Warm-up Activities
1. The two minute drill: Have
children write as many words as they can relating to a certain category such as
flavors of ice cream, colors, cities, states, presidents, etc. See who can list
the most in the given time limit.
2.
The five minute drill: Same
as above, only when all the lists are done, have each child trade one or two
words from his/her list with another child and see who can write the most
sentences containing those two words.
3.
Unrelated words: Write two unrelated words on the
chalkboard such as elephant and umbrella. Have children try to write sentences
using both words.
4.
Brainstorming: (a game that children love!) Form several
teams of about 5 children. Designate one as the writer. Give them a category
such as names of girls, boys, items that have numbers, electrical things,
things you find in a drugstore, a bedroom, etc. Have them list as many as they
can in a designated time. A point is awarded to the team with the most correct
answers. This can be an ongoing game played throughout a few months. (if a
child is in the process of writing a word when the time is concluded, he may
finish writing the word)
5. Write a list of alphabetical nouns and illustrate at end of
each word.
6. Write a list of alphabetical nouns leaving a space in front
of each.
Go back and fill in the space with an appropriate adjective.
7. Write a simple sentence such as "The __ dog ran across
the ____ street. Have children list 10 GOOD adjectives that might fit into
these blanks.
8. Brainstorm a list of active verbs and write on chalkboard.
Have children choose one to act out for the class and let their classmates
guess which one they are doing.
9. Write a list of silly warnings such as "Don't
open this present until Christmas morning or your skin will turn blue, your
hair will fall out, and your eyes will cross!"
10. Write a list of silly want ads for the newspaper such as "Boy
to trace gasoline lines with lighted candle. Must be willing to travel."
11. Write silly excuses: Why my library book is late.
12. Write a silly home remedy for baldness, the common cold,
etc.
13. I promise (with my fingers crossed) that I will never. . .
(bother mom when she's on the telephone, tease my brother anymore, etc.)
14. On the first day of school, my teacher gave to me . . .
(like the Twelve Days of Christmas, go to different days)
15. Write the ABC's describing yourself using short phrases for
each letter. By the same token, use the ABC's to write about dogs, etc.)
16. Here are the answers; you write at least five questions that
would fit:
"under the bed, in a minute, yes, no, in the morning, at night, etc."
17. Draw an object such as an apple, pumpkin, star, etc. then
write words that relate to it inside.
18. Use Alpha Bits Cereal - give each group of two children a
large handful, and see which group can spell the longest list of words of 3 or
more letters
19. Use shaving cream - spray on desk and allow children to
smooth all around just like finger paint, then give them spelling words to
write in the shaving cream. The children love this activity and once the desks
are washed, the room has a wonderfully clean smell and the desks are clean!)
This technique can also be used for doing math problems!
20. Give everyone a classmate's name on a piece of paper. Write
a short description of that person. Read aloud and see if children can guess
who it is.
21. Find a short article in the newspaper. Cut off the headline
and have children write their own. (great support for main idea)
22. Write a nine word sentence in which "animal" is in
the fifth position.
(any word may be substituted in any position)
23. Write a sentence that has at least 4 "t's. (or any
other letter)
24. Write one word on the chalkboard. Have children write a
paragraph using that word. Give them a five minute time limit.
25. Write three letters on the chalkboard such as "m,p, and
h" and use them as beginning letters of words to be used in sentences.
They may be used in any order with additional words added. Mary's puppy had
a new collar. My horse pranced through the gate. Practice
makes Haley a better student.
26. Practice spelling words using colored chalk on black
construction paper.
27. Make up some secret codes.
28. Help! On the overhead write a sentence or paragraph for
children to find mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Allow them to
correct on the overhead. (Kids love to use the overhead!)
29. Find short articles in newspapers and have students work in
small groups to underline all the adjectives, circle all the verbs, etc.
30. Design a bumper sticker with a message that is important to
you.
31. Write a tongue twister.
32. Write a friendship recipe including ingredients that you
think are important. They may include such items as 1 cup of honesty, 1/2 c. of
generosity, 1 Tbs. of enthusiasm, etc.
33. Give children general Halloween riddles to which they can
write an answer. Here are some examples:
How does it feel to be kissed by Dracula?
What kind of music do mummies like?
What advice does a mother ghost give to her children?
What do ghosts eat for breakfast?
34. True Lies - Have students
write 8 - 10 sentences about themselves. Within the realm of the sentences ask
them to write 3 or four lies. When finished, read sentences aloud to classmates
and see if they can tell which statements are lies.
35. Hink Pinks - These are
original riddles answered by two rhyming one-syllable words. An example might
be:
What do you call a dog that gets caught in a meat grinder?
Ground hound
What do you call a wealthy tattle tale? A rich snitch (by Alex)
Hinky-Pinky - an original
riddle answered with two rhyming TWO-syllable words
What do you call a wet toad? A soggy froggy
Hinkety-Pinkety - an original
riddle answered with two THREE-syllable words
What do you call an evil clergyman? A sinister minister
36. Try writing the entire
weekly spelling list into one sentence!
The best example of how to settle a battle
before it begins is to snuggle a pebble in the middle of
an eagle's back and wrinkle his ankle, twist his elbow,
tickle his temple, and mumble a sample of an arithmetic
problem. (By Bridget)
37. Write a short letter to
"Aunt Gabby" like those appearing in the newspaper column "Dear
Abby." They can be serious or silly. When the letter is done, have
students trade and give advice.
38. Make a word poster of a
new vocabulary word. Illustrations can be drawn or magazine pictures can be
used to show the definition.
39. Illustrate an idiom such
as "I lost my head, She bawled her eyes out, Money always burns a hole in
my pocket" etc.
40. Bring in some snapshots
or pictures cut from magazines. Have children write ten words to describe the
picture. Another child writes five sentences using those words. Another
activity might be to glue the picture on paper and have the child write a short
story that uses the picture as an illustration.
41. About a week or so before
Halloween, bring in the large page newspaper section of weekly grocery specials
to show the children. Have them design a grocery special for a Halloween symbol
such as a ghost, witch, bat, vampire, etc. Draw a witch's hat, a bat, etc. and
section it off to write the specials inside. For instance, a witch might be
interested in toad stew for $l.99 a pound, or brew at $.89 a
quart.
42. Explain the meaning of
the word motto. Give some examples such as "Membership has its Privileges
(American Express); "We Love to fly and it Shows" (Delta Airlines).
Brainstorm other mottos that might be familiar with the children, or have them
look in magazines and newspapers. You might even assign an evening of TV to
find some examples! When all is in place and they understand the concept, have
them choose a character from a book and develop a motto that might describe
that person's philosophy or way of life. As an example:
"Beauty rest makes you feel like a princess" (Snow
White)
43. The Name Game - Write a
riddle that is answered with a person's name.
What do you call a person who likes hot dogs? Frank
What do you call a person who grows herbs? Basil
What do you call a female fortune teller? Crystal
What do you call a man who is drowning? Bob
