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1. Think time - What in particular are you finding challenging? (everybody documents an individual challenge or goal  on the padlet) (2-3 minutes)

2. Share your challenges and come up with a group focus or goal (10 minutes)

3. Decide how you want to use the rest of the time - share strategies and discuss, look for articles, webinars, etc (15 minutes)

4. What support do you need from Elizabeth (if any) - resources, time to observe each other, etc) (3 minutes)

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Can't hear the kids with the masks, fans, and extra environmental noise

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- Can't hear the kids with the masks, fans, and extra environmental noise

-Feeling like we're breaking the rules and breaking the 6ft barrier

- Kids unable to exchange ideas

- Not able to collaborate and learn through explorations

- Unable to do PBL

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1. Check-in with your group - What is one thing you have been working on? (5 minutes)

2. Choose your own adventure (20-30 minutes)

1. Group discussion - share strategies and brainstorm next steps

2. Problem of Practice Protocol - One group member chooses a problem or challenge that the group will help to solve

3. Research for ideas, articles, webinars, etc, come back to share what you have found/learned

3. Personal reflection - What is next step for you and your teaching practice? Record on the padlet, then share with your group. (5-10 minutes)

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What is something you want to work on over the next few weeks?

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What is something you want to work on over the next few weeks?

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Record below (don't forget to write your name

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Presents 5 ideas for collaborative partner discussion structures

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K-3 Ideas for Social Distanced Activities

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K-3 Ideas for Social Distanced Activities

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Many of these routines can be adapted for the socially distant classroom (i.e. with students using individual pens, or adding annotations one at a time to a shared easel chart).

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Collaboration ideas with Physical Distancing

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Collaboration ideas with Physical Distancing

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As schools and districts prepare for the new year, student and staff safety is top of mind. Many are buying extra cleaning supplies and developing protocols for social distancing, wearing masks and proper hygiene.

At SREB, we hear daily from teachers and leaders in search of strategies for delivering quality instruction while meeting safety guidelines. They ask:

"How do we reconnect with "lost" students who lacked access to online learning this spring?"

"Will social distancing require teachers to lecture to students sitting in rows?"

"How do we engage students in hands-on, minds-on learning with their peers - online or off?"

The idea of returning to "sage on the stage" instruction worries many educators. We at SREB work with many teachers who have shifted their instruction to include rich, meaningful assignments that engage students in collaboration that advances each other's thinking.

That commitment won't change with COVID-19, though the pandemic does present challenges. With creativity, flexibility and intentional planning, you can promote collaborative learning, whether you are teaching in person or online, armed with edtech or just paper and pencil.

Social interactions and opportunities to collaborate with peers impact students' social and emotional well-being as well as their learning.

Collaborate with Tech Outside the Classroom

With access to 1:1 devices and the internet, opportunities for collaboration abound. Here are four to consider. Just remember to give yourself, your students and their parents time to acclimate. Pick a small number of new tech tools and stick with them for a few weeks before trying something new. Schools can help by planning back-to-school activities and providing resources that help students and parents get comfortable with new technology. Consider creating quick instructional videos that introduce students and parents to new tech tools.

Breakout rooms: When small groups meet, each student is engaged and has a voice. Videoconferencing platforms like Zoom* allow small groups to meet at the same time under a teacher's control. Platforms like Google Meet allow for parallel meetings. Set protocols for using cameras and microphones, engaging through the chatbox and screensharing safely.

Shareable documents allow each student to complete their section and pass it on to the next person. Programs like Google Suite and Classkick give multiple students access to the same shareable document at the same time, allowing for real-time collaboration.

Discussion boards can be used in real-time or asynchronous instruction, depending on the platforms and settings you choose. With Padlet, all students respond to the same prompt at once, then comment on each other's ideas. Learning management systems like Canvas and Blackboard allow students to post any time, with deadlines for discussions to close.

Interactive digital whiteboards work best with touchscreen devices and a stylus, but mice work, too. As with real whiteboards, digital whiteboards allow students to share their thinking with peers. They are great for quick formative assessments, as well.

Collaborate with Tech Inside the Classroom

Tools that promote collaboration online work in the classroom, too. Allow students to videoconference with peers across the room or down the hall. Make sure students have quality headphones with a mic. Monitor conversations through the platform or by circling the room.

Online tools also help students in the classroom engage with peers who are learning remotely, decreasing social isolation for those at home and increasing access to quality learning for all.

Teachers need ongoing encouragement, time to collaborate with their peers and professional development opportunities

Collaborate Without Tech

Many students, especially those in rural areas, may begin the year at school without much tech. Though this adds to the challenge, teachers still have options to expand collaborative learning if in-person opportunities exist.

