With PARCC underway, my kiddos are required to take 3 ELA & 3 Math Tests that run about 90-110 minutes each. In silence, my kiddos will try their best on developmentally inappropriate mandated tests. It's cruel. It's exhausting. And most of all, its BORING!
I decided to forgo new units until after testing is complete! What better way to keep my kiddos engaged than to play review games and try new S.T.E.M activities!
In the beginning of the year, we did a aluminum boat activity and it was a huge hit & success! This time, students were required to build the tallest structure they could with only 15 spaghetti noodles and 10 marshmallows. The catch? No other materials were to be used! Oh! They also only had 15-20 minutes to do this! This was extremely difficult but it was a great problem solving activity. Tensions have been running high lately and this was a great exercise to promote team building, problem solving skills and critical thinking!
I decided to forgo new units until after testing is complete! What better way to keep my kiddos engaged than to play review games and try new S.T.E.M activities!
In the beginning of the year, we did a aluminum boat activity and it was a huge hit & success! This time, students were required to build the tallest structure they could with only 15 spaghetti noodles and 10 marshmallows. The catch? No other materials were to be used! Oh! They also only had 15-20 minutes to do this! This was extremely difficult but it was a great problem solving activity. Tensions have been running high lately and this was a great exercise to promote team building, problem solving skills and critical thinking!
We've also been playing review games called "Scoot" & "Kahoot"!
Scoot is a kinesthetic activity where each desk has a task card with a question or prompt on it. Students only have a limited time to complete the task and then when I yell "Scoot" they move to the next task card! 7th grade reviewed figurative language today! :)
Kahoot is an online trivia game. This is seriously the best activity I've discovered this school year! I can make my own quizzes on Kahoot and students can individually sign on with a game pin & create a username on the spot. No pre-sign up necessary (only for teacher account!) This was highly successful and my kids in both 7th & 8th grade have been bugging me to play it everyday!
Scoot is a kinesthetic activity where each desk has a task card with a question or prompt on it. Students only have a limited time to complete the task and then when I yell "Scoot" they move to the next task card! 7th grade reviewed figurative language today! :)
Kahoot is an online trivia game. This is seriously the best activity I've discovered this school year! I can make my own quizzes on Kahoot and students can individually sign on with a game pin & create a username on the spot. No pre-sign up necessary (only for teacher account!) This was highly successful and my kids in both 7th & 8th grade have been bugging me to play it everyday!
Each student had their own I-Pad to submit answers and I could see each of their results on my screen! :) excellent formative assessment!! We did get to play some fun trivia like Disney characters, food and movie trivia!
Click the link below to get Kahoot in your classroom!! :) It's super easy and tons of fun!
Cant wait to start Hatchet & punctuation skills!!
Until Next Time,
Ritchie
Until Next Time,
Ritchie