Setting the children off into child initiated

[kl33]

Hi All,

 

How does everyone set their children off into child initiated? Is there any fantastic ideas out there instead of sitting in a circle and asking the children how they will challenge themselves? Would love to hear how everybody does this? Bearing in mind I have thirty children in a small classroom?

 

Many thanks

[Guest]

My YR class currently have a few favourites that they repeatedly ask for:

I do the action to a phoneme we have learned and all those children whose name starts with that phoneme get up and goes off to an activity. Even at the start of term most children knew the sound their name started with, but not the action, so I said the sound at first, but now we've just about covered all the phase 2 sounds actions are fine.

They have to 'catch' my secret wink - good one for making sure everyone is looking, and it's quiet too. To start with I had lots of children saying 'did you wink at me' etc, but I don't speak, and now they don't ask, they just go or wait. Or some just wink back and stay sitting down, oblivious.

I describe a characteristic such as blonde hair, green eyes, wearing striped socks, hair in a ponytail etc, and those children who 'match' get up and go. Lots of children didn't know what colour eyes they had etc at the beginning, so was good for that kind of thing

The secret wink is the runaway favourite at the moment. None of these are really inspired but just ways to get up and get going, as like you I have 30 children in a very small classroom. I'll be thinking of new ways for after half term though, just to bring in something new.

[Panders]

We do very similar to Divvydeb but I love the secret wink so will try that. We do what's my job, I describe a job and first one to guess goes off, we tap out their names on a drum, we describe shapes which they have to name, more or fewer, we put bricks on our fingers, different colour for each hand, one hand as more or fewer than the other. We ask questions about well loved stories.

[Guest]

Clap the syllables in a child's name, the class echo it back and that child gets up to go.