Jacquie's Five-minute Fillers
Most days teachers have a little "wait time" — not enough minutes to get out materials and start something new, but too many minutes to waste doing nothing (other than watching kids go bonkers). This year I have shared some of the time fillers that my students always enjoyed, as well as some ideas that were given to me by those of you in the trenches. The content (or topic) for most of these activities can be adjusted to meet the needs of your grade level. And here's a plus for parents: A lot of these fillers make great "traveling" games. They keep siblings from arguing and they take the "ill" out of drill.
A time-filler should not be a "time waster." Time fillers (preferably in a game format) should be used to practice skills previously taught, recall information (or regurgitate facts), or as an exercise that requires critical thinking.
As always, I love getting new ideas that I can pass on at future conferences and on this Website. If you have a time-filler that your students enjoy, I'd love to hear about it. Just use the Contact button on the homepage and tell us about it. And finally, be sure to tell me if I have permission to publish your name. I like to give credit where credit is due, but the choice is yours.
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Messages in Code
Make a chart by assigning a number to each letter of the alphabet (A is 1; B is 2;...Z is 26) and display in a prominent spot in your classroom. Make a generous supply of one-sentence "secret code" messages on index cards, and use for unexpected "free" timeslots.
Example: A guest reader is scheduled for 2:30. Your students have completed all of their assigned work (humor me and pretend), and the clock says 2:23. Instead of trying in vain to keep some semblance of decorum for seven minutes, pull out a prepared secret message from your stash, and copy it on the whiteboard or overhead. Kids like the challenge of decoding secret messages, and of course they love being the first one to come up with the answer. Here's one to get you started.
9 11-14-15-23 25-15-21 1-18 15 25-8-9-14-11-9-14-7 14-1-19-20-25
20-8-15-21-7-8-20-19 1-2-15-21-20 13-5 18-9-7-8-20 14-15-23.
19-15-18-18-25.
Nah, I'm not going to tell you what it says. If you "break the code" on your own, you'll get a clearer picture as to how it works and you'll better understand how it can keep kids quietly engaged for a few minutes. And if your guest reader still hasn't arrived, whip out another secret message and put those little varmints back to work.
Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com