Saturday, January 28, 2012

Mid-year Struggles with Middle Schoolers

January into February the students turn into little monsters. They start complaining and some refuse to do work. They get fed up with the same old same old. So, we as teachers need to pull out the tricks and tools of the trade to make them motivated, and excited.  What kind of tools? Well, I have several ideas, I would like to share with reading teachers, and really some can be used in all subject areas.


Basketball Trivia
Materials:
1 paper ball make of crumpled paper and tape
1 trash can with a clean bag in it
1 table
1 roll of tape
Before Class:
Make a list of questions from anything that you have taught during the week. I try to include vocabulary words, questions about the novel or any readings that we have been reading, and questions about any skills or strategies that we having been working on.  Sometimes, I put a word bank on the board. Arrange the chairs into two rows facing each other. Put a table at one end of the rows with the trash can on top of the table.
Use the tape to mark the floor about 15 ft. away from the table with the trashcan. This is your free throw line.
XXXXXXXXXX
Free throw line I                                  Table
OOOOOOOOO

Rules/ Directions:
1.     Have one student from each row come to the free throw line.
2.     Go over the rules with the class.
a.     All bottoms must remain on their seats at all times.
b.     A bottom off of the seat will cost the team one point penalty reduction.
c.      The first student to answer the question correctly will get 1 point for their team and will be given a free throw shot.
d.     If the ball goes in the team get 2 bonus points.
e.     The team with the most points at the end will be the winner.
3.     Once all of the students have had a turn to answer a question this ends round one. Have the first person in one row move to the last seat in that row and everyone else move up a seat. This way the students will now be facing another opponent. Do this every time using the same row of students to move up one.

Created By: Deane Murphy
More to come stay tuned!

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