A few years ago I learned about the most amazing game for "transitions". I learned this from a fellow Kindergarten teacher... and if Kindergarteners can do it than anyone can!
The game is just like "Memory" where you have to find pairs of cards that match. I put the memory game cards in a pocket chart. When kids transition to the carpet the game is played while kids get settled. Our "Teacher's Assistant" for the week leads the game by calling on students who are sitting quietly on the carpet. The student that is called on then has to use only their words to describe which cards the Teacher Assistant is to flip.
The game is just like "Memory" where you have to find pairs of cards that match. I put the memory game cards in a pocket chart. When kids transition to the carpet the game is played while kids get settled. Our "Teacher's Assistant" for the week leads the game by calling on students who are sitting quietly on the carpet. The student that is called on then has to use only their words to describe which cards the Teacher Assistant is to flip.
This pocket chart works really well because kids can say things like "the first one in the blue column" or "the third one in the yellow column.
When a student guesses a match correctly they get to keep the cards until we transition back to our desks.
My favorite aspect of this activity is that the students are completely self-sufficient. The first few times playing the game I had to be the one flipping the cards, but once they understood how it all worked I have nothing to do with it! Now whenever the kids transition to the carpet they play the game until I am ready for whatever lesson comes next. It is so helpful to have a few extra minutes embedded into the day to get things organized! I even use this game as a station during our math centers!
The great thing about this is that you can incorporate any kind of content! We are currently working on our math fluency so I made a set of doubles and doubles plus one cards.
You can download the cards for free at my TeachersPayTeachers store. You can print them right on to card stock or glue them on to pretty paper like I did :) Just click on the link below!
No comments:
Post a Comment