Spring Fever? 5 Secrets to Cure it in Your Classroom!
5:30 AM
It’s that time of year when Spring Fever hits. The weather
is warming up, along with misbehavior. It’s also a stressful time of year as
teachers are pushing to get students to benchmark before the end of the year
assessments. With learning at such a critical point and students just wanting
to get out of the classroom, spring fever is hitting hard. So, how do you cure spring fever so you can
use this time for instruction? You don’t! Rather embrace it and use it for your
teaching. Below you will find 5 fun ways
to get students to learn without them even realizing it.
1. Sidewalk chalk
Need to write? Why not go outside and write
with sidewalk chalk. This colorful writing
utensil is perfect for writing sight words, math facts, and even short
stories. You can assign each student a
color and then have them start writing a short story. Set a bell for 2 min.
When the timer rings students find a short story on the blacktop that is a
different color than their chalk and continues the story. Set the timer for
another 2 minutes. Students will switch
to a work on a third short story to write an ending. When everyone is finished
have students read each of the stories out loud. These silly stories written in
sidewalk chalk is a sure winner to cure Spring Fever.
2. Large Motor Trivia
Before going outside, or at the beginning
of play lay out papers that have different skills that you want students to
learn (numbers for math skills, sight words, grammar words, science
classifications, etc.). Students will
race to stand on a paper that fits the command given by the teacher. If there
is not a paper to stand on those students are out. For example using multiple
copies of the numbers 1-10 give commands such as, “Find an even number. Find a number less than 5. Find a Number greater than 7. What number
plus 6 will equal 10? What number minus
2 will equal 7?” When students get out you can have them be judges to make sure
students are standing on the correct number. Take away a few numbers as the
group gets smaller so there will always be students who go out with each round.
Replay as long as the numbers hold up. This large motor racing game will not
only wear out your students’ energy but they will build fluency with any
standard.
Science Experiments
There are so many fun science experiments
that you can do with kids during this time of year. Science is a fun and fascinating subject that
almost appears magical to children. Here’s
one you might enjoy- Exploding Baggies! To complete this experiment you will
need the following materials:
Sealable
baggies (TIP: Get the ones with zippers)
Clothespins
Vinegar
Food
Coloring
Baking
Soda
Fill 1/3 of each baggie with vinegar and
food coloring. Twist the baggie and use
the clothespin to seal the vinegar mixture. Pour baking soda into the top of
the baggie and then seal the entire bag. When you are ready to watch the
explosion take the clothespin off and allow the baggie to untwist. As the
baggie untwists the vinegar and baking soda will mix creating a pressurized
explosion in the baggie. These colorful explosions will bring excitement and
enjoyment to cool down anyone’s Spring Fever.
4. Story Retelling
There are so many fun stories that you have
read this year. Why not go outside and
put on a large scale retelling of the story.
Turn the school yard into a theater by having a few trees be a forest,
the playground can be turned into a castle, and the basketball hoop might turn
into a beanstalk. Have students brainstorm how different areas of the school
grounds can be turned into different settings. Then allow students time to
create props and signs for their imaginative play. After about 30 minutes of creating and
setting up students can play and reenact stories of their own. Whether they
retell the original stories or create their own, students will be too busy to
remember they have spring fever.
1. Jump Rope Rhymes
Share some of your favorite jump rope
rhymes with your students. Need help with rhymes check out 101 different
rhymes, “Anna Banna: 101 Jump Rope Rhymes” by Joanna Cole. After sharing and
jumping have students create their own jump rope rhyme. What motions will they
do with the jump rope? Students can test out their new rhymes on the playground.
What a fun silly way to practice reading, writing, rhyming, grammar, spelling,
and get physical exercise.
Spending time outdoors moving will increase the oxygen flow
to your students’ brains and allow them to get some much needed vitamin D
breaking spring fever forever. This will allow you not only time to teach but your
students will be much more able to absorb the information being taught because
their bodies will be functioning at top performance level.
Why not share with other teachers in the comments below what you do to break that Spring Fever in your classroom?
Enjoy!
Becky Cothern
Family and Child Development Lab
by Becky Cothern
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