https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv en-us 2018-11-14 01:31:08 UTC 2018-11-14 01:47:51 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Folder.png ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097381 This activity is great for teaching students how to work together.  All it requires is a hula hoop and some opened space.  Students will all stand in a circle and hold hands with the hula hoop on their arms.  The goal is to get the hula hoop all the way around the circle without anyone releasing hands. 
This game is a great game for ice breakers and team building.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11LNy8IOg8Y

]]> 2018-11-14 01:33:12 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097381 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097594 This activity is great for breaking the ice and classroom unity.  Students stand in a circle and grab the hands of two different people.  Students need to get their arms all tangled together in a big knot.  The goal is to get untangled without releasing anyone's hands. 
This activity definitely requires the instructor to watch for rowdy behavior to ensure no injury.  ]]> 2018-11-14 01:34:13 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097594 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097660 Pink: Ice breakers
Green: ELA games
Blue: Games with multiple subject applications]]> 2018-11-14 01:34:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097660 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097848 This game requires a spinner divided into five sections: and, or, but, for, yet; a pencil and a paper clip.
The instructor needs to pair students up. Student one comes up with a simple sentence then spins for a conjunction.  Then Student two will had another simple sentence to create a compound sentence. As they go the pair will create a story using their compound sentences. 
This activity helps students identify different kinds of conjunctions and recognize independent clauses. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:35:38 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097848 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097959 In this activity you are essentially creating trading cards for famous people. Students will pick five people and research their lives. This activity is a study in conciseness. Students will research the famous people, BUT they can only use 25 words to describing the accomplishments of said person. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:36:11 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304097959 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098051 This activity is designed to help students understand collective nouns and how to pick the correct verbs to go with the collective nouns. 
Students will use computers or ipads to research different group names of animals. Then they will write a sentence using the CORRECT verb.
Groups of animals have interesting collective nouns for names. Having students research and identify these collective nouns is a fun way to explain collective nouns: a parliament of owls, a bloat of hippos, an unkindness of ravens, or a murder of crows. 
The goal of this activity is to illustrate to students why collective nouns require singular verbs and not plural verbs.]]> 2018-11-14 01:36:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098051 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098155 This activity helps students with subject-predicate agreement. You will need 10 envelopes numbered 1-10, slips of paper, a marker, paper bag, and fake money. You need a host, a player, 10 students to hold envelopes, a banker, and an audience.
The instructor will write five singular verbs and five plural verbs on slips of paper and put each one in the numbered envelopes. Then write five plural nouns and five singular nouns on slips of paper and put them in the paper bag. 
The player draws a slip from the bag; then selects envelopes one at a time. If the simple subject and simple predicate agree, the banker gives the player a certain amount of money. If it doesn't match the player can earn money by making the subjects and predicates agree. 
This is an excellent activity for reinforcing subject-predicate agreement. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:37:03 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098155 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098285 This activity is designed to help students with identifying prepositions and prepositional phrases.  This game is somewhat like Eye Spy.   The instructor picks an object in the classroom (don't tell the students). Then students will ask a question containing a prepositional phrase i.e. "is it under the clock". If the answer is yes then the student gets to guess what the object might be. If they get it wrong it is the next student's turn.]]> 2018-11-14 01:37:37 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098285 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098381 This activity encourages critical thinking, observation skills, and builds students' vocabularies. 
You will need to search the internet for pictures and photographs. Put up one photo at a time and ask your students to analyze it. Get them to tell you what they think the photo is about, who it's about, when they think the photo was taken, how it makes them feel, and so on. 
This teaches students to look beyond just what is on the surface. To think critically about photos, and use their vocabulary to explain what they mean.
This is a great activity for Literature and Social Studies classes. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:38:05 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098381 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098472 This activity requires a thesaurus. This is an individual writing activity. Instruct students to look around the classroom and observe what they see their classmates doing. Then have them write a paragraph describing those actions using basic verbs. Next have them go back and using a thesaurus pick better verbs to describe the actions of their classmates.
This gives students the opportunity to think creatively and build their vocabulary base.
This scene from Dead Poet's Society makes me think of using excellent language.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPdkFkw9w7o]]> 2018-11-14 01:38:35 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098472 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098586 This activity requires a number cube, a timer, and a dictionary. Students will be paired up and challenged to identify regular and irregular verbs. When a student rolls an odd number they need to call out a regular verb, and when an even number is rolled an irregular verb needs to be called out. Students should keep a running tally of the verbs that have been called. 
This activity is great for pointing out the difference between regular and irregular verbs and teaching students to correctly identify them. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:39:11 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098586 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098654 This activity helps students with subject verb agreement. It can be done with as few as four students. There is a host, a contestant, and as many panelists as you have. The host writes a complete subject OR a complete predicate on the board. The panelists (on note cards or individual white boards) writes a complete subject of a complete predicate on their boards (they need to do the opposite of the host). The contestant then must decide if the two parts are complete sentences.
