Lines of Symmetry

A good maths lesson to do with Years 3/4 who have not been left work is symmetry.
 

Symmetry runs deeply through maths and the world around us.
Look around the classroom or maybe outside environment and look at how many lines of symmetry  (a line you can draw through a shape when everything on one side of the line is the exact same as everything on the other side of the line) exist on that object.  I keep a symmetry jig saw in my bag of tricks. So easy to make; pretty cardboard  into geometric shapes and cut through it's line of symmetry for the kids to put together. I just put it up on the board with blu tac and get the students to put it together in turns. 

I also like to refer to a line of symmetry as a mirror line because if you were to put a mirror on the line, the picture would be the same.

Triangles have one line of symmetry/ mirror line... where is it? Have a look with the kids. Show them where it is and isn't. How many on a four pointed star? A square? A rectangle? Watch as the kids become more enthusiastic and confident finding the lines of symmetry on a shape and discuss why it is or isn't a line of symmetry amongst themselves. Get them to double check a rectangles lines of symmetry with a mirror if they believe the rectangle has a diagonal line of symmetry.
Do points on a star correspond with lines of symmetry?

What about a parallelogram? Make predictions and check with a mirror.

It should take little time to make a worksheet using auto shapes or even give the children some geo shapes to trace  around in their books to investigate lines of symmetry.

Make sure you've tracked down the mirrors before you start and stand is a back and let the children do the investigating. Symmetry lessons are great to facilitate children's discovery learning.

It might also be nice for children to make butterfly prints to show examples of a line of symmetry at the end of the day if you end up with time up your sleeve.

Lie Down Paintings

Before the turtle, came the artist: Michaelangelo Buonarroti. Michaelangelo was best known for his commitment to painting the Sistine Chapel and popular belief is that he painting it lying on his back... Actually that's not true- he was ahead of his time and used a complicated scaffolding system that supported him and his aides. 

The strain on his neck, head and back must have been tremendous and he probably would have been better off painting on his back. 

Even though Michaelangelo's myth about painting the Sistine Chapel has been debunked, it's still a nice lesson on persepective and a challenge for students.

All they need to do is tape paper to the underside of their desks and paint with a brush that's not too wet. If you're worried about paint dripping, just use markers. 

I would definitely introduce the lesson by talking about Michaelangelo, his works, his era and the myth about him painting upside down. It might be nice for them to paint works inspired by Michaelaneglo that you show the children. 

Hopscotch grammar

Hopscotch is such an adaptable game. This example shows parts of speech in a hopscotch game. Each child calls out an example of one of these as they hop through and make a sentence out of it on the home square. It's best to make about 5 little hopscotch courts and put the children in groups.

Word Problem Posters

Instead of using dull, meaningless word problems in the style of a sadly named individual buying 40 watermelons and eating 15.. Why not make a poster with sticky notes using the children's ideas to make word problems for the area of operation they are looking at. 

My example is ocean life, all the children need to do is think of a topic that interests them or draw on something they may have learnt in HSIE or Science and invent relevant word problems for their sums. 

They highlight the information that will help them do the operation eg 4 had 3 baby octopuses each, how many altogether? Then they show their working under the sticky note. 

Domino Facts

Take a domino and draw the domino you have. Write the addition, subtraction and if you're up to it, multiplication fact for that domino's numbers. For example if your domino has 6 dots on one side and 4 on the other your facts are:

 6+ 4= 10

4+6=10

6-4=2

10-6=4

10-4= 6

6x4= 24

4x6=24

Extension

24/ 6 = 4

26/ 4= 6

You can make the activity trickier or easier depending in the needs of your students.

Number of the day

A nice little introduction for maths is to display a number and put in some questions focusing on that number.

Making Board Games!

What a fun activity that fosters collaboration and gives children a chance to apply what they know as well as peer scaffold. I've included a maths game that Year 1 could handle, they simply need to move forward the amount of spaces that corresponds with the answers they gave.

It's probably easier to use squares of paper that are stuck on a back sheet with younger kids, rather than have them battle with drawing squares but some will be more capable than others.

You can also do a spelling game with pick up cards, science games using questions from something they've learnt about, literacy board games based on a story they've read and so on. It can fit into most subjects which is the real beauty of it, especially when you've not had any work left for you. 

Have fun! 

KWL charts

A nice introduction and plenary activity is a KWL chart. The class do the K W part during the introduction. They can contribute their existing knowledge to the K section by offering verbal contributions or write them in sticky notes. They then discuss with a partner some questions regarding what they want to know and offer those questions in the W section. As a research activity, children use available texts and computers to answer those questions and any extra information they discovered .

 They don't need to limit themselves to books and computers, there maybe clips you can show them or hot seating activities as well.

