amanda beth online: Review Game

I recently posted about the use of toys in the upper elementary classroom (Part One and Part Two), and in one of those posts, I mentioned the music I use for a review activity. I want to thank ATUE reader Julie L. for leaving a comment that inspired me to write a post about the music I use in my classroom! Julie, if you leave a comment here with your email address, I have a special surprise for you to thank you for your inspiration!

In my toy posts, I mentioned that when we do detective theme practice or review (when students are searching for something like adjectives in a sentence, etc.), I like to use The Pink Panther theme as our timer (as well as a Pink Panther for our mascot).

I have also used the Mission Impossible theme for other detective theme challenges (but I like to call it Mission POSSIBLE).

However, there are so many other songs I LOVE to use in the classroom. All of these songs are those that I have on CD or have purchased on iTunes for use within my classroom so I can save them and use them when needed. It's really worth it! Before iTunes, I would buy a whole CD for one or two songs. Now I can buy just those I want to use in my classroom!

Sometimes the music is the timer for the activity. Sometimes it is background music as we work. Sometimes it is chosen to suit the mood or theme. Sometimes it is used to rev up my students. I personally love music and can't imagine life without it, so it's only natural for me to infuse it into my lessons whenever possible! I usually like to pick songs with very few or no lyrics so it doesn't distract the students.

We have a popcorn theme when we practice pronouns, and when I try to have students identify the personal pronouns on a popcorn-themed sheet, I like to play "Popcorn" by Hot Butter as the timer.

Sometimes I even use the popcorn song when I am passing out my popcorn prompts. It is so much more fun to receive your prompt as the teacher hops around from desk to desk to the popcorn tune! Students can't wait for their turns to put their hands in the popcorn bag and pull out their prompts!

Aphex Twin covered the song "Popcorn," and I've used his version with my class once or twice. The kids seemed to love it! However, it made their old lady teacher a bit batty, so I stick to Hot Butter's older version!

I also do a race with the whole class to practice the pronouns (where the whole class competes as team against time), and I use music as our timer. I love the song "Busy Child" by The Crystal Method because it really motivates them to move quickly. Their toes are tapping and their eyes are wide with excitement as we do the race. The music DEFINITELY adds to the excitement. The song slows down and speeds up, and they always panic because they think the time is almost up in the slower parts. The part from 4:07 to about 4:55 is the most exciting every time I use it!

I also have created a review game called Long Train for my classroom. The review cards are on little train cars and it works like a Scoot game. I purposely put the questions on trains so I could use the song "Dark and Long" (Dark Train Mix) by Underworld. It's a trance track that was used in the movie Trainspotting. It's is definitely not distracting because of its repetitive melody with few lyrics ("Long train...Ride the train...") My students love it...and so do I! The beat picks up a little at around 3:05, but its "catchy monotony" is what makes it great background music.

When I use Carnival of the Animals by John Lithgow as a mentor text, I want students to hear the music that inspired this book. The always enjoy listening to "The Carnival of the Animals" (Le Carnaval des Animaux) by Camille Saint-Saens, especially if we are working independently on a project inspired by our mentor text.

I have so much more music to share with you,
so I will continue over on my blog, The Peanut Gallery,
with PART TWO HERE!

Stop over for a special
FREE Gift Certificate Contest

that goes along with Part Two!

Until next time, happy teaching, friends!

You can find me here:

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Hello again, friends! Well, I just finished up the school year, and I am rejoicing that summer vacation is finally here! I know there are some friends reading who still have a few more days, so I wanted to share an idea that my students always enjoy which kind of has a summer vibe to it. I say that because you'll need some fly swatters, and summer seems to be the time to buy them!

I am not sure if this game has some other name to it, but I call it SWAT. I just don't feel comfortable using clip art of living creatures of any kind (like flies) on my SWAT games, so I use things like apples, books, etc.

I use this game when I am reviewing vocabulary, key terms, etc. It could even work well for a trivia game or end of year review. Basically, all you need to do is create a sheet or board that has all of the key words or answers. Divide the class into two teams and use different color fly swatters for each team. That makes it much easier to see who swats first. You could do this on a large piece of poster board, but I just put a sheet on my screen with the document camera so that my whole class can see it.

A member from each team (students take turns) stands in front of the board...fly swatters ready. I read the question, and the first person to "swat" the correct answer earns a point for his/her team. My students know to swat gently and to leave the swatters on the answer until I tell them to remove them. The students really enjoy it!

If you are concerned about the active engagement of the students not at the board for each question, you can creatively plan your SWAT game so that all kiddos are engaged. Here are two ideas that I like to use:

1. Give all students on each team a photocopy of the board and have them SWAT (with their pencils or fingers) along with the two students at the board. They then check to see if they answered correctly. Many swats are followed by questions from students who were not at the board but need clarification of the answers. This lends itself to a great test review!

2. Call on students from the team at random to repeat the definition or question. For example, I state the definition. Students at the board swat the answer. We confirm whether or not the answer is correct. Students remove the swatters. I call on a team member from the team who scored the point to repeat the question or definition I stated. They can earn bonus points for their teams. I also allow team members to answer if both teams swatted the incorrect answer. Let me tell you, they ALL pay attention (and the repetition helps retention of material).

I also want to share some summer theme FREEBIES with you! Maybe my Summer Word Search freebie might help fill a few moments these last few days for anyone who may still be in school.

It's not like a regular word search because the words are not provided. Just the first letter of each word is given. If you are already out of school for the summer, perhaps you can file it away for next year. You can download it for FREE at my TpT shop by just clicking the link below.

Summer Freebie 1

Another summer theme freebie that might come in handy during these last few days is my Flip Flop Fragments: Changing Fragments into Sentences. Students first must identify 15 groups of words as either sentences or fragments. They then must change the fragments into complete sentences in order to write a summer story. You can also download this activity for FREE at my TpT shop by clicking the link below.

Summer Freebie 2