At the beginning of the year I tried having a 'get the wiggles out' time. I turned on some music and offered them the chance to move, wiggle, and dance. Nothing happened. I tried it a few times before giving up.
Recently we've had day after day of indoor recess. Indoor recess does not cut it with first graders. So, in desperation, I pulled out the music and tried again to get them wiggling. For some reason, it took. They go nuts. It's fabulous.
Today I was trying to have a serious chat with my co-teachers between our reading and writing workshops while they wiggled. All of a sudden I was completely unable to hear a word they were saying. I had noticed my little prince dancing. He was wearing a zip-up sweatshirt open over a t-shirt. He was grasping the open edges of the sweatshirt at chest level. His thumbs were pointing out in front of him. He was moving his hands in a circular motion, boogieing down, and making very macho faces. I could not look away.
(I'm sure this is hard to picture, so please, just take my word for it, it was hilarious.)
2 comments:
I tried wiggling it out this morning with 4th graders. They stared at me like I was the crazy girl at the middle school dance. UNTIL I began wiggling it out on my own. Then they all joined in. Fun, fun, fun.
when i subbed at the schools, i implemented "wiggle time". for each grade it was different times.. like 2nd grade it would be about every 20-30 minutes depending on how long and antsy the class got. for the 3rd grade it was between every 35-45 minutes. Even the 4th and 5th graders liked it. My wiggle time was essentially a stretch period that lasted no more than about 1-2 minutes maximum per wiggle time. I;d make it like a game, have the whole class stand up and then say okay... wiggle!!!! they;d all wiggle.. then i'd stay "stop!" they;d freeze in place and giggle, then i'd say "wiggle again!!!" they'd wiggle and giggle. Then i'd say stop! they'd freeze, i'd say everyone stand upright and breathe in deep.. then breathe out and sit down. all day long i had kids asking me, "is it wiggle time yet?" but it kept the antsy wigglies at bay and they LOVED it! i'd usually do about 4 "wiggle periods" a day depending on the class.
Post a Comment