As a teacher, I have always believed in assigning a warm up writing exercise that may connect to the lesson or lead to a community builder. One of the reasons I love warm ups is because it is an informal writing assignment that can allow students to choose what they want to write about. Warm ups can be free choice, a prompt that may help you get to know more about the student or connect with the content in the class. Because warm ups are informal, students have the ability to write in their first language, if it is other than English, and work on thinking about complex topics.
The other main reasons I believe in a warm up is to build a routine so it is easier for me to have students on task in the beginning of class and prepared to work. After the warm up, I will be able to asses my students energy levels and decide how much lecture, activity and discussion they are up to. As Christenbury discusses, students will succeed better at different times of day and based on how much energy they have at the time. As much as I believe in getting students up and moving to get them engaged, sometimes it may not work with the students that are distracted and just going to be off task. Knowing your students and when and how they learn best is so important.
I also believe in activating prior knowledge and making connections to students lives. When students are familiar with the material, they will be more likely to engage and want to learn more about it. Christenbury also writes how once the students go over what they are familiar with, they may have more confidence to move on and learn about something more difficult or complex. It is important to me that my students believe in themselves and their ability to learn in my classroom.
Finally, as a teacher, I think having a formative assessment at the end of the class not only wraps up what learned for the day for the students, but allows me to see what my students took away from the lesson. I can see who is ready to move on and who still needs an extra day of review. This is so important for me to make sure I am on the same page as all my students throughout their learning process.
I love that you also tied in the warm-up activities - and also bridged that gap between fluent writers in English and your emergent bilingual students because you are so right - it's informal and letting them write in their home language is so much more effective!
ReplyDeleteI like your passion for warm ups. I think they are so important for setting the mood and tone for the whole lesson. Diving in can be frustrating as a student because you don't have a time to transition from one class to the next.
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