This is a great activity for helping students to learn to identify subjects and predicates as well as subject verb agreement. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:39:30 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098654 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098766 This activity is a group writing activity. Each group needs a die, a list of pronouns, a paper clip, a pencil, and a spinner divided into four sections-personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and reflexive pronouns. The group is going to write a story sentence by sentence using a pronoun to start their sentence. They spin the spinner and whichever section it lands on will be what type of pronoun they will use. 
Students will continue building their stories until they feel like they are through.
This activity not only encourages creative writing but working together because the story is based upon the previous sentences. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:40:02 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098766 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098855 This is a writing activity. Pair up students to write a very short story. Have a list of prompts to help them get started. Each pair of students will be given a die. They will roll to determine the number of characters, the number of scenes, or anything else that requires numbers. 
Then students will share their stories with the class. 
This activity encourages working together, creative writing, and is overall a fun project perfect for one class period. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:40:27 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098855 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098920 This activity teaches students to work together and work on sentence structures. Students are divided into groups of three and one student will start off the sentence, the second student will add a conjunction, and the third will finish the sentence.  I like to encourage the sentences to be silly and funny. For example: Student 1-One dark and stormy night I was walking down the road...Student 2-BUT... Student 3-I was having a difficult time of it because there was a goblin hanging onto my leg. Students will write down their sentences to share with the class. I like to use individual white boards but paper works fine too.  I switch up the groups throughout the lesson as well to get the students moving from desk to desk and to shift them in their roles in the group. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:40:55 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304098920 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099051 This activity allows students to interact with their classmates, practice asking good questions, and improve on their critical thinking skills.
The instructor will tape a card with a famous person, a vocabulary word, a famous literary figure, or even a science term (the possibilities are endless) to the back of each student. 
Students then need to ask their peers yes or no questions in order to deduce who or what they are. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:41:32 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099051 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099135 This activity helps students with their story telling abilities and teaches them to work together.  You can do this in small groups or as a whole class.  Create story cards using pictures from magazines or the internet as prompts to get your students started. Each student gets one story card.  Each student will add a line or two to the story based on the picture on their card. Pick someone to begin the story. For example student one's card has a picture of a limousine, so student one says "Once upon a time there was a beautiful queen who would only ride around in a limo". Then student two would add to the story. Student two's card might be a picture of a lemon. so student two might say, "And while the queen rode around in her limo she was constantly throwing lemons out the windows at passersby".]]> 2018-11-14 01:41:54 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099135 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099230 Excellent review for anything in pairs, vocabulary definitions, states and capitals, multiplication tables, the list is endless.  The instructor will make pairs of cards for the items that are to be reviewed. Just like a traditional memory game, the cards will be laid out of the desk top and students will try and find the cards that pair together, i.e. if students are matching states and capitals if a student flipped over a card that said Alabama they would need to find the card that said Montgomery.
This helps develop students' memories and reviews for assessments.
You could also have the students make their own memory cards as another form of review.]]> 2018-11-14 01:42:23 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099230 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099275 This allows students to move around and throw things in the classroom. Two of their favorite things! Use a soft nerf ball or some rolled up socks for a ball. When you have a class discussion or are asking questions only the student holding the ball/socks may speak. When they are done talking they may toss the ball to another student who has something to add to the discussion.
This is also a great activity for classroom unity and indulging everyone. You can put in a rule that you can't throw the ball to the same person twice in a round. You also need to put in place a few rules when there are going to be balls tossed around the classroom. Make sure students know this is a 'toss' there is to be no beaming the ball at someone's head or to someone who is not ready for the ball. Students need to identify who they are throwing the ball to as well; it isn't football so there shouldn't be any interceptions!]]> 2018-11-14 01:42:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099275 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099371 An activity most everyone played in elementary school. It teaches students deductive reasoning skills and the importance of including everyone. The instructor starts by picking seven students (lessen the number if you have fewer students and up the number if you have more students). Those students go to the front of the room. To the students still seated the teacher instructs them "heads down, thumbs up". The students at the front of the room sneak around and each tap one person on the thumb before returning to the front of the classroom. Once the seven students have all tapped someone the teacher will say "heads up stand up" and any student whose thumb has been tapped will stand up. They will then try and guess who tapped their thumb. If they guess correctly they become a tapper. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:43:17 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099371 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099460 This activity is a great way to teach students communication skills and learn how to listen to one another. One student whispers a phrase to the next person in line, and it goes all the way down the line until it reaches the end. The final student will say what they heard which is usually a very garbled version of the original phrase. This is an excellent tool to show students how rumors can get twisted around and started. 
It is also an excellent ice breaker.]]> 2018-11-14 01:43:43 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099460 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099561 This is a great activity to build class unity and teach the values of the classroom. While this is great for any classroom it would be an excellent follow up to a Medieval History lesson or on different states and their flags or a Literature lesson about chivalry and ballads of the Middle Ages. Essentially students will create a list of important qualities or values the class needs to have, being kind to others, always doing their best, working together, etc.  Then they will pick images that represent these qualities and values. Break students into groups to work on their own designs.  Then students will come together and reach a consensus on a cohesive design for the class's flag or coat of arms. 
