Saturday, April 19, 2014

Spark Student Motivation Saturdays Linky Party

I'm linking up with Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching for Spark Student Motivation Saturdays!


"Let It Go," from Frozen, is a catchy song. Pretty awesome and very popular right now, obviously. Not sure if anyone else saw this version of "Let It Go" that some super cool teachers recreated for their students during testing week, but it is very motivational! One of my teacher friends told me about it, and while I did not use it the morning of the test...because "Let It Go" hums would be heard during the test, I'm sure....I did show it to my kiddos and they loved it!

Let It Go Testing Song

In fourth grade, we also like the parody that gained popularity last year, "Test Me, Maybe." It's a testing version of "Call Me, Maybe." Of course the boys are quite dramatic and cover their ears because they are now too cool for this song, but the girls liked it!

Test Me, Maybe


In other student motivating news, I've been quite busy recently, preparing for our annual class Reading Marathon! We spend an entire day reading! Kiddos wear pajamas to school. Their morning work is to select their books for the day. Usually I ask for 3 novels and no more than 10 picture books. Next, we all find cozy places and READ! I read, too! Sometimes I read with kids, sometimes I read my own book! I try to set a good example, you know, show that I love reading too!

Anyway, I have "checkpoints," where kids answer questions in a Reading Marathon trifold. The questions might be about visualizing, theme, character traits, etc. They finish the question, share with a neighbor, and get back to reading! I even make each child a Reading Marathon water bottle. Gotta stay hydrated during a marathon!

Reading Marathon GoogleDoc

5 comments:

  1. I love the idea of using the song Let it Go for testing! Haha I bet the students loved it :)
    I also love your idea of Reading Marathon! I tried to click on the google doc..but it says I need access! I would love to use this next year!

    Emily
    Style Closet to Classroom

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    1. I fixed it! It should work now. I had limited access selected...so basically only I could view the GoogleDoc. Ooops!

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  2. I showed those same videos too Meg and my students loved them too! Such creative teachers to make those testing videos! I usually have a Read-a-thon after school, but I love your idea of having a Reading Marathon all school day! Great way to boost Reading Counts points! Thanks for sharing and linking up!
    Joanne
    Head Over Heels For Teaching

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  3. We did a similar reading marathon in March for the Accelerated Reader "Read the Most" day. My kids loved it and had me asking why I didn't do it more often. I hope your kids love it too! (PJ's are a bonus!!)

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

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    1. In past years the kids have brought in blankets, pillows, anything snuggly and cozied up for the day of reading...it's always one of my favorite days!

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