Onomatopoeia/ Lichtenstein Art

Combining literacy with art is a wonderful way to make communication even more powerful. 

Onomatopoeias are the words that replicate the sound they make like splat, buzz, bang and zzzz. Onomatopoeias exist in most languages and change in different languages, for example, in Polish a "bang" would be "piff puff" some of your ESL students might enjoy sharing these with the class. 

After brain storming all the onomatopoeias that you and the class can think of, have a look at some of Lichtenstein's artworks showing his pop art style works with onomatopoeias.

Have the students use their own onomatopoeias in a comic story referring to Lichtenstein's style.

Mirrors and blobs

Two great and zero preparation drama games are mirror mirror and the the blob.

Mirro mirror is an imitation game where children work in pairs, one child makes the actions and the other mirrors the actions. The blob is a game where one child sits in a blob on the floor and their partner moulds them into shape. 

Turn Ten

Turn Ten is a really easy maths game they line up 20 cards which are numbered 1(ace)-9 in four rows of five. If they turn over two cards that equal 10, they take those two cards out and replace with two more from the pack (ensuring jokers and face cards are removed first). The game is finished when all the pairs are found. 

8 Simple Rules

Sometimes you'll be presented with "challenging" classes. I taught the most challenging class of my career a couple of years ago and supply teachers would often refuse to ever take them again, some even came close to leaving at lunch. 

Whether they be a delight or a dred, you're first job is to stay in control and that comes down to the most basic of rules to help get you through it: 

1. Be happy to be there- Smile, say hello, enjoy the experience, remind yourself you're employed. No one is going to respond to a miserable grump- keep smiling. 

2. Be prepared- get there early as possible and get all the information you need: passwords, procedures, plans, timetables. Write the timeline of the day down the side of the board. Keep the teacher notes in an accessible spot, talk to the teacher next door if your unsure, talk to the class ta if time permits. If all else fails have a bag of tricks on hand. Always get your own work ready in case the teacher  hasn't left any.

3. Be positive as possible- both for the students and yourself. If you can give them enough positive feedback as possible, they'll want to receive more and be more willing to please. By the same token, don't let negative behaviour slide either just draw in the positives so it hopefully doesn't get that far.

4. Be calm- you might want to scream, shout and go bananas but it's not helpful to anyone. It's amazing what behaviour management techniques will come to mind when you take a deep breath first.

5. Use your voice- screaming like a banshee is not great teacher etiquette and a good way to ensure you won't ever be asked back. Talk firmly from deep in your belly if necessary, it has a sound of authority without sounding out of control. 

6. Take an interest in your students- kids love it when a visitor takes an interest, ask them about their work or when they provide an answer ask how they know that, it's good feedback in your teaching and it's nice for them to personify their answers

7. Be pleasant- Would you rather be a Miss Honey or Ms Trunchbull? It's good role modelling to be polite and friendly and never let your mood dictate your manners. 

8. Teach- you're there to educate, not entertain. 

Sun dial, fun dial

The sun is fast escaping so if you've got to do a lesson on time, why not tie in a bit of hands on sun dial making? 

All you need is a stick to make the dial, then a few markers such as rocks. Start your dial at 9 and a new person (who's doing the right thing of course) can add a new marker each hour. Your dial would probably only go from 9-3 but what an interesting thing to add to the day that doesn't take time away from any set work you might have and leaves something for the children to talk about and reflect on- even though you might just be in for the day, doesn't mean your teaching won't go in! 

Attention grabbers

I hope everyone enjoyed the Easter Hols. I did and took a break from blogging ;)

Though we are not back at school until next week in New South Wales, I know loads of other schools are so am blogging again with some tips you may find helpful.

I know kids can take a while to switch off from holiday mode so I thought some attention grabbers might be a good idea to post today. Kids quickly tire of these so it's good to change them as necessary and to do that, you need a few up your sleeve. Just remember to teach them their responses and they'll often love to play along.

Autumn = free resources

Autumn= leaves. So many activities you can do with leaves. If you know the school you're going to and know they've got leaves, let the kids gather their own and enjoy the physical, tactile and sensory aspect of collecting them. If not grab a shopper bag and grab at least one good sized bag full.

Great activities for all age groups include:

English: autumn poetry; shape poems, acrostic poems, cinquian. It's only limited by what you feel like scaffolding.

Maths: grouping, modelling multiplication with small leaves, graphs, measuring area and perimeter, informal measurement with leaves. Write a number on the leaf and children can put matching amount of conkers or pebbles on top.

Art: make leaf animals, collage, leaf printing, hit the leaves with a hammer/ block and make a print, leaf rubbing with crayons.  

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HSIE (Human Society and It's Environment): how are the leaves different here to other towns/ neighbourhood, uses for leaves, what animals live in what trees? 

