Discreet Flexible Seating Bounce Band

I introduce one my my high-energy kindergarteners to a flexible seating option, to help him expel energy in a non-disruptive/ non-distracting way to himself or others. It is a large green rubber band that goes around the front two legs of his chair. He can quietly bounce his feet to expel energy in a way that is not visually or auditory distracting to himself or others. The band works so well to help him channel is energy, that he actually brings his chair to the carpet, while his friends are sitting on their bottoms on the carpet.

The purpose of the rubber band is to keep a student’s feet busy bouncing, while eyes and hands are focused on the teacher during direct instruction or on classwork during independent practice. Clear expectation about proper use of the tool must be established. At first, the student directed his eyes and hands at the band, as well as the students’ attention next to him. In that case, he lost the special chair privilege for the remainder of that class period as a consequence.

The rubber band can certainly backfire as an extremely distracting tool if its use is not explicitly explained. However, I was amazed at how this tool helped my student to bounce away with his feet, but stay present and focused with the rest of his body. I have a class set of the rubber bands. I am wondering if I should continue to use them “as needed” or introduce them to the entire class as a flexible seating option.

Flashlight Reading

What a simple and easy way to turn reading into an adventure!

Flashlight reading is a fun way to read, encourage excitement about reading, and can even be used as an incentive. Instead of tracking with their fingers, students track each word with a small flashlight.

The cost of a class set of flashlights, has always discouraged me from trying flashlight reading. However, this set of 60 lights can be purchased on Amazon for less than $20. For me, this purchase lasted the entire school year.

Another challenege, is that the lights must be off during the activity. This could potentially cause tripping hazards. We actually call this time “no talking, no walking,” for safety reasons, and to gaurentee that each student independently reads for at a minumum, 10 minutes per day.

If a student was afraid or uncomfortble in the dark, this could be a possible obstacle. Finally, if you are using this as an incentive, the whole clas must “earn it.” For example, if blue table earned 5 points, but yellow, green, and red table did not, you can’t turn the lights off for only the blue table.

Professionally- Bound Class Book

“Yes, they are only 5 years old, and YES, they are real authors!” -Alicia Ocasio

Each year, our class creates a class book through Student Treasures publishing company. The topic we wrote about was called “All About the Seven Continents.” In kindergarten, I tell my students that they are “real” authors daily as we publish weekly stories in writing, history, and Science. However, once the hardcover books came in from the factory in a professionally bound book, my students truly felt like real authors!

My kindergartners learned how to use a table of content this year, and applied their understanding to our class book.

Students took the editing process much more seriously, anticipating a professionally-bound book. They were thrilled to perfect their writing, as well as took particular care in coloring their pictures by staying in the lines, leaving no white spaces, and making sure that the colors made sense.

This author wrote about Asia. “Do you know about Asia? First, there is pandas. Second, there is rice. Third there is buildings. Now you know about Asia. I love Asia!”

The project increased student enagagement and love for writing. In kindergarten, we color in crayons. However, students got to use markers for the first time when creating the special book! They learned new things about their continent to add to their project in addition to what we had already learned in Social Studies. Just being excited about the project itself, helped students to remain more focused and work harder on their writing piece!

*Families enjoyed attending out Author’s Tea. Thanks to Student Treasures, they can enjoy the books for a lifetime!*

I highly recommend using requesting a free project and information from Student Treasures. Click the link to explore! https://studentreasures.referralrock.com/l/JE2YBRDV/