Help me come up with exciting "sharing themes" for my second graders!
January 31, 2014 6:12 PM Subscribe
I am in my first year of teaching (2nd grade, so 7-8 year olds), and as part of our regular (or semi-regular) weekly routine, kids share something to the rest of the class in the morning. It's a part of the 2nd grade tradition here to have "themes" for each new week of sharing, and I'm running out of ones that inspire me.
Ones we've done that have been really successful (the object in question doesn't need to be brought in, by the way; "talk shares" are common):
- Share something that's older than you.
- Share something that stars with the same letter as your first name.
- Share something musical (perform a song, play a song from a cd, sing a song, etc).
- Share your favorite book
- Share something you collect or would like to collect
I'm looking for themes that lend themselves to creativity, that are easily accessible, that can be really personalized by each kid, and that are thought-provoking and could elicit good questions. We work a lot on paying attention to details, and on crafting good questions and anticipating them when we share; so themes that bring those out are what I'm hoping to get ideas on.
Thanks much for any help!
Ones we've done that have been really successful (the object in question doesn't need to be brought in, by the way; "talk shares" are common):
- Share something that's older than you.
- Share something that stars with the same letter as your first name.
- Share something musical (perform a song, play a song from a cd, sing a song, etc).
- Share your favorite book
- Share something you collect or would like to collect
I'm looking for themes that lend themselves to creativity, that are easily accessible, that can be really personalized by each kid, and that are thought-provoking and could elicit good questions. We work a lot on paying attention to details, and on crafting good questions and anticipating them when we share; so themes that bring those out are what I'm hoping to get ideas on.
Thanks much for any help!
Share what your dream house would look like.
Share what you did this week to be nice to your family.
Share your favorite piece of clothing-- Halloween costume, or shirt, or shoes.
Share about a time you tried a type of food you didn't think you'd like, except it turned out to be good.
posted by samthemander at 6:38 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Share what you did this week to be nice to your family.
Share your favorite piece of clothing-- Halloween costume, or shirt, or shoes.
Share about a time you tried a type of food you didn't think you'd like, except it turned out to be good.
posted by samthemander at 6:38 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Share something that makes you happy
...something that made you sad
...your favorite place
...an adventure you'd like to take one day
...a recent thing you did to help someone
...a time when you chose to do the right thing
posted by cecic at 6:40 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
...something that made you sad
...your favorite place
...an adventure you'd like to take one day
...a recent thing you did to help someone
...a time when you chose to do the right thing
posted by cecic at 6:40 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Talk Shares: Share something...
that you wish existed.
that you would like to invent.
that would make school more fun.
that you would bring with you if you could travel to Mars.
that you would bring with you if you could travel to the past/future.
that you learned from your Grandmother/Grandfather/Older Relative (like story, a skill).
that you know how to do that you learned from your friend.
that you would ask a kid from Asia/Africa/Europe, etc. (like a question).
that you would like to write a book about.
that you would do if you were president or would tell the president if you met him/her.
that you think will be different in the future.
posted by jardinier at 6:46 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
that you wish existed.
that you would like to invent.
that would make school more fun.
that you would bring with you if you could travel to Mars.
that you would bring with you if you could travel to the past/future.
that you learned from your Grandmother/Grandfather/Older Relative (like story, a skill).
that you know how to do that you learned from your friend.
that you would ask a kid from Asia/Africa/Europe, etc. (like a question).
that you would like to write a book about.
that you would do if you were president or would tell the president if you met him/her.
that you think will be different in the future.
posted by jardinier at 6:46 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Share:
your favorite Blue thing.
what you would take into Space with you.
what you would show first to a space alien or time traveler.
posted by calgirl at 7:03 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
your favorite Blue thing.
what you would take into Space with you.
what you would show first to a space alien or time traveler.
posted by calgirl at 7:03 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Something you found.
Something that came from far away.
Something you made.
Something that's special because of how you got it. (Maybe a present from someone special, a trophy, a lucky find, or a souvenir from a special trip)
Something that didn't exist when your parents (or grandparents) were your age.
Something you might want to keep to show your kids someday.
posted by Redstart at 7:13 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Something that came from far away.
Something you made.
Something that's special because of how you got it. (Maybe a present from someone special, a trophy, a lucky find, or a souvenir from a special trip)
Something that didn't exist when your parents (or grandparents) were your age.
Something you might want to keep to show your kids someday.
posted by Redstart at 7:13 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Share something you really like about yourself.
posted by forthright at 7:28 PM on January 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by forthright at 7:28 PM on January 31, 2014 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: These are great, you guys. Really awesome.
posted by ORthey at 9:13 PM on January 31, 2014
posted by ORthey at 9:13 PM on January 31, 2014
Share an idea for a future sharing theme! Aside from the amusing meta aspect, I think that would be fun and engaging, and you could have a class vote on the best one.
posted by Joh at 10:27 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Joh at 10:27 PM on January 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Share something interesting/funny/unusual you saw on the way to school today, or on the way home yesterday.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:51 AM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:51 AM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Especially for the one about something nice you did for your family, you could give that to them as they are leaving school on Friday and say that they will share on Monday whatever they think to do over the weekend.
posted by CathyG at 2:28 PM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by CathyG at 2:28 PM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Introduce a family member, tell a family story/legend, share a hobby, share a sport (could even have some grouping -- say six kids can share on one day about football, and five on another about gymnastics), share your favorite vegetable and why, design your dream home and tell us about it (may be a larger scope than a quick share), share something alive, share something that moves, share something red (or any other color).
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:13 PM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:13 PM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Share your favorite word that rhymes with: (just don't use "pretty" - my sister has a very funny story about student teaching when kids were rhyming with "pretty" and it went a little crazy) and tell us what you like about that word.
Share the name you would name a pet dragon.
posted by janey47 at 6:18 PM on January 31, 2014 [2 favorites]