is out of season at The Dollar Tree. 
6. Paper Lanterns: I used colored paper lanterns to hang from the ceiling for the task cards but you can use regular balloons. I was gifted these lanterns but I linked a good option on Amazon. I reuse them each year for different classroom transformations. 
7. Multicolored Gems: I've had these multicolored gems for years but you can get them on Amazon or Party City. Honestly, you don't even need to use these. You can use little stones, plastic coins or whatever you have on hand. 
8. Wooden Tiki Masks: I borrowed these tiki masks from a local Polynesian restaurant. I just returned them when I was finished. 
9. Mini Strobe Lights: I use these mini strobes for so many things through out the year. I literally use them all the time so they were a great purchase for me. These are the same lights I posted in my Glow Day transformation. 
10. Tiki Poster: I bought a trifold board from the dollar tree, taped it to the board and traced a tiki on it using my Smart Board. As simple as that! You can even project or draw a tiki mask on your board and use that! 

Keep in mind, you DO NOT need to use all of these decorations for you Floor is Lava transformation. That is always the beauty about classroom transformations. You use what works for you, in your classroom, with your students. I hope you decide to do a Floor is Lava transformation for your kiddos this year. 

If you like my ideas, follow my blog and check out some of my other classroom transformations. Below is my Floor is Lava Transformation pack that you can find in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop. It is editable for any grade level. 

Click Here for this TPT Resource.

Happy Teaching!

Kelly

Keep Your Students Interested and Motivated During Distance Learning

As teachers, we've all been thrown into the distance learning environment really quickly since this pandemic began. I honestly didn't have a whole lot of time to research ways to keep my students engaged. I wanted them to come to my Google meetings with energy and motivation. Here are a few ideas that have been keeping my students excited to come to class and looking forward to the lessons each day. 

Google Classroom Header

Each week I change the header on my Google Classroom. They are usually upbeat sayings that motivate my kiddos. When you change your Google header in your Google Classroom, all of the colors in your classroom change to match. My students look forward to Monday morning so they can be the first to comment on the Google header in our classroom. They have made it a contest to see who can post about it first. It's just a fun way to start the week with distance learning. 

Click here to check out these headers. 

Class Meetings 

Connecting to your students is one of the most important things a teacher can do in the classroom each and every day. This is even more important during distance learning. Your students need to see you. You are a huge part of their life and they probably miss you. I have only tried two types of class meeting platforms. Google Meets and Zoom. 

Google Meets

This is the platform I use the most for connecting with my students during distance learning on a daily basis. It is simplistic and user friendly. All your students need to access the meeting is the website. I simply put the link into my Google Classroom assignment for the day and they enter at the assigned time. 

Chrome Extensions for Google Meet

The most common Chrome extension for Google Meet is called Google Meet Grid View. This gives the option to have a grid view of your students so you can see them all at once. 

There are also some other fun options to spice up your Google Meeting for your students. If you download Snap Camera you can add filters to your Google Meets. This might be fun when doing a read aloud. You can also search for specific filters. 

Another neat available extension is Custom Cursor to keep engagement up when presenting. You can choose characters your students love or just a different color. Changing your cursor will be sure to grab their attention. 

One last extension I use is called Save to Google Drive. This is a quick way to take a screen shot and it will automatically save right to your Google Drive for future use. 

One of the things I do not like about this option is the automatic muted presentation mode. This is problematic when wanting to show a video with audio. One way I have been hacking this is by using the "Chrome Tab" option in the presentation section. That makes your videos audible for your students. 

Zoom

I use this platform for social meets with my family and friends but I know many teachers use Zoom for class. This platform has a bit of a learning curve but it has many more features included where you do not need as many extensions. They have a grid option built in, you can change the background and they have "reactions" you can post with a few emojis. I personally like the "touch up my screen" option. It's like an airbrush filter. 

A huge draw is that you can break your class into groups and pop in and out to check up on them during group work time. You can also do this with partners. They get their own "chat room" and you have access to all of them. 

A big difference with Zoom and Google Meet is that the host of the Zoom meeting lets people in and finishes the meeting for everyone. When you logout as the host in Zoom, everyone's meeting ends. In Google Meet, kids can stay after you leave if you do not monitor carefully. 

Either way, both platforms have their positives and negatives. 

Morning Meetings 

If you don't usually do a morning meeting with your class, that is okay, but distance learning might be a good time to start. I say this because it builds a class community and promotes interaction with your students. It helps them bond with each other and they might need that the most during these tough times. 

There are so many educators in the teaching community that have some FANTASTIC ideas for morning meetings. The possibilities are endless but I will skim the tip of the iceberg for you here. 

Greetings:

Greetings can be simple or elaborate. One suggestion I would make is having students turn off their screens after they have been greeted and returned a greeting to someone else. Everyone will know that the children who are still visible haven't had a turn yet.

Simple Greetings

1. A student says "Hello _________." or "Good morning _________." followed by a gesture.

• High-five
• Fist bump
• Salute
• Hand wave
• Thumbs up

       2. Have students change their voices for their greeting.

• Cowboy: "Howdy  __________" and tip a hat off their head.
• Say, "Hello" or "Good morning" in another language. 
• Robot: Use a robot voice and robot movements. 
• Ghost: Greet someone in a "spooky" voice. 
• Baby: Greet someone in a baby voice.

Games:

You can also play games on your screen with your class. These two Instagram accounts have great distance learning morning meeting games for your class. Sparkles and Pompoms and Stop Collaborate and Teach. They explain how to play everything on Google Meet and/or Zoom. 

