Author Topic: Warm ups (Read 43300 times)

jimmyjamison · « **on:** February 14, 2011, 02:25:32 PM »

So, I found another thread about this topic, but I was warned to start a new post because the old is, well...old. So here we are:Warm-ups.
The new semester is soon beginning, and I really want to start each class with a warm-up. I used warm-ups back in the States during my student teaching, and they worked wonders.
If you get your students in the habit of coming in to your class and just starting the damn things, you have to do minor yelling and crowd control. Granted that was in the States, and Korean school is a totally different animal, but I am willing to give it a try.
I don't want these to take up any more than 5 minutes. I made a list of some riddles/questions/games/puzzles. The first three are confusing without a picture, but I will upload that later.
Please add to the list or tell me if these will not work! I have heard of other teachers using riddles, but some of them are hard for me to figure out, let alone a non-native speaker!
Also, I would just like to know how ya'll get your classes started. Is there anything special you do to get your students focused at the beginning of class? (Is that even possible through all the taekwondo and running and screaming and plundering and pillaging?) If so, PLEASE SHARE!
Thanks!

UPDATE
More warm-ups added.

more porko · « **Reply #1 on:** February 17, 2011, 11:13:47 AM »

Hey, I have a competition between all the classes in each grades, so the kids have 10seconds to sit with book and pens after the bell goes.

Doesn't help much if you dont have a comp though I guess!

Arriving early to the class before the bell is a good one with Korean kids, cos the Korean teachers wander in a few minutes after the bell has gone, and the kids are still in 'break mode.' Being there early makes them realise that you expect to start the lesson on time.

Thanks for your warm ups.

I use "Kelly Says" (Who the hell is Simon anyway?), and give a prize for the winning child from my box of mystery (got lots of crap things in there, and that always makes the other students laugh).

All else fails, try opening the blinds... they hate sunlight

PinkPrincess · « **Reply #2 on:** February 21, 2011, 09:23:53 AM »

Great warm-ups, thanks!!

I like to play the 'hidden word' game, as I call it. I have a running list of compound words that I use to break up. I usually choose around 5-6 words and find 2 pictures - one for each word. (ex. crossroad: picture of a cross and a road). The students have to guess the word by putting together the pictures. I always start by saying something along the lines of "Are you genius blah blah blah"...the students get a kick out of it. They are all eager to tell me they genius.

I have students raise their hand to give me the correct answer but at the end of the game they are all shouting out the answers...it's a lot of fun.

GreenFloyd · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2011, 11:00:49 AM »

AmberWhitley,

Do you have some more examples of compound words that are fun to use? Rainbow, waterfall, and basketball are the three that jump to mind right away for me. Guess I could think of some more if I put the thought to it. How about some more easy ones for students?

Thanks

munmak97 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2011, 08:16:47 AM »

great warm-ups!

but as i've never been good at these sorts of things, wot are
the answers to the first 3 activities?

thanks :)

monroemn · « **Reply #5 on:** February 28, 2011, 08:52:43 AM »

I think I saw this one on here in another topic, but I'm not sure. For 5th and 6th, and sometimes 4th, I write a "mystery sentence" on the board, written in a code where the "mystery letter" is really the letter before it in the alphabet. For example b=a, c=b, etc. J mpwf Lpsfb = I love Korea. I give them stickers for the first person to figure it out, it usually get's them focused on me and what's on the board.

jalbrto · « **Reply #6 on:** February 28, 2011, 09:28:10 AM »

A couple warm-ups, that I know are:

Word Chain: I start with a word, and the student must say a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word. Simple or make it more difficult by saying. OK lets to animals, or countries ect.

20 Questions:

teachermc · « **Reply #7 on:** February 28, 2011, 10:43:09 AM »

Last year I used a utility called FlickrPoet to put together four different pictures with words. Then, I asked the students to tell me which is the "Odd One Out."

Eventually, I taught a sentence construction and wrote it on the board. Then, I began to erase a word one by one. By the end of the year, the students were comfortable with the construction:

"____ is the 'Odd One Out' because _____ is ______."

Students would sometimes add:

"But the others (other items) are _______."

Usually, I left the pictures on the screen during break for students in hopes that it would engage them. Of course, some pictures/topics were more interesting than others to them, so this did not mean that students were always focused once the bell rang. I attached a couple of examples.

Rowanteacher · « **Reply #8 on:** February 28, 2011, 11:02:33 AM »

Very nice idea, I might give this a go

Belzak · « **Reply #9 on:** March 01, 2011, 10:51:58 PM »

Last semester I worked a lot on editing sentences. Before class started I would write a sentence on the board with common grammar or spelling mistakes. At the start of class I would go over the sentence and have them call out the mistakes. Worked great for helping them notice common mistakes and to get them quiet.