Use large, open spaces on campus like the cafeteria, gym, playground or bus loop to allow students to share their learning while socially distancing. Let's use the bus loop as an example. Before the lesson, mark large Xs at a suitable distance on the pavement with chalk. During the lesson, assign students to groups and pose a prompt for them to discuss. Ask students to go outside with paper, pencils and clipboards. Assign each group to an X and have students stand with their arms out, finger-to-finger but not touching, to measure six feet. Provide enough time for them to talk and take notes. This strategy allows for social distancing, movement and collaboration. In the cafeteria, students can use sticky chart paper to record group ideas. Mark Xs with painter's tape instead of chalk.

Extra adults can help monitor students' behavior while they interact in large spaces. Ask for help from instructional coaches, other teachers, special education co-teachers, paraprofessionals, media specialists, administrators or parents, if volunteers are allowed.

In the classroom, collaboration depends on how many students you have, your ability to spread out and district safety protocols. Small classes of less than 15 students and large spaces are ideal, but students can work together safely in larger classes and smaller rooms if they follow guidelines for wearing cloth face coverings and staying six feet apart.

Benefits for Students and Teachers

All of us are growing more aware of the mental health effects of the pandemic. Many students and teachers have struggled with the isolation of distance learning. We know that the social interactions schools offer are just as important as academics, and opportunities to collaborate positively impact students' social and emotional well-being as well as their learning.

For teachers, fall will bring stresses we couldn't fathom a year ago. No teacher should have to shoulder their students' learning alone. Teachers need ongoing encouragement, time to collaborate with their peers and the professional development and just-in-time training they need to learn new tools and adapt their instruction for each learner and setting. If you're the only fifth-grade math teacher in your school, reach out to other teachers in your district or state. SREB can also help you connect with peers, as we did in a recent national workshop.

Contact us for help or consult our Playbook in Progress, the work of SREB's K-12 Education Recovery Task Force. In it you'll find ideas for accelerating learning, designing online, blended or hybrid instruction, delivering tiered interventions, supporting special needs students, adapting your curriculum to scaffold learning and ensuring students have access to technology.

* SREB does not endorse specific brands or technology vendors.

Thanks to Shelly Flygare, SREB School Improvement Leadership Coach, Pamela DeLapp, a teacher in Marion County, Georgia, and Kirsten Sundell, SREB Division Director, Product Development and Communications, for thought-partnering on this blog.

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Promoting Student Collaboration in the Age of COVID-19 - Southern Regional Education Board

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As schools and districts prepare for the new year, student and staff safety is top of mind. Many are buying extra cleaning supplies and developing protocols for social distancing, wearing masks and proper hygiene. At SREB, we hear daily from teachers and leaders in search of strategies for delivering quality instruction while meeting safety guidelines.

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Socially Distant Active Learning Activities

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Socially Distant Active Learning Activities

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When I first imagined a socially distant classroom, I had an overwhelming sense of sadness. I was flooded with images of classrooms under "normal" circumstances. I had flashbacks of kids rotating through fun learning stations, playing games together, reading in small groups, completing learning fact hunts, doing hands-on projects, and getting imaginative with their learning. For an instant, I felt like those days were over.

Then, I remembered the most fundamental truth about educators: "Teachers are innovative."

I knew it was time to think creatively about instruction. So, I took a deep dive into some of my favorite ways to get kids learning, and guess what? With small tweaks, we can still make learning engaging, motivating, and meaningful...and if it means that kids will have to do it 6 feet apart, no problem! The learning activities may be a little different, and we may need to get a little creative, but I'm hopeful that you'll be able to find some ideas below that just might work in your socially distanced classroom.

I love fact hunts! They're a great way to introduce or review material with students. Under "normal" circumstances, you would hide a ton of facts around the classroom or school. Th en, students would rotate around and collect the information. Since students move around freely to collect facts, I thought that this might not work in a socially distanced classroom, but then I realized that with a few more parameters and a bit more planning it could work. Here's how:

--- Write facts about a topic on 1/2 sheets of paper.

--- Tape the facts around the classroom or along a hallway, spacing the facts at least 6 feet apart.

--- Explain to students that they will be collecting facts as they rotate around the classroom.

--- Designate where each student will begin.

--- Then, after collecting the first fact have students move on your cue to the next fact as they rotate through every fact.

Let's be honest, kids are always requesting to have class outside. Now is the perfect time to do just that. To prep, just set out flags, blankets, or cones to designate where kids can work while remaining socially distant. Then, have students bring their work outside.

