Young Children - May 2008 - (Page 21) Do children have something to do while waiting for the next activity? After observing and recording what happens during transitions, teachers can modify them so children move in small groups or design activities for children to do while they wait. While one teacher calls a few children at a time to wash their hands, another teacher could lead an activity that allows for children to flow in and out easily, like singing songs or reading familiar books. Such transitions also encourage social interactions (“When you are finished washing your hands, tap a friend to take your place”). Interactive songs and games can help make transitions engaging, teach children what to do, and introduce new skills. For example, the cleanup song “Clean up, clean up everybody everywhere . . .” serves as a cue that one activity is ending and another is about to begin. Children can sing while they transition. When waiting for other children during a transition, children can play simple games such as “Guess What Is in My Bag,” in which a teacher or child puts something in a bag and children take turns asking questions and guessing what it is. The goal is to keep children engaged, thus preventing challenging behavior (see “Daily Transition Tips” for additional ideas). Teach children the expectations for transitions Often children do not know what to do during transitions. Consider a transition that happens every day, washing hands. Some children may be learning the hand-washing process and how to do it in a new setting. There are usually Daily Transition Tips Arrival/hand washing/ table toys • Have children move their picture or name from “home” to “school” on an Arrival Chart. • Make a feelings poster with pictures of faces showing different emotions (happy, shy, sleepy, excited, frustrated, sad, and so on). When they arrive, children place clothespins labeled with their names on the “feeling faces” that best represent their emotional state at that time. • Ask children to come to circle as if they were moving through peanut butter, wiggling through Jello, in a marching band, a plane flying to the airport, a car driving on a road, a bird flying to its nest, and so on. • Hang a chart on the wall. Children write their name under “Yes, I ate snack today” or “No, thank you, I’m not eating snack today.” • Make a snack menu providing visual directions of what to eat (“Take two apple slices and three pieces of cheese, please”). • Have one child wear a hard hat and inspect each center during cleanup to see if it is picked up. If it is, the child makes an X over a picture list of all the centers. If not, he recruits some helpers! • Sing the expectations of the transition: “If you’re finished cleaning up, please choose a book” (tune: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”). • Create a basket of easily accessible (class-made, repetitive text) favorite books that work well for independent reading. • Draw pairs of different colored shapes on the end of wooden craft sticks. Give each child a stick and then call a shape. Matching pairs line up together. Collect the sticks as a ticket to the next activity. • Tape cardboard cutouts of feet (or other shapes) on the floor to indicate where children will line up. Change these to introduce new vocabulary (ladybug, butterfly, cricket) or work on concepts (patterns, emotion faces, colors, shapes, letters). • Use a fun, simple song to remind children about the expectations for walking in the hallway: “We’re walking in a line, . . . one in front and one behind, we’re walking in a line” (tune: “Farmer in the Dell”). • Take turns creating body patterns (for example, clap, touch head, clap, touch head). • Hide an item in a bag and give clues to help children identify it. Large group Center time/hand washing/snack Book time and music Gross motor Dismissal Young Children • May 2008 21
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