My colleagues and I decided to try our Jitter Juice lesson again this year on the first day of school. It was so much better than last year (see post called "I'm GLAD to be a Teacher")!!
I used the GLAD strategy for vocabulary (CCD chart, can't remember what that stands for!) in which I say a new word and they make predictions about what it means. There was lots of discussion about what that word could mean. Here are some of the responses:
"sitting up straight"
"space, like the universe"
"the universe" (perfect example of language acquistion!)
"the earth" (another great example!)
"a janitor, you know a spanish word for janitor" (this one had me in fits)
I then praised them for their responses, as it seems like they really thought about it. I then modeled the TPR (total physical response), which was like this:
Me: "Jitters"
Them: "Jitters"
Me: fingernails in teeth, "nervous and worried" and eyebrows scrunched into a worried face
Them: Copy me
This would then be our signal word for all transitions for the next two days.
Then I read First Day Jitters by Julie Danneburg. It's a very cute book with a funny twist at the end! All day long, I took stock and asked the class if they were feeling the jitters less or more, not at all, etc.
During the last hour of the day, I poured grape soda into cups and had them line up. When it was their turn to have Jitter Juice, I put a scoop of vanilla ice cream into the soda and I was delighted when each student lit up! When I finished serving it up, I went outside (where they were sitting with another adult), I asked if it was helping. The resounding, "YES!" said it all.
When we came back into the room, I wrote on the board: "Do you have the jitters now?" asked each student, and drew tally marks. The score was 21 nos and 5 yeses.
All in all, this was a fantastic first day of school. Maybe the Jitter Juice really does help.
I used the GLAD strategy for vocabulary (CCD chart, can't remember what that stands for!) in which I say a new word and they make predictions about what it means. There was lots of discussion about what that word could mean. Here are some of the responses:
"sitting up straight"
"space, like the universe"
"the universe" (perfect example of language acquistion!)
"the earth" (another great example!)
"a janitor, you know a spanish word for janitor" (this one had me in fits)
I then praised them for their responses, as it seems like they really thought about it. I then modeled the TPR (total physical response), which was like this:
Me: "Jitters"
Them: "Jitters"
Me: fingernails in teeth, "nervous and worried" and eyebrows scrunched into a worried face
Them: Copy me
This would then be our signal word for all transitions for the next two days.
Then I read First Day Jitters by Julie Danneburg. It's a very cute book with a funny twist at the end! All day long, I took stock and asked the class if they were feeling the jitters less or more, not at all, etc.
During the last hour of the day, I poured grape soda into cups and had them line up. When it was their turn to have Jitter Juice, I put a scoop of vanilla ice cream into the soda and I was delighted when each student lit up! When I finished serving it up, I went outside (where they were sitting with another adult), I asked if it was helping. The resounding, "YES!" said it all.
When we came back into the room, I wrote on the board: "Do you have the jitters now?" asked each student, and drew tally marks. The score was 21 nos and 5 yeses.
All in all, this was a fantastic first day of school. Maybe the Jitter Juice really does help.
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