PE: if you can get to the hall have relays with the children blowing leaves from point a to point b on the floor they have to be on their bellies to do this so be prepared to model. 

Science: place leaves in a cup of water and put in a sunny spot. Make predictions and check in an hour- bubbles appear on the bottom. Why do you think that is? Put a clear plastic bag over a tree branch that still has leaves, make predictions and check later, there is water in the bag! 

There's no need to be spending huge amounts of your own money on resources but there is a need to be resourceful if you want to be a good teacher. 

A Bag of Tricks

As teachers more and more commonly push themselves to the point of exhaustion it's more and more likely for casual/ supply teachers to be called in at a minutes notice. It is a good idea to take your own bag of tricks with you. There's no need to spend loads of money or spend hours putting it together.

My teacher bag is just a reusable shopping bag with my prize box (contains cheap pencils, erasers and free collectible cards from the supermarket), 3 books from the library for early stage 1, stage 1/2 and stage 2/3. I try and choose multicultural books or books from other countries, teacher stamps and a few interesting photos from magazines.

The prize box is for the jelly bean game and since only one child wins each day it lasts ages, the books are awesome as it gives you something to read the children and base your activities on and the pictures I use as a drama prompt or story writing sequence. 

This simple resource will make your day run much more smoothly and minimalizes the need to go rummaging through drawers and cupboards and wondering what to do when you can't get into the school intranet to run the smart board or print off stencils (which is a dirty word anyway).

It might be nice to refresh your resources often (which is a reason I use library books) so you don't get bored of your own resources. If you want your students to be enthusiastic about the goody bag, you need to be too! 

Hot Seating

Hot seating is a drama game and a talking and listening activity. 

In the activity, one child takes on the part of a character (usually from the text they're currently looking at) to answer questions from the audience. It's not necessarily limited to one character at a time though, you may choose to use two if the story had two main characters such as The Twits by Roald Dahl or a group of people if there are several major characters.

The main focus should be more on emotion and thought so make sure you base it on a story the children know well to ensure there's not too much emphasis on what happens leading to awkward blanks and silences. 

You can also use other characters like a special visitor they previously had e.g. the school nurse or  Henry VIII if they've been learning about The Tudors. It's only limited by your ideas. 

Can, Have, Are chart

I love these these Can. Have. Are maps. You can make one with a whole class as a plenary, introduction, small group activity or plan for an information report with older kids.

This is an example of one I made with a Reception Class (entry year) I taught in London. Look at their gorgeous writing! Bless :) 

Directions

I had a fantastic lesson left for me once. It was very easy to prepare and was a great activity for Year 5 HSIE and Maths.

The children were given a map of their local area and asked to plan their own excursion. The exclusion needed to be set out step by step with proper geographical language such as the compass points, left, right, straight ahead. They also needed to schedule lunch and recess breaks. 

I would probably start them off on the first point to model and let them take over from there. You could also use a big map on the interactive whiteboard to save on print outs- the last thing you need to do on a casual day is spend all your break time at the photocopier (especially when I already use at least half that time for marking). If you do however have time to run off some neighbourhood maps, it is handy for including a scale. 

How our Pulse Works

If you can find some toothpicks (mine were acquired from a cafe as I got my coffee en route to a school that said "bring your own work") and some blu tack, (don't be afraid to use the posters in the room, you're going to put it back) play dough, plasticine or mini marshmallows (being aware they contain gelatine which will not be suitable for vegetarian/ kosher/ halal children) you've all you need for a fun lesson on our pulse.

Make a spider map on hearts with the children and explain the feature of the heart we're learning about is the pulse. See what they already know about the pulse and explain as necessary. 

You can get them to run in the spot or even put in some music if you've got it from them to have a little dance. When they freeze, they need to observe the effect moving has on their body. We breathe faster, our hearts beat faster and we feel hot- we use more fuel- just like a car going fast! We need more blood pumping around. Based on their age group, discuss oxygen in the blood which is why we breathe so fast.  Can they check their pulse? Is it tricky? Let's find another way to check:

1. Take some blu tack it's substitute (about the size of a baked bean) and put your toothpick in it. It should look a bit like a mini toffee apple

2. Turn your wrist over and on the same side as your thumb, just under where your palm ends and your wrist begins, put your mini toffee apple and watch!

3. When it is in the right spot it will very slightly bob up and down with your pulse.

You can bring in stopwatches and timers to see how many times their heart beats in a minute as well. 

Cross the Creek

A quick phonics game I picked up teaching in London. It's perfect for Kindy and Year 1. 

Just mark out a creek with skipping ropes or streamers (or even ask them to imagine it). Add three "stones" like cushions or carpet squares, whatever maybe laying about in the room and place 3 letters cards in top (make them on sticky notes if the classroom doesn't have any you can find) to spell out a simple CVC word eg s-a-t.

