Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Caesar1313]

Let's share some good warm up ideas to start off classes for children. What do your kids love doing? I did Simon says last week and it went really well.

[jpotter78]

I have a new group of 1st graders every year. Sometimes they have trouble calming down when they come into my classroom, especially since they are coming in straight from a recess. A few years ago, I started giving them an assignment to complete before we began the class everyday. This gets them in their seats, quiets/calms them down, and reviews the lesson from the day before. Sometimes it is a song on repeat that they have to sing together. Sometimes its a puzzle. Sometimes its just a basic fill in the blank or worksheet reviewing material we studied. Also, they get stars for every assignment they complete and when they reach a certain level - currently 15 - they receive some sort of prize.
Actually, recently, they have decided to forgo some of their recess time so that they can get to the class early to complete the assignment...

[The Goalie]

From grade three up I'll have a question of the day and hangman it with words making sentences rather than letters making words. I have a repertoire of appropriate questions (e.g. Monday morning - "What did you do on the weekend?", "How was your weekend?", after lunch - "What did you have for lunch?", "How was your lunch?", etc.) and I tell them the question in Korean. After hangmanning it I use the question on a few students (elaborate a little) and finally I erase the question from the board and they have to ask me. Nothing too stunning but they like it well enough and they're really learning these questions (so much so that the crowds expecting a hanging generally go home disappointed).

[chest rockwell]

I do brain gym with my kids for a couple of minutes right at the start. Pull on the ears from the top to the bottom 5 times while counting aloud and then repeat from bottom to top. The idea is that it gets blood flowing to them so makes for better listening. Then massaging the jaw muscle five times in a circular motion while counting to five and then repeating anti-clockwise while counting down from five. The idea is this loosens up the jaw muscle and gets the vocal chords working. Then they put their arm straight out and while looking at their thumb nail they make the infinity sign while counting up to five (repeat again while counting down from five). The idea here is that you are engaging both the left and right sides of the brain. Then I get them to say the alphabet and counting up to ten and count down from ten. The kids enjoy it and you can mix it up by doing things a bit fast. You can also have kids to lead the exercises and give them a sticker afterwards for it etc.