Luckily I was fair warned and ready for 5th period. I have an incentive system on days such as these where the class and I have a contest. The contest is based on a point system. If the class is following directions well, participating, on task, etc. they can earn class points. On the other hand, if I am witnessing the opposite, I can earn points. I tell them that the points don't matter for me...I don't "win" anything for having more points so I am always on the lookout for awarding points to the class.
Their points definitely matter! At the end of the day, or class period, however many points I have, is subtracted from the number of class points and results in the total number of students I call for a small treat. Whether it be a starburst, jolly rancher, etc. I always use popsicle sticks to draw the name so that it is fair and unbiased.
I made one small change to this "nightmare" of a class and it certainly did the trick! As we worked through the assignments that day everyone had their popsicle stick at their desk. The same rules applied to my point system, however, they had to earn their popsicle stick in the drawing. I saw this group of THIRTY FOUR 7th graders wanting to participate, volunteer, answer questions, read aloud and, with each popsicle stick added, given praise for something positive they contributed to the class!
So, if you're having a rough day. Try switching things up a little bit! It was fun to compliment the students individually and in front of everyone as their popsicle stick clinked in the cup.
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While substituting for 4th grade, I was happy to see in the plans that there would be parents coming in to run an Art and Literacy lesson for an hour of the day! After 5, 10, 15 minutes of stalling, and no parents present, I decided to have a little art lesson of my own. It was one I found on Pinterest and am going to share with you!
I believe this lesson and activity would be great for any objective whether it be character education or reading visualization. This original idea came from a FHE lesson and I adapted it for the classroom. Students would listen to the story and visualize what The Zelmgld looked like, then they would sketch out a picture of Zelmgld. Below is the story and some examples...I've also included the info to the original link!
