FREE Inside Recess activities and tips

Happy Fall from Teach123!
Sometimes the new season, means a change in weather and the inevitable inside recess.  If you haven't discussed the procedures for this yet with your class, I would add it to your "to do" list.  Your substitute will appreciate it if you include detailed instructions about what activities and materials your students can do or use for inside recess.
Plan now a variety of activities before your class catches cabin fever. It will make these days a little less hectic. 
My choice of activity was based on my students' behavior, energy level, how many inside recess days in a row we've had, and my energy level.
Games are helpful when my students are in a social mood.  
  • Through the year I have accumulated games from thrift stores and parents.  Since I save them for special times like inside recess, the novelty of the experience holds my students' attention.  It helps if you collect games that vary with difficulty level and how many players are required to play. Suggestions:
    • Operation, Barrel Full of Monkeys, Connect Four, Perfection, Don't Spill the Beans, Ants in the Pants, Don't Break the Ice, Hi Ho Cherrio, Boggle, Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Sorry, and Trouble
Integrating science and art is a good activity when my students have very talkative. Click HERE to read the post.
Listen & Draw activities are a quiet activity that also strengthens students' listening skills. These are especially helpful to use when you've had a couple of inside days in a row.  Click HERE to read the post.
Some of the games I played when I was a child are my favorites to use for inside recess. This post shares a few you might want to try.  There is minimal prep involved. 
    Have you tried squiggle stories?  My students have always enjoyed them.  I like to keep special supplies in my closet that I use for inside recess. It's amazing the difference you will see when you bring out a box of 64 count crayons!  Click HERE for a copy of squiggle stories.

    What are your favorite inside recess activities?


    Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.
    0

    Classroom Library and My Kids

    Hey everyone!

    Last year, I felt my library was thrown together. It was leveled and then there was nonfiction and interest. Once I was hired permanently, I knew my library would be my prized jewel in my class.

    For me, my library had to be organized, comfortable, and a place the kids wanted to hang out in. I also wanted them to have ownership over it. There are a few kids who organize it every few days, once a week minimum. We went over how the library is organized into genres, levels, series and/or authors. Each book has  a label to help them know which box/shelf it goes back on.






    I also wanted to make adding books to my library fun. Every time a Scholastic order comes in and I've added my name and the label, I make a big deal out of the new books. I think I've turned them into Pavlov's subjects because they see the box and get excited, lol.

    There are a few things I do to get them excited. Depending on the books, I may read the blurb on the back. My favorite thing to do is line the books up on the whiteboard easel. Then I pull their name sticks aka The Sticks of Destiny, and they can come grab one of the new books.



    It makes my heart happy to see them reading, or curled up in the library reading a book and smiling.









    0

    Going Batty for Freebies!

    Hi everyone! It's Courtney from Swimming into Second. 


    We've been using lots of great stuff from the Owl's own Katie King and Amy Lemons. Have you seen their Rooted in Reading unit? I'm obsessed.

    https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rooted-in-Reading-October-Read-Aloud-Lessons-and-Activities-2116229


    Anyways, I still needed to teach my cause and effect skill this week so I added a few things into our reading of Stellaluna. I differentiated this page for learners.




    I found another series of bat books at the library. We read Bats at the Library today and my students loved it. The illustrations are so detailed. I can't wait to read them the other 3 books this week.


    Click on images to view on Amazon. (affiliate link included)

    I've created a few freebies for these books with cause and effect and story structure.







    You can grab all these freebies on my Swimming into Second Facebook page.
    I have them available to my followers. 
    Hope you enjoy these!

    The freebies tab is on the left side of the page.








    1

    Fern Smith's Inexpensive Sports Writing Center

    Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas Sports Writing Center Ideas and An Amazing $100 Teacher Giveaway!Sports Writing Center
    In general, most boys in the primary grade are extremely creative. Just get a little boy to talk about his favorite sport or superhero and there is no stopping them! But getting them to write all of it down is a little more challenging with boys.

    I like having seasonal writing centers up in my classroom, but I also like having some year round centers that reach out to certain hobbies and pastimes the children really enjoy. 
    On my blog, I have included a word list for you to print or display in your classroom with your projection technology. There are so many words, you can change it up weekly, monthly or pick the ones that work with the vocabulary from your reading series and leave them up all year.

    This is one of my favorite, inexpensive, writing centers, especially for new teachers. Click here to see how to get started. You will need to model and role play how to use this center when you first start, but as the year rolls on they will get use to the system and the best part....you can teach your small groups without interruption. Click here to see how easy it is to introduce to your students during any month of the year.

    Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas Sports Writing Center Ideas and An Amazing $100 Teacher Giveaway with Teach123!

