"What kind of warm-up activities do
you use in your classes? I use the calendar, but my students look bored. I
teach K-5. Thanks for your help!"
Kristina: We song a buenos Dias
song and sing a weather song b4 picking the weather for the day. I vary the way
we sing so they don't get bored- girls vs
boys, loud then soft etc.
Elizabeth: I do the calendario
every day since my 5th graders read the date over the PA system for morning
announcements, they have to practice!
Caitlin: We sometimes pass a ball around
and ask each other questions, such as ¿Cómo estás?/¿Cómo te
llamas?/¿C´mo es tu familia? and
questions based on what we are doing at that time. Or I will pass around an
object (a plastic food during the food unit) and they have to say something
about it in Spanish. They also love counting while stretching and exercising.
Also I use a smartboard for
daily routines, in gr 2-4 students come up and have to ask the class about the
calendar, weather and their feelings, students respond by clapping or raising
their hand (whatever the student leader tells them in Spanish). They enjoy
this! But always looking for new ideas too.
Ellen:
I make one student the weather person. They hold pictures of different
types of weather, and they ask the class "Hace frio
hoy" Hay niebla hoy?
Ellen: The class has to answer.
Joe:I use these songs for warm-ups in the lower grades, K-2.
Brittany:
I draw a circle or square on the dry erase board. For the I'll say como estas hoy
and someone will come up and illustrate their emotion and the class will guess.
The square is either a window and we say como esta el tiempo ? A
student draws a weather scene and classmates guess. We've done it for clothing,
seasons, etc they
love illustrating and having friends guess. Eventually they can identify 5-10
items in a detailed seasonal picture.
Caroline: I have a warm-up smartboard
lesson that my students love. It has the Buenos Dias and Hola
amigo song, calendar activity with Cuenta
song, meses with
Macarena song, weather and other songs and dances. I can email you the lesson
if you'd like. I also use commands, such as hands up, hands down, move them
fast, slow. Jump 5 times, sit down, stand up, etc.
Sarah: I do 3-4 brain-friendly activities
to get them in the zone for class. All of my classes come after they just had
lunch and recess.
While they are standing up:
1. El espejo -
move your hands around slowly and have students mirror you. I usually like to
do something silly like a mime-box or the macarena to
keep them entertained. Or let a student lead, but then everybody wants a turn
2. Countdown stretches - We throw our
hands up in the air and say diez. Then we "count down"
while touching various body parts (nueve-top
of head, ocho-
sides of face, siete- shoulders, seis-
hands on heart, cinco- hands on hips, cuatro-
hands on thighs, tres- hands on knees, dos- hands on
shins, uno-
hands on toes, cero- hands on the floor.) Then we count back up. I may throw in
a couple other stretches too afterwards like stretching to the sides (izquierda, derecha),
etc.
3. Partner talk greetings - Turn to
someone near you and say "hola!" shake their hand and say
"buenas tardes"
ask them "¿cómo estás?"
give them a thumbs up and say "muy bien"
wave "adiós".
They are just repeating but eventually I will build in the conversation skills
of taking turns, looking each other in the eye, waiting to hear the answer,
listening closely, and hopefully they will eventually actually have the
conversation on their own with out repeating.
4. Rhythm patterns, clapping, a song,
etc.
Simone: Strangely, my young students
really enjoy pantomiming the classroom rules:
1.Yo levanto la mano para hablar.
2.Yo escucho cuando la maestra habla.
3.Yo sigo direcciones rapidamente.
4.Yo no hablo inglés durante los cuentos.
5. Las manos y
los pies están quietos.
Cecilia: @ joe. I
like the screener deal I'm going to try it out what a great resource. More
practical than what I was doing.
