In Western Australia, we’re now in week 10 of an 11 week term and, let’s be honest, our energy is low. We’ve used it all up fighting off Covid / colds and surviving Sports Carnivals etc, etc….
But even if you’re counting down the days, you still have to get to the finish line. So it’s a great time to try something new - not BIG new (definitely not), but just one small activity or two to revitalise you and your learners.
Over the course of the term, we’ve been trying out new Jumpstarters - fun ways to start the lesson with high energy and high engagement while exercising those creative learning habits - so this is a great time to share them.
Shona
This week I was excited about trying out a Jumpstarter I have been waiting to use for a while.
Our year 4s and 5s had been struggling in HASS with their group work and needed some practice to help them work together effectively. This was the perfect opportunity to bring out the Lego and get the teamwork skills happening!
We split the 29 kids up into 3 random groups by asking them to choose from some pre-selected letter beads. (I had already chosen 3 lots of possible 5 letter words using 3 colours and put them in the tin). They then had to find the group with the same coloured letters and make up a word to be ready to start. These beads are great for other quick Jumpstarters too.
With the groups ready to go they had to collect a base board and bag of lego. The groups then needed to send one member up to me at the front of the undercover area to where I unveiled (I used a pillow case) a simple lego creation that they looked at for 10 seconds. They then went back to the group and had 25 seconds to communicate to the group how to recreate my Lego model.
The process continues until the first group to copy the model exactly, is hailed as the winner.
And in case they ask.. yes, the colours, numbers and positioning all matters. It has to be the same unless they can make a good case for stepping outside the box.
The really important learning points come in the reflection here. We talked about the differences in communication styles - one group yelled while the other barely spoke, working together verses letting one person take over and the people who used the Lego for their own play and slowed the group down when they didn’t have the right pieces left.
This Jumpstarter did need a little setting up but it was fun and thought provoking for the kids and ourselves. We also saw a definite difference in the way they worked as a group in our main activity that came after. I’ll be using this one again!
Naomi
My new favourite is one that my learners have named Pass the Magic.
It’s super simple and super imaginative.
Standing in a circle, one learner starts by passing an imaginary thing to the person to their left (insert quick incidental learning of clockwise / anti-clockwise here!). They have to do their best to show the nature of the object (delicate / heavy / sticky / lively / whatever) as they pass it and the person receiving it has to take hold of it in the same way.
Once it is in the next person’s hands some magic happens and it turns into whatever that person wants it to be - and they pass it on. And so on around the circle.
After we have gone round the whole group, we can pick a few people and try to guess what they were passing around.
It might seem ideal for Early Years learning, but it’s a big hit with Years 4, 5 and 6 who have loved the acting element. I’m sure adults would have great fun with this too: it’s whimsical and playful without being too exposing to take part in - a great icebreaker at your next PL day!
This Jumpstarter could also be adapted as a way of starting a new topic area with the teacher miming the handling of objects which represent the topic and stimulating student questions to guess what it might be.
Have a go this week at passing the magic… and if you enjoy the experience why not try out our next free Jumpstarters PDF using the mini whiteboards in your room?
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