Five for Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching this week for Five For Friday! 

FLASHLIGHT FRIDAY

I still love it.

And so do my kiddos.

We spend 15 minutes every Friday reading in the dark, with flashlights, all around the classroom. It's so popular that one little girl came into my room on the first day of school and brought in her own flashlight because she had heard about it from one of my former students and was excited!

It's definitely a lot of fun!

And even kiddos who don't always choose to read during Daily 5 are pretty engaged during Flashlight Friday!

STICK PUPPETS!

Yep, we used stick puppets earlier this year to retell our Greek myths. It was tons of fun, and some kids STILL pull them out, months later, to retell Greek myths that they really enjoyed. 

GONOODLE.COM

Still love me some GoNoodle. Last year I used it as an incentive to pack up quickly so we could watch a video before the end of the day announcements came on. This year I have a special the last half hour of the day, so my kiddos are dismissed right from special! They don't even come back to the room! So, I throw this up during indoor recess and it's always a big hit. They love taking turns choosing videos to watch.

I even have a few girls who talk Irish Step Dancing classes. They throw up Call Me Maybe and do their class dance! They're teaching the other girls, too!

GoNoodle.

Keeping kiddos occupied during indoor recess all year!

Does anyone else love Trivia Crack?
I do.

It's addictive.

I have the app on my phone and play whenever I get the chance. Play against your friends and get competitive answering silly trivia questions about everything and anything!

And a little Lucy for the road!

Tech Thursday

I'm linking up with the Teaching Trio for Tech Thursday again! I'm liking this link up because I'm a younger teacher in my school, and everybody expects the youngins to be so techy. Sometimes I luck out and discover great websites or apps, but I get my best ideas from other bloggers sharing out what they are using in their classrooms!

GONOODLE!

I've loved GoNoodle for YEARS now, and it just keeps getting better! Basically, you sign up for free, and let your class choose a CHAMPION. This is a monster that grows as the kids complete more levels by watching videos. Some videos are silly, some are songs, some are academic, some are thinkers, etc. The kids LOVE them all! When you "max out" a champion, you choose a new champion and continue playing. You also get a reward certificate that kids can color.

As a fourth grade teacher, we used this at the end of the day as an incentive to pack up quick! Fourth graders love to dawdle. We know. So, they would pack up quick to play a GoNoodle or two before the end of day announcements came on.

Now, as a second grade teacher, my kiddos have their special the last half hour of the day and are dismissed right from the special. They don't come back to the room. So we use GoNoodle for indoor recess. It's a big hit! Instead of running around my cute room like monkeys, or fighting over our five computers, they are captivated by videos. For indoor recess we usually have five kids on computers, a group of kids at the guided reading table doing crafts (glitter glue symmetry has been a big hit this year), and the rest watching GoNoodle videos and dancing!

My favorite videos are Pop Se Ko, and anything with Mr. Cat Man!

If you haven't tried GoNoodle yet, I highly recommend it! :)

A Champion Certificate.

They have color pictures and ones that kids can color.

A transformed champion gaining points with each video played.

My class loving "Happy" by Pharell.

Wordless Wednesday

I'm linking up with Christine from "Sugar and Spice," for a Wordless Wednesday linky party! It is time for Wordless Wednesday!

Has anyone else had success with GoNoodle? Or know of any other brain break sites?