Run, run, run! ... Stop!

This is an excellent way to teach action verbs, adverbs and lexical sets, and to work on sound discrimination. You can use it for five minutes every day, right from the start, and develop it. Use it when a class needs livening up or as part of the class routine.
Playing the game
1. Basic procedure

• Take the children somewhere where they can have some space and simply give out orders which the children have to follow.
• Shout Run, run, run! to get them started.
• Do each action with them and use voice inflection.
• When they seem to recognise each oder (after a few lessons), only use voice inflection and finally, only give the order.
• At the beginning, say each verb three times; eventually, say it only once to train your pupils to listen and recognise the different verbs.
• After each new order, say Stop! and clap your hands (this is to save your voice). The children have to stop suddenly and stand completely still in whatever position they are in. Then give the next order. Walk, walk, walk!... Stop!... Jump, jump, jump!... Stop! etc.
• Useful verbs to teach: run, walk, jump, play (a sport), play (an instrument), ride a bike, watch TV, eat, swing, fight, shout, drink, throw a ball, catch a ball, kick, climb, dance, sing, swim, fly, skate, push.

What's missing?

This is a game that is good for revising lexical sets and vocabulary. It can be extended to practice reading and writing skills.
Playing the game:

• Collect together between five and ten picture flashcards illustrating words that you want to revise or consolidate with the children.
• Line up the flashcards at the front of the class. Ask the children to identify each of the items. Then give them one minute to memorise the words.
• Tell the children to close their eyes. Remove one of the flashcards. Then tell the children to open their eyes and to see if they can spot which one has disappeared.
• Repeat this process until all the words have gone.

Older children might like to take the role of teacher and to lead this game.

Discipline

Discipline with Dignity
All students need to be treated with dignity. Even when a student is being disciplined, he or she needs to retain dignity. Private remainders and conferences with the child will preserve his or her dignity and yours.
One of the best things to remember concerning disciplining students is that they win whenever they get you to "lose your cool". Take your time when students "push your buttons" and decide carefully on your response. In this way, you will not behave in a way that you will regret later.
Teach Students Responsibility
Students need to be taught that they are responsible for their own behavior. If a student does not follow the rules it is best for natural or determined consequences to take their course whenever possible. When parents and others intervene, they take the responsibility for student's behavior away from the student.
Exercise Break
One of the best favors you can do for your students and yourself when students get wiggly and cannot seem to concentrate is to take an excercise break. One good time for break like this is about 45 minutes before lunch. Take your students outside for 5-7 minutes of exercise led first by yourself, and then, after they know the exercises, the students. This is not to replace physical education, but it is a quick chance to do some specific physical activity when the students need it most.

A Classroom Chores Planner

Divide the class into groups of five, if it is possible. Assign a name to each group. Display a monthly planner on the board. Label each week in the month: week 1, week 2, etc. Ask "Which group is going to do the classroom chores for (week 1)?"
Students choose a group. Ask students to come to the board and write the names of the people responsible for keeping the classroom tidy in week 1.
Continue with the rest of the month. If the class is large, you may need to use two monthly planners so that all the groups are assigned a week. Once all the assignments have been made, ask students questions. Point to one of the weeks and ask Who's going to (tidy the classroom) on Monday? Students respond.

Storage (cont.)

Clotheslines
Use large eye screws and attach a line from one side of your room to the other. Use clothespins to display student work.
Gutter Rails
Attach PVC rain guttering to empty wall sections to store and display reading materials. The guttering comes in several colors and can be attached at several heights. If the walls are concrete or plaster board, you may need special screws.
Drying Racks
Clothes drying racks work well for storage Big Books. Use pants hangers or strong clothespins on dress hangers and then hang on the storage racks. This also protects the Big Books. If you are lucky enough to have a multiple copies of the little books to go with the Big Books, they can be stored in reclosable plastic bags and attached to the same hanger.

Storage (cont.)