    aerobics
    archer
    archery
    arena
    arrow
    athlete
    athletics
    badminton
    ball
    base
    baseball
    basketball
    bat
    baton
    batter
    batting
    biathlon
    bicycle
    bicycling
    bike
    biking
    bow
    bowler
    bowling
    boxer
    boxing
    canoe
    catch
    catcher
    champion
    championship
    cleats
    club
    coach
    competitor
    cross country
    cycle
    cycling
    cyclist
    decathlon
    defense
    diamond
    dive
    diver
    diving
    dugout
    equipment
    exercise
    field
    figure skating
    fitness
    football
    free throw
    game
    gear
    goal
    goalie
    golf
    golfer
    golfing
    guard
    gym
    gymnast
    gymnastics
    gymnasium
    helmet
    high jump
    hitter
    hockey
    home
    home plate
    home run
    home team
    huddle
    hurdle
    ice hockey
    ice rink
    ice skates
    ice skating
    inning
    jog
    jogger
    jump
    jump rope
    karate
    kayak
    kayaker
    kayaking
    kickball
    league
    long jump
    major league
    medal
    minor league
    mitt
    net
    offense
    Olympics
    out
    outfield
    outfielder
    paddle
    paddleball
    paddling
    pentathlon
    pitch
    pitcher
    play
    player
    playing
    pole vault
    pool
    puck
    quarterback
    race
    racer
    racket
    rink
    rock climbing
    roller skates
    roller skating
    row
    rower
    rowing
    rugby
    run
    runner
    running
    sailing
    score
    scoreboard
    scuba
    shortstop
    shot put
    skate
    skating rink
    ski
    skier
    skiing
    sled
    sledding
    snorkling
    snowboard
    snowboarder
    snowboarding
    snowshoeing
    soccer
    softball
    somersault
    sport
    sportsmanship
    squash
    stadium
    strike
    surfer
    surfing
    swim
    swimmer
    swimming
    target
    team
    teammate
    tee
    tennis
    throw
    throwing
    track and field
    trampoline
    triathlon
    triathlete
    triple jump
    umpire
    unicycle
    uniform
    vault
    vaulter
    vaulting
    visiting team
    volley
    volleyball
    walk
    walker
    walking
    waterski
    waterskiing
    weightlifter
    weightlifting
    win
    windsurfer
    windsurfing
    winner
    winning
    wrestler
    wrestling



    Follow me to be notified of when
    I publish new resources and freebies!
     Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas and Teaching Resources
     Follow Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas on TeachersPayTeachers ~ TPT  Follow Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas on InstagramFollow Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas on Pinterest Follow Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas on Bloglovin

    0

    HALLOWEEN FLAVORED SENTENCE WRITING FREEBIE

    Happy Sunday to all you alls.  It's Kelley Dolling from Teacher Idea Factory.  I'm here to help spread a little Halloween themed cheer.  How do I intend to do that you ask . . . with a spooky writing freebie, of course :)


    I have been runnin' with Sketchin' Out Spooky sentences for years in my classroom and it has been in my TPT shop for a while now. However, this freebie needed a serious face-lift . . . let's just say that my design skills have come a LONG way in three years ;)

    Here's how this one works . . .  

    First, stock your center with a handful of Halloween or strange/spooky directed draws. Ed Emberly has oodles of great books, From the Pond has a great Spooky Directed Drawing packet, or you can simply print out multiple free Halloween themed directed draws via a Google Search.  

    Next, the kids get a worksheet template and use the books to help them sketch out a spooky scene in one of the boxes - just in pencil up front (they come back at the end to add more details). This one always delights my kiddies. I think it's the whole BREAKING the classroom writing rule of ALWAYS drafting your sentence before illustrating that draws them in right off the bat.  Yup . . . they get to sketch first.

    This is usually a two day center activity.
    They get into producing SUPER quality work.
    These are the old ugly templates, but you get the idea :)
    When finished, they write a detailed sentence to go with their sketch.  They complete this task twice.  After both sentences have been drafted, they can add more details to their pictures and some color!

    This assignment always lends itself to a wonderful round of "author's chair." The giggles are contagious and they LOVE showing off their spooky work :)  If you are interested in picking up this fun writing FREEBIE . . . click here.

    Alright, I am out of here.  It's time to prep for the week.  I will see you again in November . . . 11/11 to be exact. Until then, catch me over at Teacher Idea Factory.  Merry Sunday!


    0

    Happy October! Desktop Calendar

    Hey hey! It’s Megan from I Teach. What’s Your Superpower?  Y’all were so sweet last month when I shared my September calendar, I decided to create an October one.  Because I’m chronically late, I’m sharing it a week into the month.  Whoops.

    Hope this little beauty gives you a happy moment when you sit down to answers a hundred emails and input endless documentation!


    The gorgeous fall floral graphics are from Design Lover Studio.  You can visit her Etsy shop to see more graphics!

    Image Map

    1

    Fall Fact Frenzy {Fact Practice Freebie}


    Happy Fall, y'all!  It's Dana from Prepping for the Primary Gridiron and I'm excited to share an activity that will help your kiddos master the relationship between addition and subtraction!


    It's extremely important that students understand the relationship between addition and subtraction.  Once this connection is made, their fact fluency increases.

    In this activity, the kids start by matching up number sentence cards.  They are creating a fact family, so they will match two addition sentences with two subtraction sentences.  


    Once the kids find the four matches for each fact family, 
    they must begin to solve for the missing numbers.  Each card 
    has a missing number.  If the kids understand the relationship 
    between addition and subtraction, this part of the 
    activity will be a little easier.  


    The kids record their answers on the recording sheet.  It's a great way for you to assess their understanding and fact fluency.  

    I hope this activity benefits your kiddos as much as it has mine!



    4

    A Halloween-free October

    Happy Fall Y'all! It's Rachel from the tattooed teacher and I have something very serious to talk to you about today...students who cannot celebrate Halloween...I know! Sad right! Well, for those of us who love a little haunting it is!

    With more and more students coming to us whose families chose not to celebrate Halloween (or most holidays-I have 3 families this year) we've had to change a few things. I wanted to take a quick minute to share some Halloween-Free freebies from The Owl Girls you can use this month!


    Linda shares lots of fall ideas in this post!

     Here's 2 freebies from my blog!
    A pumpkin pre-assessment and fall word problems with missing addends.
     Michelle has an entire post on ideas for non-Halloween parties at school, plus this bats and spiders freebie.
    Fern also has a post loaded with ideas for having an Owl themed party! There's several freebie including these coloring pages

    Do you have some non-Halloween freebies to share? We'd love for you to link them up below! 
    Please link either directly to the post that contains the freebie or directly to the product on TpT. Links to blogs and stores will be removed. Thank you for understanding.




    1
    Back to Top