Transitions

This time of year my kiddos get "tired" of the same old classroom managment attention getters and transitional poems, etc that we've been using all year.  The first few months of school when I said "Spring a leak!"  I'd have a classroom full of kindergarteners sounding like leaking tires "SSHHH......"  They were so loud and proud that they knew how to get the class quiet quickly.  Now, it's a sad little leak I hear "sshh..."   It was new, it was fun, and now they're done!  


At the same time they need these oldies but goodies they learned on days 1-10 to keep things simple and consistent.  The poster above shows 3 of my consistent transition songs/poems that I could not get through my week without.  Click on the pic for a printable version.  


Another one of  my favorite quick chants for getting kids quiet for the hallway is: 

Big old ________ round and fat. 

(put arms in big circle to mimic a fat belly)

Ready for the hall, just like that.

 (We clap our hands on the words "just like" and then slap our hands on our legs for the word "that.")

The blank part above changes every month (you could use anything but here's what I use):

Sept/Aug:  apple

Oct:   pumpkin

Nov.  turkey

Dec.:  santa or snowman

Jan.:  snowman or penguin

Feb.:  heart or valentine

March:  leprechaun

April:   rain cloud

May:   We usually learn about the planets this month so I use a different planet name each time.

If you have any favorite transional songs or poems, get quiet quickly chants, or a management technique you could not get through your week without I would love to hear them!!  I am probably more ready for "new" than they are!!  : )