Whole class sing "Who can cross the creek, who can cross the creek, who can cross the creek and reach the otherside". One child sounds out the letters one stone at a time and blends to spell it out.

 

Spider Maps

Spider maps are a very basic graphic information organiser. Probably best used in upper primary or maybe from Year 2 if you making it with a whole group. 

The "webs" woven together a a visual reminder for students to stay on task as they expand their ideas of a certain topic. They can instantly see where they need to build on their existing knowledge when the ideas aren't easy to build on.

In this picture example, a spider map has been used to gather all the information we need about koalas for an information report but you can use spider maps for a plethora of topics: characters from a story for a report, books for a review, a holiday for a letter, current affairs for an arguement or persuasive text etc etc.

It is also an activity that can be done individually, in small groups or whole class for an introduction or plenary.

Times table relay

Sometimes you have a class that are just bounding with bulk energy. Sadly, it looks terrible if you just take them out to do sport for the main part of the day so you need to tick two boxes at once..

I've paired up running races with timetables to do just that.

All you need to do is divide your class into 4 teams and if they already have maths groups in the class- perfect! 

You need a sheet with about 30 timetable questions for each group to be put on a clipboard, little table or chair about 25m from where they line up. Kids run up one at a time and answer any question they like on the sheet, run back to their team and the next child in line has a go and so on until all questions are answered. 

This activity can be extended into just about another subject too. If you've a closed question sheet, you've got an opportunity to do this. 

Playing cards in small groups

A simple resource with minimal preparation. If you don't have playing cards available, kids can easily make up their own number cards in pairs. 

They only need numbered cards or can use the  ace to represent 1 jack to represent 11, queen 12 and king 13.

In the first game children can pick up a card and play doubles, double doubles or triples by turning over a number card and students record the double(2x) or triples (3x) or double doubles (4x). 

An easier maths game is to over 2 cards and add the two numbers together in pairs.

Finally, you can use the cards to play factor bingo. They write the numbers 1-13 three times. Children pick up a card from the pack, for example 9. They then cross out the factors for that number on the sheet (in this case 1, 3, 9) but only on one line for each card until the lines get eliminated, then they go onto the next line. Keep going until all the factors are gone. Children have to wait a turn if their factors are already eliminated. 

Eraser warm up

Quickest warm up you'll ever prepare (perfect for when you get called at the last minute). All I did was wrote these digital times on the whiteboard and called the analogue time (e.g. Quarter to 3) and the kids matched it to the digital time written on the boards and erased it.

This is easy to do with a myriad of subjects e.g. Music terms, dates in history, homophones, synonyms, punctuation marks etc.

Games like this are great to have up your sleeve because unlike the interactive whiteboard, it will never freeze or require a password! 

Draw on

Such an easy art activity to prepare - just find a small picture of your subject from a magazine and glue it on a piece of blank paper. Children use their creativity to draw the rest of the picture and/or scenery. This can be done for all primary school classes. I've done an example using the picture collage and bamboo paper apps on my iPad so if you're lucky enough to have access to iPads at school, there's the option to put a technology slant on the activity. 

The Clean Up Championships

Sometimes a classroom can look like more like a rubbish tip at the end of the day , not the best way to leave a classroom! Cleaning it yourself is a) going to take ages and b) hardly teaching children to be responsible. 

I like to have a little incentive to give children to make the room spotless at the end of the day.

Materials:

Timer (5 minutes is plenty)

Prize Box ( include a few little things like pretty pencils, cool erasers, funky sharpeners, balloons and trading cards) 

Method:

1. Ask children if they can see what's wrong with the classroom (steer the chat toward the issue of the mess)

2. Ask what we need to do with our messy room (surely someone is going to say clean it up)

3. Explain we're going to do the clean up championships... Championships involve prizes! 

4. Show your prizes 

5. Tell the children there is a mystery item that either needs to be put in the bin or put away; the one person who finds it and puts it where it needs to be gets the prize! 

6. Let them know they can't ask "is this it?" You will be watching and reveal the winner when the 5 minute timer is finished.

7. Turn the timer over and let them get to work.

The beauty of this game is you drop clues like "Ohhh.. Maybe it's over by the window" "Or it just might be the bookshelves". Watch the classroom become as neat as a pin and remember to reward the finder of the mystery item. You can even use this game to write a procedure the next day if you're called back on the same class. 

The Jelly Bean Jar

An easy way to encourage students to aim towards great behaviour in the classroom is to draw a jar on the whiteboard and 10 jellybeans in the jar. Let the class know that each jelly bean represents 1 minute of free time at the end of the day, every time someone is silly, people are loud or the wrong thing is being done we lose a jelly bean and once it's gone it can't be given back.