Morning/Class Meetings
Zest (1/21 - 1/24)
January 21st: All Grade Levels
Take out your bullying chart and show to students some of the examples of bullying behaviors and the levels that they fall into.
January 22nd: All Grade Levels
How can zest help our friendships?
Why would you want to find a friend with zest?
Are people with zest good friends? Why?
What is another trait that you would use to describe someone you know with zest? (Example: Ms. Hough is also joyful!)
January 23rd: All Grade Levels
Discussion Questions:
1. How can we help spark zest and enthusiasm in subject areas that don't naturally interest us?
2. In what area of learning do you need more zest?
January 24th: All Grade Levels
1.The Perfect Square
This activity requires strong verbal communication and cooperation. All you need is a long rope with the ends tied together and something to serve as blindfolds for students, such as bandanas or fabric strips. Have students stand in a circle holding the rope in front of them. Signal them to put their blindfolds on and set the rope on the ground in front of them. Ask students to turn and walk a short distance away from the circle. Assign students who may need help a partner to work with. Finally, have everyone come back to the rope and try to form a perfect square with their blindfolds on. Set a time limit to make it more challenging.
2. Electric Fence
Tie a string between two stacks of chairs to create an “electric fence wire” that comes to about the average waist height on your students. Have students gather on one side of the fence and form a human chain by holding hands. The objective of the game is to get the entire team from one side of the wire to the other without touching the wire. Rules: Students can only go over (not under) the wire and must be holding hands at all times. They will have to cooperate to help each other over one at a time without touching the wire. If you have students who are not physically able to participate, they can act as judges making sure no one drops hands or touches the wire.
3. All My Friends
This game is a quick way to take note of your students’ interests. Start by having your students form a circle. Stand in the middle and say, “All my friends like … ,” filling in the blank with anything you enjoy—hiking, sushi, reading—anything! Any student who also enjoys the thing you mentioned has to switch spots with another person in the circle. Much like musical chairs, whoever doesn’t have a spot goes in the middle and says, “All my friends … ,” starting the process all over again.