Hello. Tami here from Kamp Kindergarten.
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| Heard County Veterans Park in Franklin, Georgia |
Before I get
started I want to take a moment to give thanks for our freedom. We all know that freedom has a price. A heartfelt thanks to all who have served our
country.
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE CAN
BE FRIGHTFUL
I don’t have
to remind you what it’s like to try to keep learners focused after days of
weather like we have been having in Georgia the last week or so. Winter isn’t even here yet with its weeks of no
recess because of soggy playgrounds and windchill factors below freezing.
Do your learners have PE every day? If so, remember to add that to your thankful list. I have had different PE schedules over the years, some where our rotation meant no PE for 2 or 3 weeks. That is doable in months with great weather, but is a nightmare in January and February.
Do your learners have PE every day? If so, remember to add that to your thankful list. I have had different PE schedules over the years, some where our rotation meant no PE for 2 or 3 weeks. That is doable in months with great weather, but is a nightmare in January and February.
ROAM THE ROOM
I found
“Roam the Room” activities to be helpful to keep my learners focused. The activities offer an opportunity to get
out of their seats and be actively engaged in their learning.
There is movement in the classroom, but it
organized and has a purpose. Kids love
the opportunity to do the activities. I
love that it is an opportunity for them to channel excess energy in a positive
activity.
With Roam
the Room activities learners move about the classroom with a pencil, a clip
board, and a recording page looking for cards with specific tasks. When learners find a card they, write their
response in the correct space on their recording page.
Types of
activities include Read the Room, Write the Room, Spell the Room, Count the
Room, Add the Room, Subtract the Room, and others. You can make or purchase these activities including
a recording page. You may also make your
own with task cards or flash cards you already have. You may make a recording page or allow
learners to use their journals to record their responses.
I like
finding these cards at dollar stores and the Target Dollar Spot. Most sets have cartoon characters that the
students love. I think the favorite
characters enhance the experience for little learners.
IMPLEMENTING ROAM THE
ROOM
You may use
whichever notebooks you already have for journals. An advantage to using journals to record responses is that it
saves paper and keeps your copy count low.
Those factors are issues at most schools with the current budget crunch.
I prefer
these notebooks to the spiral bound ones for safety reasons and to avoid
snagged clothing. I am sure I am not the
only teacher who has had a student to twist out the wire and present me with
the wire and loose covers and pages.
(Who knew 70 pages of paper could create such a disaster?)
If you have
the spiral bound notebooks you may use wide tape to cover the wire. You may use some of the cute printed tape
available now. Some teachers use
different colors of tape to color code the journals for various ways that are
helpful to their specific needs.
When using journals in lieu of a recording page, I have found it helps to use a medium
binder clip on the right side about midway down the page. This stabilizes the notebook and keeps the
pages from flipping over as the student is trying to write. If you have clipboards with a large enough
capacity, you may prefer to clip the notebook at the top of the page. Either method will stabilize the notebooks
and make for easier writing.
I like to
have the cards numbers or lettered for my activities. I tend to number the language arts activities
and letter the math activities. When
using flash cards or task cards I already have, I put them in a lettered or
numbered zip top sandwich bag. This way
I don’t mark up my cards.
Place the
cards in various areas around the room.
You may use clips or tape to post the cards. If you use clips you can reuse the bags many
times.
You are
now ready for your learners to begin “Roaming the Room” with their journals looking
for cards.
I prefer to
have a few students at the time roaming the room while their classmates do
other activities in groups or in their seats.
FREE ROAM THE ROOM
ACTIVITY
Here is a
Spell the Room freebie for your learners.
I hope they enjoy Spelling the Room.
I want to
take this opportunity to wish you and your learners a safe and happy
Thanksgiving.
Until next month,
Tami