Since the kids are outside, they can also be a bit louder, so you can make it especially fun by...

--- Letting students shout their spelling words

--- Challenging students to read out loud in a way that everyone on their blankets can hear them

--- Creating cheers to help remember important content

--- Teaching new information and encouraging students to yell their responses

One of the troubling things about the socially distanced classroom is the fact that kids will have less opportunities to collaborate and work together. However, interacting with peers and working together is such a powerful part of the "normal" classroom. That's why this next idea is perfect!
Jenny from Art with Jenny K and I created a series of collaborative anchor charts. Each student is responsible for creating an element of the chart independently. Then, the teacher assembles the collaborative anchor chart. The cool part is that not only is it creative and collaborative, it is also a powerful way for students to learn. When they see their own work as part of the chart, they're more connected to the learning.

I know what you're thinking, "Learning stations in a socially distant classroom?! Yeah, right!" I'm with you. At first, I thought learning stations would have to go away. But, then I realized that it's still possible to do the fun and engaging learning station activities with a small tweak. Specifically, instead of setting up different learning stations and having students rotate to each one, everyone in the class could stay in their seats and work on a single station's tasks at the same time. In other words, on the first day, everyone would complete station one. The teacher could serve as the "leader" of the station, reviewing the directions and ensuring that students have the right materials.
While the rotations would be gone, many of the benefits of learning stations would remain because they still keep students engaged while chunking instructional material. Since stations also include a variety of activities, students will still be able to learn in various ways.

One of the concerns about socially distanced classrooms is that students will have to learn in a "sit and get" environment. As educators, we're always striving to move away from traditional lectures. That's where 3-D projects come in. When students can turn their learning or research into a 3-dimensional project engagement and buy-in soar.

Here are some simple ways to make learning a little more 3-dimensional:

--- Have students turn their notes into paper airplanes.

--- Turn a single piece of paper into mini-books filled with notes.

--- Let students create cootie catchers to review important concepts.

--- Provide students with interactive notebook activities.

Doodling is a great way to engage students (even when they are socially distanced). Give students an opportunity to doodle during the school year and watch their engagement soar! Not only is doodling fun, it's also been shown to help our brains process information.

You can have students create doodles to showcase their learning at any time. Let students create doodles:

--- To help them learn vocabulary

--- As a way to review for a test

--- For a book report

--- As they learn about a new topic

--- When they answer a test or quiz question

You might want to introduce Doodle and Do resources into your classroom. First, students complete doodle-style notes. Then, they practice their learning as they " do" different activities. You can get students doodling as they learn new vocabulary, nonfiction text features, study skills, novel studies, fact hunts, and even reading skills.

I hope you've found a few instructional ideas to bring into your socially distanced classrooms. These sure are challenging times for educators, but there's one thing we all know for sure: Teachers are innovative! I know that your students are so lucky to have you! If there's anything I can do to help, feel free to reach out to me at brainwavesinstruction@gmail.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

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The Socially Distanced Classroom: Learning Activities that work with Social Distancing

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When I first imagined a socially distant classroom, I had an overwhelming sense of sadness. I was flooded with images of classrooms under "normal" circumstances. I had flashbacks of kids rotating through fun learning stations, playing games together, reading in small groups, completing learning fact hunts, doing hands-on projects, and getting imaginative with their learning.

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Common Problems + Solutions in Socially Distant Classrooms

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Common Problems + Solutions in Socially Distant Classrooms

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Facilitating productive talk and promoting student voice

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Using sentence stems to scaffold classroom discussions guides students to speak, actively listen, and build on each others' ideas.

I used to think that the perfect classroom had students sitting in rows, hands folded, with their eyes on me. "All eyes on me" was in fact my favorite teacher line. Having an attentive audience was one of the reasons teaching was fun for me.

Fast-forward 35 years to my last year of teaching before I transitioned to being an instructional coach-my students were at tables or sitting knee-to-knee in small groups. They weren't quiet, and they were facilitating their own learning. The chatter was rigorous and the ideas were flowing. How did we get there? I taught my fifth-grade students talk moves -sentence stems and key phrases that help students speak, actively listen, and build on each other's ideas.

Introducing the Talk Moves

I presented the talk moves over four days. After I introduced each talk move, we practiced what it would sound like in our classroom. For example, when students wanted to expand their peer's thinking, that sounded like "What do you mean by that?" or "Can you give an example?"

