Transitional+Ideas


 * Ms. Burroughs used a song called Lettersize to transition her first graders from their morning journal writing to phonics. She has them all come to the rug. The song states letters of the alphabet and the students do certain actions with each letter sound. For instance, for the letter B the students pretend to bounce a ball. This song and activity gets the students up and moving to keep them engaged in the activity but also get their brains thinking about the sounds letters make before their phonics lesson. This was a great way to keep the students' attention and keep them excited about learning.

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 * // This Youtube video of a teacher transitioning her class to their math time is excellent. Not only are her first graders well engaged in her lessons but you can also see the work she has put into them and the management of her classroom. Although this video is somewhat long, I found it to be an excellent example of proper transitioning for first grade. //


 * //Standing in Line Song: I witnessed a first grade teacher, Mrs. Anderson, across the hall from Ms. Burroughs classroom at Enota elementary use this as a transition for her students when they were leaving for activity, lunch, recess, etc. She would start and end the song with them and it was incredible how quiet her line always is when traveling down the hallways. Her is part of the song, not the entire version she would sing to her children. I see this as a great way to get them moving quietly before they transition to an activity that leads them down the hallways.//
 * To the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It"
 * If you're ready to move along-stand in line(clap, clap)
 * If you're ready to move along-stand in line(clap, clap)
 * If you're standing in the line then be very very quiet
 * If you're standing in the line be very quiet
 * If you're standing in the line blink your eyes(blink, blink)
 * If you're standing in the line blink your eyes(blink, blink)
 * If you're standing in the line then be very very quiet
 * If you're standing in line be very quiet
 * If you're standing in the line touch your head
 * If you're standing in the line touch your head
 * If you're standing in the line then be very very quiet
 * If you're standing in line be very quiet


 * Ms. Burroughs also used "1,2,3, all eyes on me" and her students answer, "4,5,6, my eyes are fixed". This was a way that Ms. Burroughs used to grab her students' attention and see who was ready to transition to the next activity and who was not. She used this many times as a transitional cue for her students to know to start switching gears to the next assignment. It seemed very effective from what I observed in her personal classroom.


 * http://thefabulousfirstgrade-sarah.blogspot.com/search/label/Transition%20Songs
 * On this first grade teacher's blog she has a great page(the link above) on transition songs she uses for her classroom. She explains what songs she uses for which transition. Her students even know which song means what and once they hear the song get right to work in cleaning up and moving to the next activity. I found this page in her blog to be incredible in how she has managed to get her first graders to understand what they need to do in order to transition to the next activity according to the song she plays. I love this idea of using kid friendly songs in order to prompt them to transition eventually without any cues from you other than turning on the song.


 * http://www.teachingwithpurpose.com/Classroom_Transitions_Susan_Douglas.pdf
 * //The pictures below are transition ideas from this first grade teacher's blog.//
 * [[image:Screen Shot 2013-11-26 at 4.33.33 PM.png width="393" height="302" align="left"]]