Together as a class you can create the final flag/coat of arms out of paper or fabric.]]> 2018-11-14 01:44:07 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099561 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099676 This activity is a great way to teach students communication skills, giving clear instructions, and learning how to listen to one another. One student will be the "teller". She/he will give the instructions to the "drawer". The teller describes the picture to the drawer at the board. The catch is the teller may not say what the picture is of. If the picture is of a butterfly, the teller might say, "Draw a skinny oval, then draw the letter 'B' coming off the sides of the oval." 
Students will learn how to clarify directions, and the importance of listening to instructions.
I see this working very well in a science classroom when students are learning to write lab reports. Lap reports require students to write down every step of the process, Tell and Draw is a similar process.
An ELA modification would be with diagramming sentences.  One student has to explain how to diagram each part of the sentence without saying where the word needs to go. They would need to say "the simple subject goes in the first section". Both the teller and the drawer would need an understanding of what the simple subject or the simple predicate or the prepositional phrase was in order to be successful. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:44:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099676 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099750 This is a great activity to expand your students' vocabularies. It is very similar to the game "concentration" where you are given a category, types of ice cream for instance, and you and a partner alternate saying ice cream flavors until someone can't think of a final flavor. For AlphaBattle you also need to pair off your students.  You start with a letter (you can go in order or draw letters randomly) and students go back and forth until they cannot think of another word that starts with the letter.
Modifications: depending on your subject or grade level you could set up further categories for the words. In a Geography lesson it could be countries that start with A or in Literature it could be authors whose names start with C. The more specific you get on categories the more competitive the game will become!
Like most games make sure your students know that inappropriate language and behavior will not be tolerated.
I've attached a video of an explanation for "concentration" (the hand motions are optional!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CojU3JiVLbs]]> 2018-11-14 01:44:55 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099750 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099819 This is a great activity to get your students' attention. The instructor says the first part of a sentence or phrase then the students finish the phrase. It can be used with a lesson or  is great for classroom management. It gets the students' attention and brings them to focus. For example "Four score..." and students respond "and seven years ago". 
This would be excellent for ELA when teaching idioms or expressions i.e. "Don't count your chickens..." to which the response would be "before they hatch".]]> 2018-11-14 01:45:19 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099819 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099883 Basta is essentially Scattegories. There are score cards with topics across the top-make them specific to your subject. Each round is a different letter. Like Scategories if more than one student has the same answer. For example, in Science you can do elements, in Social Studies you can do states, in Literature you can do authors, the options are endless.  
Unlike traditional Scategories you might want to allow more than one of the same answer. Depending on the number of students or possible answers you might want to allow five or six students to have the same answer.]]> 2018-11-14 01:45:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099883 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099976 To interact with each other and learn more about each other, again creating unity in  your classroom. Put a line down the middle of the classroom and have students step forward if they agree with the question. Start with innocuous things-step forward if your favorite ice cream is chocolate and slowly moving up to more personal questions. You can use this to get debates started with your students.
Modifications: this would be great for a social studies class when there are two sides to something i.e. the Civil War
-a good literature modification would be to use it to compare and contrast two pieces of literature
Again it is very important to set down ground rules about respecting others and their opinions.
-A good example is from the movie Freedom Writers-here is a clip for inspiration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9axXKI3zBgU]]> 2018-11-14 01:46:01 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304099976 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304100039 I like this game as a classroom unity idea. It also helps students with phonemic awareness which is great for English Language Learners.
Essentially students will start with their name and something about them that starts with the same letter. For example: A my name is Amelia and I like apple pie or A my name is Amelia and I come from Augusta.
Depending on your age groups make sure you set down ground rules on what is appropriate. 
If you want to make the game longer or work on helping students' memories make the students build on each others and ask them to remember what their classmates have said before.
I have attached a video example. There is a children's book called A my name is Alice; it gives a good overview of how to play the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LECvJVgi58 ]]> 2018-11-14 01:46:24 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304100039 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304100133 This is a spelling game that encourages students to listen to those around them and builds teamwork. Students line up and the teacher calls the word. Students spell it one letter at a time-each student taking one letter. This setup means students have to pay attention even when it is not their turn. There is also something about the competition aspect that the students really love. ]]> 2018-11-14 01:46:46 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304100133 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304100237 This is a twist on the board game Clue. Students will use the game board and pieces to move around the board and try to get into a room in order to draw a "Clue". Once you are in a room you can pick up a clue card. Each clue card will lead you to a book or a spot around the room-eventually spelling out the title of the books with the three final Clues. You might not find the clues in order but that's okay. The goal is to work together and figure out the clues. 
Students must use critical thinking as well as knowledge of literature and your classroom. 
I have used this in my classroom, and my students loved it!]]> 2018-11-14 01:47:10 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304100237 ameliahagler https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304100311 The instructor will read the definitions of the vocabulary words and students try and identify what part of speech or speeches the words are. Preassign each corner of the room as a part of speech. Students will then move about the room to the correct part of speech for the word. It gets the students up and moving. The goal is the motion helps the students to remember which part of speech belongs to each word. 
Modifications: any activity in which sorting is necessary: Social Studies-organize countries into regions or Science-sorting things into different states of matter.]]> 2018-11-14 01:47:31 UTC https://padlet.com/ameliahagler/vxcub7yx2qiv/wish/304100311