Attention Signals

One of the first things we teach children on the first day of school is a signal to get their attention - commonly and simply referred to as an "attention signal." This lets the children know that we need their undivided attention for whatever we have planned next. Of course, this needs to be taught explicitly and practiced a million times before it is mastered. But once we teach this successfully, the rest of the year will be smooth!

Below is a collection of attention signals that I have used over the years, mainly in a first grade classroom, but can be used and adapted in other grades as well. You don't want to teach all of the attention signals at once. Start with one, and every week, teach a new one and build it up.  Novelty catches children's attention like no other.

It is assumed that after you say your phrase, children say their line and show ready to listen.

1) Teacher: Class
Students: Yes
*Variations: You can also say "class class" and they will respond in a similar fashion "yes yes." Or you can say "classity class" and they say "yessity yes!"

2) Teacher: Hands, hands, hands and eyes
Students: Hands, hands, hands and eyes

3) Teacher: S, T
Students: O, P

4) Teacher: One, two, three, eyes on me
Students: One, two, three, eyes on you
*Variations: You can change the numbers in the front - for example, you can say "Two, four, six, eyes on me" or "Two, oh, three, eyes on me" (203 is my room number).

5) Clap a rhythm and students clap the same rhythm.

6) Teacher: Stop, look, and listen
Students: Ok!

Morning Routine

This visual, step by step, easy to follow directions will teach your little ones what to do when they first come into the classroom each morning. What I like about using pocket charts for teaching routine is that you can teach the steps, one at a time. You can turn all the sentence strips around and as you introduce each step you turn it one by one. This helps the little ones focus on one step at a time. Notice how I kept the words simple so most of them can read, but also supported the visual readers with pictures on the sides.

You can do this whenever you teach a routine or procedure!

Math Routines

As the new school year is nearing close, I thought I would get into the habit of blogging again. It has been too long! So without further ado - Here is the Math Routines that I do with my first graders every day. It takes no more than 10 minutes and it helps develop number sense. By the end of the year, the children are experts at it!

What I like about Math Routines is that it fosters an opportunity for students to talk about math. A lot of times when we get students to "turn and talk," it's during read-alouds, because we realize the importance of challenging students to think more deeply around a story. But with Math Routines, you can do the same because it requires children to explain their thinking. For example, you can say something like, "25 children are in our class. We know that 2 children are absent. How many children are present? 23 - great! How do you know?" This gets the kids talking about HOW they got the answer. It forces children to think about the strategies, or "math tools," they used to solve the problem.

With the new Common Core State Standards for Math where the emphasis is on the DEPTH of its instruction, rather the breadth, meaning that we want students to think more deeply about a topic, this is pushing them in the right direction. And it only takes 10 minutes! For older students, you can choose more grade-appropriate routines for them to do every day.