Blog Entry #4 Assignment

 One of my favorite engaged activities my teacher does with her first graders is "Writers Workshop". This is where she has provided 12x12 whiteboards, Expo markers and mini whiteboard erasers to each of her students.This is a daily part of their schedule and when I "interview" the students, this is one of their favorite activities to do. She asks them a simple question, "yesterday, today or tomorrow?" And they need to write, and draw one thing or activity they did yesterday, or something they'll do today or tomorrow. It helps with writing, they get to free write on the whiteboards and free draw. It give them a small idea to think about, but then they really get to think about what they want to write and draw.
After 10 minutes, they get to share their board with those at their table for the next 5 minutes, and they Popsicle sticks are drawn to choose 5 random students to share with the class. They are only 1st graders, so more end up being shared. 
Another engagement activity I like is turning BINGO into a learning activity. The kids are still learning. but playing a game at the same time. This was done in a 4th grade class I was subbing for. I would ask a question and the kids would have the answer on their BINGO sheet. They all thought it was fun and it helped them think math was fun. (They were all pretty in-depth math problems that needed a scratch paper on the side.) This activity could help with social studies also.
Another activity for math is using the counting cubes to teach subtraction and addition. The kids end up having more fun building towers, but they are still counting and thinking.
These are activities I might have learned later in my Elementary learning over the next 4-5 years. But it is more fun to learn them in the class room setting as I am learning from my service teacher. 

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