On the fourth day, after students had learned the talk moves, a group of four students modeled them. The rest of the class observed and then gave the group feedback by naming the talk moves they saw their peers use.

I kept a bulletin board in the classroom with the talk moves up all year long. This gave my students key phrases to activate their talking, thinking, and listening-like "I respectfully disagree because ___." Building the routines takes time, but in the long run it saves time by engaging students and making the time much more productive. As the school year progressed, we would sometimes need to revisit the talk moves to reflect on how the talk looked-students sitting facing each other, in a circle or knee-to-knee-and what it sounded like when it was working well. The bulletin board was used as a reference guide most every hour of our day.

The Talk Moves

Time to think: When I introduced this to students, we quickly discussed why it's important to allow each other time to think-having that think time helps students articulate their thoughts. To practice this talk move, I gave students time to jot down a few ideas before they started talking, and during conversations they could say, "I need time to think." Allowing for quiet moments and thought to become routine will encourage think time to happen as students later work in small groups or with a partner. I also brought to students' attention when I used this move as a teacher. I'd say, "Notice, I just used think time."

Say more: Too many times people talk and don't listen. This talk move gets students listening as they ask their classmates for clarification. Having students ask questions like "Can you say more about that?" "What do you mean by that?" or "Can you give an example?" encourages active listening and back-and-forth discussion between students.

So, are you saying ___? Summarizing helps students check their understanding and verify with speakers that they communicated what they intended to. Some helpful sentence stems: "Let me see if I understand what you are saying: ___" and "Are you saying ___?"

Who can repeat or rephrase that? Students have to listen carefully if they are going to repeat what someone else said. Having students ask each other, "How can we say that differently?" or "Can you put that in your own words?" also deepens content understanding.

What is your evidence or reasoning? As students explain their thought process, they deepen their own thinking as well as their classmates'. In all subjects, students should be making claims and backing them up with evidence. They can ask each other questions like "What is your evidence?" "Why do you think that?" "Is there anything in the text that makes you think that?" and "Where did you get that information?"

Challenge or counterexample: When students are introduced to a conflicting example, it pushes their thinking and deepens their understanding. They can gently challenge each other's thinking by asking questions like "Does it always work that way?" "How does that idea work with a different example?" and "What if it had been ___ instead?"

Agree and disagree: Conflict isn't always easy, but it's important for students to learn how to respectfully express their opinions and know that it's OK to change their mind when they are introduced to new information. These sentence stems can help facilitate constructive communication: "I respectfully disagree because ___," "I agree with ___," and "Are you saying the same thing as ___?"

Add on: Sentence stems like "I would like to add on to that," "Adding on to what [another student] said, ___," and "Can I push that idea a bit further?" helps students work together to build upon their prior knowledge.

Explain what someone else means: Having students put their peers' responses into their own words gives more students ownership over the answer, exposes them to different ways about thinking about the answer, and allows you to check for understanding. You can get this talk move started by asking, "Why do you think he said that?" and students can initiate it by saying, "I can explain what ___ means by that" or "I can put that into my own words."

Teaching students to talk productively in the classroom is the most important change I've made in my teaching career. I've used talk moves with students in all areas of the curriculum. As an instructional coach, I find that teachers benefit from using talk moves in professional development, too. We all need to talk, process, and share to be truly learning.

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What Productive Talk Looks Like in the Elementary Grades

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Using sentence stems to scaffold classroom discussions guides students to speak, actively listen, and build on each others' ideas.

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From Summer Camp...

I was a camp counselor during the summers between my college years. I still remember my first Staff Training in June before campers arrived. We had nearly 2 weeks to get to know one another as a staff. I tended to be that person who hated icebreakers and "stupid" games. When we started learning some games, I was less than enthused; however, I loved these games! I had no idea that community building activities could make me laugh out loud and bond with others so well. I had not done activities like this before.

To Morning Meetings...

Then, I went to a Responsive Classroom training after my first year teaching. I fell in love with morning meetings. You might think that because I taught 6th graders I didn't do games as much. It's all about picking the right games for the right group of kids. Mind games (explained here) were always a hit with the older ones. I also think my background in working with kids from rising 3rd graders to rising 12th graders helped give me some perspective on what different age groups enjoyed. The atmosphere and your enthusiasm as a leader makes all the difference.

To Improv Games...

As a teacher, I've taken many professional development courses. Some have been painfully boring, but one class I took was pure joy: Improv Techniques. The teacher of that class was a middle school drama teacher, and he was awesome! He'd had a wide variety of experience from helping with morning meetings in elementary school to teaching drama to working with older students to acting himself. I also really loved that there were K-12 teachers (and specialists!) in that class so I heard a wide variety of applications. Some of those I discuss here in my post on 12 review games.

