Fail safe time fillers for Yr1-4, when I am on supply in an unfamiliar school?

Question

Am an experienced teacher but feel like I am treading water when sent to a very challenging school. Need some fun or quirky ideas for time fillers to keep children focused, under control and make me memorable for all the right reasons!

Answer 1

Always a hit with any age group...
Choose some categories, such as colours, girls' names, animals, fruit, etc., write these up on the board, then throw a dice with letters on or get one pupil to choose a letter of the alphabet.
Depending on the age/ability of the kids you can get them to work individually or in pairs. You then give them a set time in which they have to find one item beginning with the chosen letter for each category.
Example: Letter P - purple, Penelope, parrot, pomegranateYou can then play for points. Pupils take it in turns to read out their items - if they or anyone else has a unique item, they can have one point. Add points up at the end. Try a different letter.
A variation is to choose one category and find one item for each letter of the alphabet - this works better with older kids. Example: Fruit - Apple, Banana, Cherry, etc.
One point for each item.
If you are really well prepared, you could make up ready made sheets, so that pupils only need to write in the letter and then all of their items.I have played this game with young kids aged 7 and moody 14 year olds who had been excluded from school. It is successful with any age group or ability.

Answer 2

I am a supply teacher and I always have sheets of word searches and dot to dot. The children really like them and you can have different levels of difficulty. The BBC education site has some and you can get them from children's puzzle books. Pictures for colouring are also popular and things like 'design your own football strip' go down well. It is worth joing www.enchantedlearning.com as they have wonderful print outs, though you can print quite a few with out joining. They do all sorts of books the children can make. A game that is very popular (though it may seem hard to believe) is a maths game when the children sit in a circle. The child on your right is in the 'highest' seat the child on your left the lowest. You then count in a way appropriate to the age, in ones, or twos, fives, tens etc. If a child makes a mistake the go to the bottom place and every else moves up. You don't have to stop when you get to the last child but can just keep going. I often help children with the number needed and so make it about whether they are paying attention, if they don't speak immediately down they go. Sometimes there are stickers at the end for children who have moved up or not gone down.
Which leads me to the last point. have you heard of Primary Teaching Services? They do wonderful stickers, including ones that say 'marked by a supply teacher' and ones that smell of strawberries. You will find them at www.primaryteaching.co.uk

Answer 3

Time Fillers Ks2

Answer 4

fail safe time fillers yr14 supply unfamiliar school

Answer 5

Target is actually really good quality. You can also try stores like Meijers (if they have one where you live). When I was going into 3rd grade in 2002, they had notebooks which were only $0.10 each! And I still have a few of them in terrific condition. Don't go to stores like Staples, or Office Depot. Their stuff is WAY overpriced. Also try, Toys 'R Us. They have great supplies.

Answer 6

I've always found getting the children to invent a new planet, invent a language, draw maps for it, draw the charcters etc is great fun.

And even the boys love it. Link it to things like Captain Underpants, Doctor Who etc.

You can present it in any way you want...posters, drama, huge art work, story writing etc. Even can link to maths (shape and space, co-ordinates etc). This can last days if you want it to and can cover lots of subjects...what about making some music to go with it (national anthem? background music for drama).

Could get them to dress up as their characters...if being brave...etc.

Ok I tend to go creatively mad but thats me as a teacher. I've got year 3 and keeping it fun and in a way that the kids don't think they are learning is great. Little do they know:P!!!!!

Good luck with the supply teaching.

Answer 7

My 5 year old will be moving up to year 2 in september and loves anything to do with gluing and sticking. If I ask her what she's done today it's always the cutting out and gluing activities she's remembered, especially the worksheet where you have to glue the correct answer in the space. Also anything involving musical instruments is noisy, fun and memorable!!
My daughter learned me a very catchy ditty taght to her by a supply teacher a few months ago. The children all stand in a circle and click their fingers to a beat.Then they all say
Hello, (click)
my name is Joe(click etc)
and I work in a button fac-to-ry.
One day my boss came up to me
and said "Joe, are you busy?" I said "No"
"Push this button with your right hand"
(they then pretend to push a button and the rhyme continues as before.)
"push this button with your left hand"
right foot"
left foot"
head"
finally when he asks joe if he's busy the children shout "YES!"
All the kids were raving about it, and I found myself saying it even when she went to bed!!
Good luck with your little darlings!

Answer 8

1

Answer 9

fruit grows on shrub or vines and fruit and vegetables grow in the land.