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| | | Junior Member
 
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Last Login: 5/12/2008 11:49:23 AM
Posts: 23, Visits: 77 |
| Our "community time" is pretty long, so we have a few more planned activities. Some students are there early, so I open the classroom 15 minutes before class. Many student ride the church bus, so they arrive either just at class time, or up to 10 minutes late. I think the community time is important for them as well - time to sign in, greet their friends and settle in. So we actually start our class time about 15 minutes after the hour. Yes, that gives up to 30 minutes for the early birds, but at least 5-10 minutes for everyone.
We quickly discovered that at this age, they don't yet know how to "just hang out", especially the boys! Girls, maybe. The boys, more than a minute or two of undirected activity and they are rowdy.
The grapple questions (from the web site) haven't worked well for our groups yet, so here's how we spend our time. In order to accomodate the wide range of abilitiies we have in our 5-6th grade class (good readers to non-readers, serious students to extreme ADD), we set up several different areas:
1. One with some puzzle worksheets that relate to the lesson (we get these from www.bibleactivities.com - great site, although it requires a subscription).
2. Another area with some hand or craft work - a quiet game or making a poster.
3. And a third area for the more serious students to look up and read the text used in the class (we have high rate of non-readers and ADD, so we don't read much during class time). I offer a treat for those who read the entire text (last week it was Matthew 12:1-28, and 5 out of 13 chose to read it.)
The students are encouraged to choose which area they want to use, and allowed to move freely from one area to the other (we do have the boys and girls at different tables by the way, except for the Bible reading area). They are not allowed to just congregate in the center of the room, because this breeds chaos!
The teachers circulate among the students, helping them when needed and hear about their week. So far this set up has worked really well and helped keep order while allowing them some freedom to choose how they spend their time.
Christina
iBeleave ... in Jesus!
www.webmissionllc.com |
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 6/13/2008 10:29:19 AM
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| | I know we all have different formats and sizes and all that cool stuff, but here is what I do. Since my kids trickle in for about 15 minutes, I usually do something as a group ice breaker that gets their minds set up for the lesson that day. Let me give you a few examples: A couple weeks ago, doing the lesson on if Jesus is a Lunatic, as the kids came in they were asked to give me some words that mean 'crazy'. I filled a board with probably 40 words as they threw them out. Not only were they involved and focused, but they were talking amongst themselves about it and brainstorming, and it gave me a good starting point for the lesson. The next week, with the lesson on if Jesus is a Loser, I had them tell me things that show the world that someone is successful. Not only did it keep them busy, get them focused and give them a topic to discuss as they hung out, it also served as a reference to point back to when the lesson started. I mean, I could have made a list of the same words, but because it was from their perspective, I think it meant more to them and made the lesson more tangible. Obviously this wouldn't work for all situations, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to share. 
- If you can't make it with cardboard and duct tape, it ain't worth makin'...
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| | | Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 5/12/2008 11:49:23 AM
Posts: 23, Visits: 77 |
| Great ideas wacman! I used something similar getting ready for the movies and music themed cl coming up. I asked the kids to write on a card their 3 favorite: movies, tv shows, songs on the radio. It kept them busy, they enjoyed it, and boy is it good insight for me!
iBeleave ... in Jesus!
www.webmissionllc.com |
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Last Login: Yesterday @ 4:37:13 PM
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| | We have 1 1/2 hours so we extended Community time. We play the game that got the most votes but we also play a game that goes along with a special day from the Grapple calendar. Last week, we celebrated Bubblewrap appreciation day AND Bubblegum day. The kids brought in bubble wrap and their favorite kind of chewing gum. We let everyone have a big piece of bubble wrap to pop... sounded like firecrackers going off. We let them chew gum the entire time. This Sunday we will celebrate umbrella day. We will have two teams that set up the umbrellas as barriors on opposite sides of the room. The object of the game will be to retrieve the Grapple cup which will be placed in the middle. I will arm both teams first with koosh balls...if you get hit with a koosh while trying to get to the Grapple cup, you are out. (Hopefully, they will figure out a way to cover each other.) Then I will bring out the silly string. The kids will try to capture the Grapple cup without being hit with the silly string. I'm thinking of bringing disposable shower caps to wear as special "armour"...you know how girls are about their hair. I know it sounds totally ridiculous, but I think they will LOVE it!
Lisa B from NC |
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