Below I'll share some of my favorite games I've learned from these environments.

- I fully believe that kids need unstructured play, whether that's wandering the track outside and chatting to a friend, digging in the dirt with a stick, sitting on a bench in the quiet, dancing like crazy people...they need time to just be. That said, there are a lot of restrictions on free play right now in schools due to social distancing. What I love about many of these games is that they allow for creativity while it's still a structured activity. I hope they help you as you plan indoor or outdoor recess activities or brain breaks for your socially distanced classroom. Most of these will work better if you are outside, especially considering the restricted set up of classrooms this year. If you need ideas for students to be at their desk, see this post.

1. Whoosh Ball

(Full disclosure: I thought this was the weirdest game ever when I first played, but kids LOVE this game! On picture day, this easily keeps kids entertained as they wait for classmates. It fills bits of time when I'm in a meeting at the end of the day. It's a life saver, so give it a chance. I've had classes BEG to play anytime we have 5 minutes of waiting to go to an assembly, etc.)

This is a fast paced game. Students pass an invisible "whoosh ball." One student starts with the ball and holds their hands as if holding a ball in front of them. They can pass the ball to the right or left by saying, "Whoosh." If Student A passes to the student on the right (B), they can continue passing the ball by saying "Whoosh" to the student to their right (C.) At any time, a student who is being passed the ball can refuse the ball by saying, "Woah!" and putting their hands up in front of them in a "hands off" kind of position. If student B says "Woah!" to student A, student A can turn to the left (student Z) and say, "Whoosh" to pass it to them. If that student also says, "Woah!", student A can turn back to student B or they can "Zap" the ball to someone across the circle by clapping their hands together in the direction of the intended recipient. Any student can "Whoosh," "Woah!," or "Zap" at any time when they have the Whoosh ball. When a student "Zaps" the ball, they must be able to make eye contact and point their hands towards the intended recipient. A student MUST accept a Zap; in other words, you cannot "Woah" a "Zap." The whoosh ball continues to move around the circle. You also cannot "Zap" a person to the right or left of you; it needs to be someone across the circle. If a student misses their cue to receive a zap or does not respond to a Whoosh or Woah, Zaps someone next to them, or does not do the right hand motion with the correct word, then they are out. This is a fun, fast paced, silly game. Be sure to restart before too many students have left the circle. Students who get "out" can also start their own new game.

Variations/when social distancing doesn't have to be a thing: Anytime a student has the Whoosh ball, they can surprise students by bouncing up and down with their hands above their head and say, "Boing! Boing! Boing! Boing!" Also, anytime the student has the Whoosh ball, they can put their hands in the air, wiggle their fingers, and say, "Mingle! Mingle! Mingle!" At that point, all students must change places in the circle. The student who declared that everyone Mingle still has the Whoosh ball and will start as soon as everyone is mostly in a circle again. The point is to be fast, so both Boing! and Mingle! are meant to disrupt the flow of the game and catch people off guard.

2. Zoom

Here's a great video that shows MANY improv games in action. The first one they show is Zoom. Their website http://improv.ca/training/online-training-resource/ has directions that go along with what they show in the video

This is similar to Whoosh Ball but much simpler. Slide your hands against one another in opposing directions (one straightening out in front of you and the other moving towards your body) and clap them so it creates a clapping noise. You want there to be a noise and to have a clear indication of the direction the forward hand is pointing. One person starts and says "Zoom" at the same time as they do the motion. Whoever they are pointing to receives the zoom and can clap and pass it to another person. This just moves around the circle quickly.

3. Human Protractor

Everyone stands in a circle (better to see one another) with hands reaching towards toes. Students will gradually move their straight arms from their toes to the sky/ceiling with 0 representing the floor and 20 representing the sky. Encourage children to notice where 5, 10, and 15 are so they have benchmarks. Once you count for each number, then call out random numbers between 1-20 and everyone tries to go to that spot with their arms. You can do this for 0-10 or 0-50 once they have the idea. For students who have studied angles, use degrees between 0 and 180 and have students estimate angles with their body. For a math game, call out a math problem where the answer is between 0-20 (or whatever benchmarks you've chosen for ground to sky). For example, say "ten minus three". The group says, "seven, " and moves to the position of seven. Or you can say, "four plus ten," and they say, "fourteen" and angle their body to where 14 out of 20 would be.