Some examples: "Yesterday I go to the Seoul." "When the Sunday, I play basketball with friend."

Another warm up that I love and they hate is getting them all to stand up and ask them a question. When they answer the question (what did you do last weekend, what will you do tomorrow, stuff like that) they can sit down. They hate standing so they are quite eager to answer the question. My class sizes are around 10-12 students so I'm not sure if this would work with large classes.

Aadi · « **Reply #10 on:** March 02, 2011, 10:45:40 AM »

Here's a PPT with 30 compound word slides for warmups.

LaurenFitz · « **Reply #11 on:** March 02, 2011, 12:02:10 PM »

And another PPT of compound word warmups...about 50 or so.

Thanks for the idea!

Here's a .ppt file as well.

Candyfloss · « **Reply #12 on:** March 02, 2011, 01:25:37 PM »

I start by teaching them an idiom or an English slang (something they could use everyday).

NB: Dave's ESL Cafe has a full list.

PinkPrincess · « **Reply #13 on:** March 03, 2011, 03:29:57 PM »

GreenFloyd -

The kids loved starwars - they kept wanting an excuse to say starcraft, they thought it was funny.

But for other words, it really just varies by class. Most words work if you find good pictures. They will guess the word but sometimes not know what it means. So, because I don't have a lot of opportunities to teach new vocab, I find a picture of what the word is and show it. Then they all go, 'ahhhhhh.' :) example: arrowhead. They know arrow and head but they dont know the compound word.

I use this website to give me ideas, it's an extensive list.
http://www.rickwalton.com/curricul/compound.htm

Good luck!

philontour · « **Reply #14 on:** March 08, 2011, 01:03:47 PM »

Quote from: LaurenFitz on March 02, 2011, 12:02:10 PM

And another PPT of compound word warmups...about 50 or so.

Thanks for the idea!

These are great for Middle School, Lauren any chance you can post your 50 up again in .ppt format rather than .pptx? (I'm using Office 2003)

hstory · « **Reply #15 on:** March 08, 2011, 02:19:03 PM »

-JimmyJamison
Do you know where I can find more of those "move 1(2 or 3) line (s) to make a new picture" exercises in your Warm-Up document?

My students LOVE these, especially the "make 2 elephants" one and I get a lot of mileage out of them.

Searched online but no luck and not sure what they're called.

Thx.

CookieKhan · « **Reply #16 on:** March 08, 2011, 03:14:23 PM »

Tried a few of the warm-ups with my rowdy 3rd year middle school class. They were not happy about the first one, and it was hard to explain that they could only move one "side". TEACHER MOUNTAIN NO! TRIANGLE NO MOUNTAIN! One kid finally got it, and he had his little compass out and what looked like math problems and diagrams all over the paper!
I even gave them the hint of "looks like the english number four, its a trick, etc" but I didn't have a co-teacher in there at that time
Also on a side note I always find it hilarious when I use the English words in Korea concept, because they refuse to believe that McDonalds is not a Korean company, and that computer/Coke/Pizza are not Korean words etc. Thanks so much for all these ideas

The Compound Word PPT is also awesome, although I had to hang my head in shame at my desk when I thought "Cloud-shield?" instead of wind-shield. I guess it has been a long day.

gookie · « **Reply #17 on:** March 09, 2011, 03:15:04 PM »

i would also like to know where i can find more of those riddles where you move sticks. my kids loved them. and thanks for that extensive list of warm-up.

jimmyjamison · « **Reply #18 on:** March 18, 2011, 03:05:43 PM »

Haha! Well I learned those stick games when I was in Thailand. We were hanging around for a bit, so our rafting guide had us circle around and used sticks to give us an IQ test.
I immediately thought my students would love them! I am glad your students have enjoyed them. I am going to begin warm-ups with my classes next week, and I look forward to giving them a try.
Unfortunately, those are the only three he showed us!
If I find anymore, I will be sure to post them here!

jimmyjamison · « **Reply #19 on:** March 18, 2011, 03:19:04 PM »

Here's one:
http://www.iqtestexperts.com/brainteasers/index.php/2011/02/10/5-triangles-from-5-sticks/

and another:
http://www.iqtestexperts.com/brainteasers/index.php/2010/11/26/make-3-squares/

Just go to this website. I found a bunch under the 'brain teasers' category! They also had the one with the "4 mountains" on it! Their riddle is called "4 triangles," so I guess this would clear up the confusion for some of the Korean students!

Good luck!