S13: E246 What to do with the last five minutes

Have you ever had this happen: Your lesson moves at a faster pace than expected and you have only a few minutes remaining.  Or your class time has ended.  Your students are lined up, but their teacher isn’t there yet and you might be there for a few minutes longer.  What do you do?  Five minutes may not seem like it’s that big of a deal, but in the teaching world it can feel like an eternity.  A lot can happen in five minutes! 

I’ll share five ideas for what to do if you’re waiting in the hallway.  And five ideas for what to do if you have five minutes left of class and it’s time to line up.

HALLWAY ACTIVITIES

The first two are games I found on the website: thatafterschoollife.com.

1. Guess Who

   Select a child to be the leader. Have all other children line up and turn to face the leader.  The leader will look at every child and secretly select another child. Once the leader has chosen another child, the kids in the line will ask yes or no questions.  

   ​For example, “Is the person wearing blue?” or “Does the person wear glasses?” The leader will answer the questions, being careful not to look directly at the person they have chosen.  If a child in line guesses who the leader has selected they become the new leader. If a child in line tries to guess who the leader selected and is incorrect they are out and can no longer ask questions. 

2. Quick Draw

   This waiting game is always a hit with kids.  Select a captain who comes to the front of the group and stands with their back to the line.  All students will perform one of three actions:  Either Salute (hand to the forehead), the X (cross your arms in an X across your chest) or the L (make a fist with your right hand and rest it on your left elbow, hold your left hand in the air, in an L shape).  You say out loud “1-2-3 quick draw.” On quick draw, the captain turns around and does one of three actions. When the captain turns around, each student in line performs their action. If it is the same as the captain, they are out and can’t participate in the next few rounds.  The game continues until one child remains in line and they become the captain.

3. The Quiet Game

4. Read a book to students

5. The Telephone Game

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

1. “A my name is…”   “A my name is Andy and I like Apples  Class repeats:  Andy likes Apples. Next student:  G my name is Grace and I like Gorillas.  Class begins with the most recent student:  Grace likes gorillas, Andy likes apples.  Keep accumulating names as you go around the circle.

2. Stick Figure Movement Cards: Put on calming music. Hold up a card that has a stick figure pose on it and ask students to imitate the movements.  Students can do the movements in a line or in self-space. Check out my stick figure movement cards in the shop HERE.

3. Acka Backa Soda Cracker… who will be the last student to line up?

4. Read a book! Have a book or two ready for reading. Already read one during class? Bring it out again!

5. Echo songs or Call and Response Songs.  A few favorites:  My Aunt Came Back, The Other Day I Met a Bear, No More Pie, Going on a Bear Hunt… John Feierabend has an entire book dedicated to Echo Songs literally titled The Book of Echo Songs. Check out noodleloaf.com as well - tons of great ideas and recordings of echo songs.