4. Cha!

For this game, students will stand in a circle. Students "pass" an invisible "cha" back and forth across the circle. The first student raises their hands with palms together above their head and says "cha." Then, they lower their hands towards the person they are "passing" to and say "cha" again. That person "receives" the "cha" by raising their arms with palms together above their head and says "cha." The people on either side of the receiver will turn towards the receiver and "chop" the receiver at the stomach level. Students SHOULD NOT actually need to touch the student (even in normal times, because you don't want to actually hit people ever). The goal is that the people on the right and left of the receiver try to be first to get their hands sideways and say "cha." If the person on the left is slower than the right (and vice versa) the other person is out. If a student does not respond when their neighbor receives the cha, they are out. This is a fast paced game where students should be saying "cha" one right after the other. Students that miss a cue are out. Restart the game once the group has dwindled by a bit. This game can get loud as students shout "CHA!"

5. Wigolo

This is just a song and dance activity ( same as Pop-see-ko on Go Noodle; I just knew this version years before I heard Pop-see-ko).

Students will need to think of a simple dance move that can be copied by anyone (example: a disco move, a twist, a jump, etc.). It's a good idea to demonstrate a couple of those ideas.

Here are the lyrics:

(Wig-o-lo-o, wig-wig-o-lo-o) x 2 start with both hands on knees, then clap, repeating as emphasized

Hey (name).

Hey What?

Are you ready?

Ready for what?

Ready to wig.

Wig what?

Wigolo!

Well, my hands are high (student raises hands over their head), my feet are low (student reaches hands to toes), and this is how I wigolo. (student does dance move)

His/her hands are high (all students raise hands over heads), his/her feet are low (all students reach hands to toes), and this is how s/he wigolos. (classmates copy dance move)

(Wig-o-lo-o, wig-wig-o-lo-o) x 2 start with both hands on knees, then clap, repeating as emphasized

Note: If a student takes too long to think of a dance move, just initiate copying whatever move they are currently doing (shrugging shoulders or crossing arms) to keep it lighthearted and moving along.

Every year, I teach this to students when we take 6th graders on a 4 day, 3 night camping trip (yes, we really do this!) and I could not get over this happening one night at the campfire. The energy of over 100 kids playing this together was so cool (and crazy as you can tell!)

6. Chicken Goggles

For this game, all students sit or stand in a circle. Everyone makes "chicken goggles." Students will make circles with their index finger and thumb and place them around their eyes. The other three fingers can fan out like feathers. The point is that the peripheral view is obstructed. Students "pass" to the right by dropping their right hand to their knee and make a chicken "ba-ac" noise. Students "pass" to the left by dropping their left hand to their knee. Students can skip one person if they drop both hands to their knees, in which case it keeps passing in the direction it came. Students can choose any of the three moves when it becomes their turn. Students are "out" if they do not skip when they were skipped or keep passing right when their neighbor passed left, etc. I would encourage a variety of "chicken noises" because it's hilarious. This is a silly game and causes quite a bit of laughter, so be prepared for the noise level.

7. Samurai

This game is best done outdoors. You need a pool noodle or some other replacement item for the "samurai sword"; you could also just use your arm if desperate. All students stand in a circle around the "samurai" in the center. The "samurai" can be a student once demonstrated. The samurai can make three moves: swiping the sword horizontally by lifting it across the top by people's heads, swiping the sword horizontally along people's feet, or swiping the sword vertically in between people. The samurai must show a distinct start and end while spinning around the circle and swiping the sword. When the samurai swipes at heads, anyone in the circle who would reach the sword must duck to avoid "getting their head chopped off." When the samurai swipes at feet, anyone in the circle who would be touched by the sword must jump to avoid "getting their feet chopped off." When the samurai swipes vertically to "cut someone in half," people on either side of the sword must jump away to the side. If someone doesn't move and would have been cut by the sword, then they are out. It's important that the "samurai" clearly separates between the high horizontal movement and the low horizontal movement by bending knees/learning down/angle of the pool noodle.

