Five minutes left

Teaching Pre K-8, Aug/Sep 2002 by Chapman, Felicity

Quick tips for transforming your students into "gods and goddesses" within the lingering moments before the bell rings.

You have five minutes, or three minutes, or two minutes left of class time. Not enough time to start something new. You've reviewed the homework, chairs have been returned to their original positions and materials have been neatly put away. The kids are restless and are eagerly gathering up their backpacks. The room is starting to get louder and you wonder if perhaps you can use that extra time constructively.

Here are a few ideas that I came up with to fill those last couple of minutes in a fun way. Most of these activities need about a ten-minute explanation the first time you introduce them to your students, but after that they can be played for as long or as short a time you want.

Geography contest

A fantastic way to practice geography is to start a geography gods and goddesses contest. Depending on your class, you can focus on geography of a particular region such as the United States or the entire world. Pull down the regional or world map. Ask a student to come up to the map. Name a place. The student has 10 seconds to point to the place. If he or she correctly identifies the place, he or she continues until he or she misses. Count the number of right answers and post the name of the student on the board under the appropriate "Geography God" or "Geography Goddess" label.

Once you have established a Geography k]Oa and cio(dess for the class, students must compete to beat the current god or goddess by correctly locating more places. This lasts the whole year and you will be amazed at how fast your students' geography skills improve and how much they enjoy the game.

Clue cards. Another game that practices geography skills involves providing clues about places and having students guess what the place is. I'll use the following clues as an example, "This country is southwest of France, northeast of Spain and is landlocked." The answer is Andorra.

This game reinforces not only location of country but also geographical terms. Students learn to think of the relationships between places. Alternatives might include using historical as well as geographic clues or having students prepare clue cards ahead of time, and then using one or two on days when you have time at the end of class.

Literature lore. One of my students' other favorite games is "Categories." A short variation to fill those last few minutes of class is to call out a letter. Students must try to come up with as many book titles and characters that begin with that letter as they can. If a student responds with the name of a character, he or she must also identify the piece of literature where one would find the character. Often these responses will lead to further discussions in the coming days about the books.

Beyond the test. Often before a spelling or vocabulary test, teachers play review games with students, but why not reinforce these skills all year round? Ideally, we want students to remember and use words beyond the test and this game works toward that purpose.

While students are waiting for the bell, call out a word and have them define it or use it in a sentence. You might use the definition and then have them name the word. Or consider asking students to name a synonym or antonym of a word or give a root of a word and have students come up with words using that root. This activity can also be done with grammar or literature terms. On some days, I reward correct answers with a piece of candy, but most of the time we just have fun reinforcing our knowledge. A variation might be to make a friendly competition for students such as in the Geography Gods and Goddesses but instead students could strive to become Vocabulary Gods and Goddesses.

Quick solve. This game reinforces mental math skills and allows students to practice skills learned throughout the year. Write a short math problem on the board or say it out loud and the first student to answer correctly wins that round. To reinforce skills learned earlier in the year, try to use a variety of problems that focus on several skills that require the use of skills learned previously. Similar to Geography or Vocabulary Gods and Goddesses, Math Gods and Goddesses is a fun way to encourage friendly competition in the sharpening of your students' math skills.

These games have worked for me. I hope they'll be useful to you in that valuable learning time right before the bell rings.

LIFE'S LITERACY LESSONS

by Steven L. Layne

Model Teacher

When he asks us to write, Mr. Bensen writes too And if we read to him, He says, 'I W read to you." When the podium's open, He shares willingly What a model of teaching, He's turned out to be.

Layne, Steven L. (2001). Life's Literacy Lessons: Poems for Teachers. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Reprinted with permission of the International Reading Association

Felicity Chapman taught for five years and is currently an educational consultant for the California World His. tory Project at Stanford University.