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I’m not crazy about the term time filler. Is it just me? Personally, I much prefer five-minute filler or quick activity. I get that all three terms describe basically the same thing. And yet, for me, five-minute filler and quick activity sound more purposeful. In all honesty, if someone suggested that I needed some time fillers here at the office, I might just pop ’em on the noggin’. 🙂 Of course, unlike a teacher, I’m not trying to keep 20-plus kids engaged during a slight delay. So maybe time filler is the right term.
Let me know what you think! TGIF! |
Hi,
Whenever I need a time filler or whatever you want to call it,I find that by calling out to all the 3 to 4 yrs olds in my class to sit on the carpet and sing a few songs while we wait for the right time to line up for playground time or P.E. for exampl, helps a lot. This way I can quickly gather them up and interest them in something quick and cheerful.
I prefer “Brain Break” or “Transition Activity” to time filler. We do a lot of short, movement oriented things between seat work activities.
I have always called it wait time. Generally I use songs or rhymes, or fingerplays to fill the wait time.
I use the game called Guess My Rule sometimes. It plays like this. You pick something that several students visually have in common(earrings, eye color, hair length, shoes with shoestrings, etc.) Call these students to the front. Have the other students look at them and say to the students “Guess my rule”. The other students try to guess what they the ones up front have in common. If a student guesses they get to pick something and call students up for another round of play. This, of course, takes more than 5 min. but it is good for filing the last few min. of the day, or to get the day started. The kiddos really love it!!
My time filler lately is play dough,I’m finding that for this group this year we have had some very good conversations(as only 2’s can talk) about what we are going to do that day etc.
I agree with your terms…something more purposeful. I like “choice activity” time or “read with a friend” time. God knows we have enough time fillers in everyday life!
I have to agree, the term time-filler can be conceived as time- waster. We are not just looking to fill the time, but to utilize it- to maximize it. ‘wait-time’ is good phrase, as it teaches students to use that time when they are waiting, but I typically call it transition activity. In my classroom, we identify a couple transition activities that fit with skills we are doing. When transitioning or waiting, my teaching assistant or I engage the group in one of these activities. In some transitions, this has to be planned. As we begin checking work and sending students to the rug, one of us goes with the first couple students and begins one of the identified transition games ( rhyming with their names, visual memory games, copycat patterns, I Spy with initial sounds) until the whole group has gathered. This encourages the slow-pokes to finish up, and engages the faster workers in appropriate activities.
An upper grade teacher does similar by popping a question, problem, etc on her projection screen for students discuss/brainstorm with a partner, solve using mental math, think of 3 samples of the concept, etc. Most are related to the upcoming activity and are her way of identifying the objective of the day. Often the same warm-up/ transition activity is used for a couple days, encouraging them to recall and apply what they are learning.