8. Evolution Rock Paper Scissors

This is a funny game that includes rock paper scissors. All students start out as "eggs" where they crouch on the ground and walk in a squat. They find another person and play rock paper scissors. Whoever wins, "evolves" and becomes a baby bird. The baby bird still squats but flaps their wings. A baby bird will find another baby bird and play rock paper scissors. When they win, they "evolve" again. An egg needs to find another egg to play rock paper scissors and must win (or be the last one) to evolve into a baby bird. A baby bird must play with another baby bird before they can evolve. The order is as follows:

Egg (walk in a squat)

Baby Dinosaur (walk with bent legs and flap "wings" - bend arms and flap elbows)

Pterodactyl (walk while flapping"wings" - whole arms out to the side)

T-Rex (stomp around and roar)

Another version of the evolution sequence is:

Egg (walk in a squat)

Chicken (walk with bent legs and flap "wings")

Dinosaur (walk with short arms like a t-rex, stomp, and roar)

Gorilla (stand up and pound chest)

Human (stand up and act like normal)

9. Follow the Leader

In this game, one person leaves the circle who will be the detective. One of the remaining people is the leader. The leader starts with a basic movement (snapping, clapping, stomping, touching arms or thighs) and repeats that movement for several beats. Everyone else follows the leader as quickly as possible. The detective enters and stands in the center of the circle. The leader is the only one who can change the movements. It is everyone else's job to follow the leader's movements as quickly as possible so that it's hard to tell who the leader is. The detective gets 3 or so guesses before a new detective and a new leader is chosen.

Two games that remind me of "Follow the Leader" that are popular kids' games are "Signs" and "Froggy Murder."

Signs

In Signs, each person has their own "sign". The first person makes their own sign, then "passes" to Person B by making their sign. Person B "receives" it by making their own sign, then makes Person C's sign to pass to them. The passing is random; the game is meant to be fast-paced and focused. If you miss your sign or make a mistake, you're out.

Froggy Murder

In Froggy Murder, one person is the detective and leaves the area. One of the remaining people becomes the "murderer" and they can "kill" people by sticking out their tongue. When you "die," you literally fall over or sit down (if standing). The detective is trying to find the "murderer". I find that kids enjoy dramatic fake deaths, so I tell them "2 second deaths only."

10. Red Bouncy Ball

This game requires some imagination. Each person is going to pantomime their own action. Person A will go up to Person B and say, "This is a red bouncy ball" and act out playing with a bouncy ball. Person B will respond, "Thank you for the red bouncy ball." Person B will move on to someone else and keep passing that red bouncy ball around. Simultaneously, Person C is going to Person D to say something like, "This is dirty diaper," and act out handing a dirty diaper to them. Person D may not want to say "Thank you" in this case, so that line is flexible. Different things will be passed around to different people, so it might be a good idea for you as the teacher to facilitate a few people starting with "This is a....". This video from Ford's Theatre showing Pass the Pterodactyl is pretty similar.

11. Captain on Deck

There are MANY variations of this kind of call and respond with action game. This is like Simon Says in some ways except the phrases have meaning on their own. The teacher/leader calls out an action, and everyone has to respond to that action. The trick to this game is that when you say "Captain's coming!" everyone has to stand at attention (feet together, hand in salute). They must stay that way until the leader says "At ease." If someone moves and does a movement that is called out before "At ease," they're out. Here are some movements that would work for individuals.

Beetle: lay on the ground with feet and hands up like a bug on its back

Climbing for the clouds: pretend to be climbing a ladder and reaching up

East: run east or right

West: run west or left

Boats: sit down and pretend to row a boat

Mermaid: play with your hair and/or pretend to whip your tail

There are many other movements/games that require group functionality; One from Ford's Theatre on YouTube is Elephant which is really fun. This might be too physically close for right now, but it might give you some ideas. Here's a more traditional version of Captain on Deck.

12. Yes, No, I

The goal of this game is to have a conversation without using the words yes, no, or I. Students stand in 2 lines to start. The 2 people at the front start off a conversation. For example:

A: How are you doing?

B: It's okay. The weather could be better.

A: It rained all week, didn't it?

B: Yes, it did.

Person B said yes. Typically is someone says "yeah" or "nah" instead of yes or no, I still would count it as against the rules. The next person in the B line would swap out and start talking to A. The original B person would move to the end of the line. The conversation keeps going and can be complete nonsense. It often happens that right off the bat someone starts with "I" and then they just send themselves to the back. If everyone has a lighthearted mood about it, it's really fun and encourages acceptance of mistakes.

13. Questions

This is really similar to the previous game, Yes, No, I. In this scenario, students can ONLY speak in questions. For example:

A: Where are you going?
B: Why do you need to know?

A: Why can't you tell me?

B: Do you even know what my job is?

A: Are you a spy?

B: Why would I tell you if I was?

A: Pause....

If someone cannot keep up the questions and pauses for longer than 2-3 seconds or makes a statement instead of a question, they're out and the next person in line takes their spot. Here's an example of a group doing this as a performance.

14. What are you doing?

I think this is a particularly great explanation with examples. Here's another video of an improv group playing.