"Slap" It On
To display and manipulate items like word cards, small picture cards, or name cards, tape long strips of masking tape (sticky side out) on the chalkboard or other surface. They can be removed, rearranged, and re-stuck to graph, alphabetize, categorize, etc.
Big Book Storage
A quick and easy way to store big books is in a laundry basket. Be sure that you purchase one that is very sturdy and rectangular in shape. This ensures that your big books will stand up straight and be kept in good condition. Label the basket and keep it in the same place.
Stotage Boxes
Purchase flat carboard or plastic boxes that are designed to fit under the bed for versatile storage boxes in your classroom. They are the perfect size for storage of your sentence strip stories and other pocket lessons. These boxes also stack nicely, making them great for storage of month-specific items or art projects.

Storage

One of the biggest challenges for a teacher is finding enough places to store everything in the classroom. When visitors enter your classroom, one of the things that speaks the loudest is the neatness of the room. We're not talking about the student desks at this time, but rather the overhead shelves, ledges, and table tops. If there are materials that look unorganized and spread everywhere, visitors to your classroom can not help but react. Take a moment and look around your room on a regular basis and see what needs to be cleaned up from a visitor's point of view. Students can help you with this task. Good organization may star with an organized room.

Another common problem, whether you have been teaching for two months or twenty years, seems to be the universal inability to throw things away. Almost everything can be used in some new and creative way in the future, but if you can't find it, you can't use it. Try to keep only the things you will really use and then organize them somewhere that you will be able to find them. Using inexpensive, labeled storage boxes is one solution to the storage problem...

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Anytime Bulletin Board Ideas

Reading Is a Blast

Have a "Reading Is a Blast" Bulleting board. In the center of the board, have a picture of a rocket. After students have completed books, they may write their names and the titles of the books on precut planets, stars, or astronauts and attach them to the board.

Magazine Resources

Display magazine or newspaper pictures when you find a spread is appropriate for a subject you are studying. Mount pictures on construction paper, write captions or titles on contrasting construction paper strips, and arrange all on a colorful background. Hint: Buy two copies so you can display both sides. Be sure to store the pictures and captions for use another year.

Coming Soon

Pique students curiosity and anticipation in your classroom with a "Coming Soon" bulletin board. In the center, prepare a marquis in a frame that features the new topic or event and presents interesting information about the upcoming unit. Surround the frame with relevant objects, pictures, etc. Place a manila envelope in a corner of the bulleting board of leave a shoebox near it for students to deposit cards containing questions that they may wish to ask or learn about the topic. When you are ready to begin the unit, you students will be prepared and eager as well.

End of the year
Have students color their own popcorn while you draw a popcorn box then arrange the popcorns with the names of the students as if they were inside the box and also some out. Write on the box Popping into ___ grade.

Bulletin Board Hints

Backgrounds
Butcher paper is the traditional background for a bulletin board. Consider investing in fadeless butcher paper if you do not want to invest the time to change the background paper throughout the school year. Or consider some of these other creative alternatives to bulletin board backgrounds.
Use contact paper, wrapping paper, or wallpaper for patterned backgrounds.
Cover your bulletin board with other types of paper such as newspaper, maps, a patchwork pattern of construction paper, old pages from calendars, and printed paper.
Sheets and fabric can cover a background, as well. Make a patchwork board by gluing sections with different patterns and materials.
Attach chicken wire to the bulletin board. Items can be hooked on rather than pinned.
Art tissue, colored cellophane, construction paper, butcher paper, or sand paper can be coverings for a bulleting board background.
Hang netting across the bulletin board. Clip items to the net with clasp clothespins.

Bulletin Board Hints

It is a good idea to have interesting bulletin boards and displays around your room. These can satisfy a variety of needs, including the presentation of student work, the imparting of important information, and the reinforcement of key elements in the curriculum.
Get creative and really express yourself! Hints in this section give ideas for various methods of making letters, materials for covering backgrounds and borders, and props that can be used to spice up any bulletin board.

Lettering
Print block letters onto construction paper with wide-line black markers. Then draw dots on the ends of the letters.
Type a bulletin board title. Enlarge it on a photocopying machine. Attach the title to the bulletin board.
Put two straight pins on each letter (use ready made ones that can be cut out from stencils). Push T-pins into the bulleting board background and pull the letters up against the head of the pins.
If you want a level line for your title, the easiest way to put up letters is to measure down at the right side of your board and again at the left. Put in pins and strech a string between. This will make your letters straight enough for the toughest critic! If you want your letters to be centered, find the middle of both the board and the caption and work your way out to the ends.