I like to bring a little magic to my room every now and then. I feel like my students need an extra boost especially when the lessons are boring, but it is really hard (and tiring!) to create special lessons every day. However, if you look for opportunities to create memorable moments within an everyday lesson, the effort is more manageable. The way I do that is by adding props to my activities.
MAGNIFYING GLASSES
Cheap sunglasses and magnifying glasses make for awesome detective activities. I use them for skills like making predictions and inferences, compare and contrast, provide evidence from the text, and so much more! You can also incorporate them into your Math, Science or Social Studies lessons.
You don’t need to go all out and buy magnifying glasses. You can create your own. I promise your students will be just as excited as holding real ones. You can get my magnifying glasses here.
FLASHLIGHTS AND BUZZERS
Incorporating flashlights or buzzers into your lessons is another fun way to help students to stay focused and build comprehension skills.
Some students might need extra time to figure out an answer, so providing them with a flashlight and quiet corner to go work on their assignment might be more beneficial than having them sit though a whole group lesson that’s moving at a much higher speed.
Buzzers, on the other hand, are a way to speed up things and get students motivated to think and respond fast. Everybody loves buzzers, even your slowest thinkers! You just need to pair them with students that work at a similar pace so they can have a chance to be successful and hit the buzzer first from time to time!
I purchased my buzzers here.