This is essentially a more complicated version of charades. Instead of drawing slips of paper to describe actions, you have to think on your feet. I love that this encourages divergent thinking. I've learned this with 2 people playing back and forth, but I like just one person in the center/at the front and swapping everyone out one after another pretty quickly so no one gets too stuck or embarrassed. The first person does any action. Then, the second person comes up and asks, "What are you doing?" If the first person was pretending to take a shower, they can answer by saying anything other than taking a shower. So they might say, "I'm slaying a dragon." The second person pretends to slay a dragon. The third person asks, "What are you doing?" The second person replies with anything other than slaying a dragon and their answer becomes the direction for the third person, and so on. You can give themes to help students such as "fairy tales" or "summer activities" which can help or you can let it be totally random. You can even give kids an "out" and they can say "I'm riding a rollercoaster" each time they can't think of something. I would really only offer this the first time you play, and after that, they'll have more ideas.

15. Zip Zap Pop!

This is similar to Whoosh Ball and Zoom. Each word has its own movement. When you zip, you point with your hand above your head. When you zap, you point with your hand below your chin. When you pop, you clap your hands together and point them towards a person. This is like zoom in that you just keep passing anywhere in the circle at random. The trick is that you must always go in the order zip zap pop. You are typically out if you miss a pass or do the wrong movement/word combo, but you could also play this without outs. (I learned whoosh ball first, and the "pop" movement here is the same as "zap" from whoosh ball, so I actually swapped zap and pop movements with my class because it was throwing everyone off so much!) I personally learned this in a PD training, but I also found directions here.

16. Alphabet Game

A scenario is given to 2-4 people who will act out in front of others. Each person only says 1 line. Each line starts with the consecutive letter in the alphabet. You can start with A or any letter. After you cycle through all people once, it goes back to the first person. The conversation starts and ends on the same letter. For example, the scenario could be going on a camping trip. If you start with Y, it could go:

1 - You always forget to pack socks.

2 - Zzzz. There are too many mosquitos already!

3 - And I only brought one pair of shoes.

1 - Boy, I'd go for some air conditioning.

2 - Can't we just buy socks?

And so on back to Y.

You could have lots of people participate in this game, but it probably wouldn't be as much of a scene creation as an ongoing silly story (also totally fine!). This game can feel longer, but is fun for bystanders to watch if done well. You could also have students do only 6 back and forth conversations and not run through the whole alphabet.

17. Freeze Tag

Typically, 2 people play this game together at a time while everyone else watches and waits to jump in. What's nice about this game is that it is entertaining as an observer. Those 2 people act out something together. It can be helpful to give a scenario to start (eating dinner, playing hid and go seek, at prom, lost in the woods). Those 2 people just talk and act as if they were in that scene. The teacher (or another person in the group if you choose) can call out "Freeze!" Then, someone will go in and swap with another person. Often, this is done by "tagging" a person in their pose, but I would suggest saying the person's name you're swapping with. Once someone is swapped out, they have to change the way that scene is perceived. For instance, if the people were sitting down and pretending to eat a burger at dinner. A person could freeze, swap in, and turn that "eating a burger" into playing a harmonica.

Academic Tie-In: I attended WISSIT in DC and saw Mary Hall Surface explain how you could use the thinking routine Claim, Support, Question for something like this. For example, the leader/teacher can call out "Freeze" for someone (or 2 people) acting out a movement. Ask students what their "Claim" is for that movement then ask for explanations to justify that thinking. For example, if I'm standing with my legs spread out and my arms to my side, possible claims could be that I'm doing warrior pose in yoga, going surfing, riding my skateboard, ice skating, etc. Then, you can ask questions that would clarify the pose. After that, someone can take the same position then start acting it out and transition it to another scene. I used this to introduce the thinking routine in the realm of persuasive papers. My point was that each claim you make in persuasive papers must be supported with explanations and research. Every claim can be interpreted multiple ways, and people can make different claims based off of the same evidence.

I hope this gives you some ideas for structured play in your classroom! There really are a lot of ideas out there!

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As a camp counselor, lover of morning meeting games, and lover of improv games like from the TV show "Whose line is it anyway?" I've curated several fun but structured games to use with students that can be done with social distancing and zero materials other than people and imagination.

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Wondering: Are we able to have students share outside without masks on?

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Wondering: Are we able to have students share outside without masks on?

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Group Discussion and Reflection (10-15 minutes)
What progress did you make toward your goal/next step?
What are some take-aways you have as a group?
Is there anything you will continue to work on from now until the end of the year?
Individual Reflection (10-15 minutes)
Complete this individual reflection