I have done the following games for my students and they love them.

Scavenger Hunt & Bingo

The two games come in a pack and they are both curriculum based. They are a combination of measurement and geometry. 

Click here for the Scavenger Hunt & Bingo Game.

For the scavenger hunt, all you need to do is present the slides to your students and they run to get an item that fits the description. For example: A Tool to Measure with. That could be a ruler, measuring cup, thermometer or even a scale. It is very open-ended so they can think outside the box when grabbing an item. There are also challenges. In the bottom corner of some slides it says "Get an extra point if you find the object in the garage." or "Get an extra point if the object is purple." That makes the game a little more engaging. 

The bingo cards have the same items on them as the scavenger hunt, but you can use the bingo as an individual activity and post them in Google Slides. Then your kids would cut and paste pictures from the internet that fir the description. 

You can also play the bingo as a class by using the Powerpoint included. You present the Powerpoint and the kids check off the boxes on their bingo board as they find those objects in their house. There is lots of movement and it is super engaging. 

Click Here to see the Can You Spot It? Morning Meetings

The next game is called Can You Spot It? This is also curriculum based.  Just present the slides for your student and they need to "spot" the similarity on the split screens. The following slide is the answer slide so the students can see if they are correct. 

Check out some other Morning Meeting Activities that my kiddos love! 

Morning Meeting Mystery Sounds Bundle 

The children listen to the sounds and try to guess each one. 

Morning Meeting Memes Bundle

Children are shown a photo in Google Jamboard and they must caption it...MEME STYLE! Full class engagement. Upper grades LOVE this one. 

Sites for Interactive Class Work

Independent work time is the most important time to keep your students engaged and motivated during distance learning. There are so many websites and platforms out there that can keep children interested in digital activities by manipulating objects with drag and drop features and interacting with their digital worksheets. There are two that I use on a daily basis. One is Google slides and the other is Boom Learning. 

Google Slides

I know Google Slides seems pretty basic, but there are so many different ways to interact with these digital slides. The best part is that once a copy is made for each student, they can drag, drop, type, insert, you name it! I have used Google slides for teaching a math concepts with manipulatives, creating graphs, cut and paste activities from the internet, and even digital break outs! The sky is the limit. The best part is that if your students have a Google account, it's free!

Boom Cards

Boom Cards are hosted on BoomLearning.com. Teachers can sign up for free and make a trial class. You can purchase them on the Boom Learning website or even on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Boom cards are...

• interactive
• digital
• self grading
• independent
• no prep
• student paced
• progress tracking
• game like 
• available on multiple devices  

They are basically interactive task cards that self grade. What teacher and student wouldn't want that!? My students beg for these cards so I do my best to include them at least once per week. 

                       

Click here to grab my Figurative Language Boom Card Freebie!

Interactive sites are imperative during distance learning to keep your students wanting to work and do their best. When they are having fun they want to do more. 

Review Games

This is another category that has endless options to choose from but since I use Google Classroom with my students, I find Flippity.net has a lot of game choices. 

They have flashcards, randomizers, quiz shows, scavenger hunts, timelines, bingo, mad libs, matching and tons more. There are even ways to add these games and spinners to your Google Slides!

Anytime students have a chance to play a game they get excited. Even high school students enjoy a game day every now and then. It brings a level of competition to the academics. Give it a try and see how motivated and excited your class gets. 

Rewards & Incentives

I know giving digital incentives seem hard to wrap your head around and I'm sure you are thinking, "How do I give rewards during digital learning?" It is a great motivator so here are a few suggestions. 

• Lunch with the teacher & friends in Google chat!
• Video hang out with friends. (Teacher monitors with screen and audio off.) 
• Student leads the morning meeting.
• Digital game of your choice.
• Star of the week. (They get their photo on the Google Classroom header-with parent's permission of course!)
• Class movie or show.
• Read to the class.
• Wear sunglasses or a funny hat to class.
• Choose music for a class dance party.

Those are some incentives to students excited. I like to use this treasure chest when a student earns a reward in class.  I have them choose a jewel, slide it over and they get the prize behind! They love to choose it in front of the whole class. 

Grab this freebie and give it a try! 

This will download right to your Google Drive.

Digital Stickers

These can be used when grading a Google Slide or any digital assignment that you return to your students. Copy and paste them right onto the document you are checking! Kids love positive feedback. They want to do the right thing and if they are getting a boost from seeing a digital image on their work, they will work harder to get another one next time. So simple yet so motivating. They can even make a Google Document and save them all until the end of the school year!

Click here to grab these digital sticker freebies! 
This will download right to your Google Drive.

Snail Mail

We live in a digital age where people rarely get mail unless it is a package from Amazon or a bill, and even those come digitally. Kids LOVE snail mail. They love it even when there isn't distance learning going on in the world! There is nothing like getting a letter in the mail addressed to you in someone's handwriting. Children get super excited to see anything addressed to them, let alone from their teacher. Whether it's a letter, a book mark, a sticker, a pencil or just a card telling them that they are missed, I guarantee they are going to feel special and be looking forward to their next class. 

Distance learning can be a lonely time for some kids. They miss interacting with their principal, the custodial staff, the lunch ladies, their classroom aids, friends and their teachers. Making children feel special and wanting to come to "digital school" is everything right now. I hope these ideas and freebies can be useful for your future distance teaching!