I plan on doing a warm-up in all of my classes. I was wondering if anybody has any ideas on fun ways to go over the warm-up, or sort of make it a game?
By warm up do you mean bell work? What do you do? My bell work is either a short five to ten question notebook quiz or an anticipatory for the days lesson or both. Not knowing what you do, makes it a bit difficult for me to think about how you would make going over it fun, but perhaps you could have the class divided into teams, accumulating points until a team is declared a winner at the end of the week? I always hesitate doing anything "fun" at the very beginning of the period, because it takes longer and for some, it gets them off focus the rest of the period. However, I will be interested in seeing what others suggest because I could change my thoughts on this.
I teach LA, so I do grammar warm-ups. I have a sentece posted on the overhead with directions for them to correct/identify some aspect. Whoever works the hardest on their warm-up gets to correct/identify on the overhead. It's amazing what kids will do to get to be the teacher for a few minutes. Some are actually very good teachers This year, instead of the generic grammar warm-up, I'm planning to use a series called "Grammar with a Giggle". It's a little more engaging. What subject do you teach?
Well, my students really like when they are able to come up to the board/overhead and present the warm-up, and act like the teacher. Some of them get really into it and have a lot of fun with it. (I teach 7th grade). I teach math, so I usually just have a couple quick problems to review. Whenever I use word problems, I use their names which they also like. I don't know if this is fun, but they enjoy being the teacher!
I looked at your profile and have no idea what grade you teach or what subject you're talking about. Since different approaches may be used with different age levels, I would appreciate knowing more about your needs. What grade are your teaching? What subject areas are you concerned about?
Sometimes I use cartoons; especially The Far Side, and ask questions related to the content in the comic. It works well with science, I think it might work with history too.
To be candid, I'm not sure that much can be done to make math fun for 7th graders. Math is simply something that they have to learn. With this being said, what about offering some sort of a reward? You could offer sugar free candy or tokens. If a kid earns five tokens, he/she could be excused from a homework assignment or have the opportunity to switch seats with another student.
I agree with msmath. Seventh graders love positive attention - their names in problems, presenting solutions, taking the role of "teacher", etc.
I use a daily quote. Even thought it seems so boring, the students usually look forward to seeing what the new quote each day will be. Sometimes it's serious, sometimes funny, sometimes from popular celebrities that they are familiar with, etc. After they copy the quote they have to write me one sentence telling me what they think it means. It gives them an almost for-sure opportunity to succeed and start each day off right (unless they put nothing or write that Mickey Mouse is their best friend, etc). It also gets their brain into that creative, not-so-concrete mood. Each day a few students share their thoughts on the quote and what they wrote. We do this in no more than 4-5 minutes and most students are glad to be able to share their thoughts since there's little risk of being wrong.
Coopertive Groups I always find Morning Work challenging because I have some kids that come at 8, and some at 8:30. This year, I am going to allow my kids to work in coopertive groups for morning work (after some training, that is!). I am going to have them complete a challenging math problem or two from the NC Week by week essentials (http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/math/archives/2005/06/grades_35_resou_1.php) I thinkl I may even tie it to a competition. (My theme is baseball, so I am thinking the Teams could compete for points).
My warm-ups are collected as soon as they finish them and graded at the end of each week. I make it fun by including a trivia fact each day and I tally how many times each row got it correct at the end of the month the winning group gets a prize. Next year though with our shortened class periods (55 minutes) the warm-ups are done.
I'm not sure that "fun" is at the top of my list, but I do like them to be engaged. I have student responders, so I use those whenever possible. Nobody can "hide" because I know who has and hadn't answered the question, and the kids like seeing the results instantly. I can also get a printout of the results.
I disagree about not making math fun. I teach 7th grade math, and the majority of my students say my class is fun. I play math games (Bingo, jeopardy, math basketball, etc.) We do fun projects, fold-ables, and overall they really enjoy math! You can make math relate to their life, make the projects engaging and interesting, and the review games fun. JMO.
