Give Me Five

Attention signals are an important part of any classroom. I also think it's important that you use several attention signals so that one doesn't get overused and "burnt out", resulting in student disengagement.

One of my favorite attention signals is "Give Me Five".  CLICK HERE to download a file that could be used to create a bulletin board or to post signs as student reminders.

Here's how it works: When the teacher requires the attention of the whole class, he or she raises one hand to show the number five and says, "Give Me Five".  Student respond by silently raising one of their hands and mirroring the "Give Me Five" signal so that any students who might have not heard the teacher will recognize that the class is giving attention to the teacher.

Make sure your students sit up and give their attention!

Obviously...

Eyes are on the TEACHER (not a book, or a paper, or a friend).

Materials are put down and one hand is up.

No one is talking except the teacher.

Be sure to explicitly teach your class what "Give Me Five" really means: The following signs represent FIVE behaviors that must be exhibited when their hand is raised to show that they are ready and respectful for further direction.  Remind the students that each of their five fingers is raised to show the teacher that they are following all FIVE of the behavior expectations for this attention signal.

Soaring with Similes!

You can probably tell that I've been enjoying my summer recess - considering I haven't posted anything since school let out!  I do have a lot of great things to share, however, and now that the dust of summer excitement has settled, hopefully I'll have some time to get things out there.

This "Soaring with Similes" bulletin board is my favorite bulletin board of the year. As you can see, I've posted it on my super-sized calendar, which I keep up all year long and update once a month with a quick art project.  I've also posted it on it's own bulletin board in the past and had it up in the hallway during the week of Parent-Teacher conferences as well.

After teaching a lesson on similes, I have my students decorate a kite (see below for template) and write a sentence about their kite using a simile.  You could have the students write their simile sentence directly on the kite or print them separately to post near the kites.

Here's the fun part: Take photos of each student as they imagine interacting with their kite. Many students choose to stand, holding an imaginary string, but several others get creative (i.e. flying away on a kite string, riding ON the actual kite).   I do allow students to plan to pose together. However, I've learned that they need to still take separate photos in order for the SIZE of each body to remain proportional to the other students in the class.


Print the photos and have the students carefully cut themselves out.  Allow students to help in the creation of the bulletin board by placing kites, student photographs, and string to create your kite-flying scene.  Students who wanted to pose with a friend can now put their photographs together.

Student 1

Student 1 & 2 on board

Student 2

I've loved using this project because it really motivates slow-moving students to finish so they can have their own photograph up on the wall!



**I used this same bulletin board idea in a younger class for an art lesson on symmetry. It was equally engaging and fun!

CLICK HERE for the printable Kite Template that I've used in the past.  (Credit to Crayola)