Greetings

=Greetings=

Stand Up, Sit Down! to get to know students
Directions: Stand if the item applies to you. Keep standing through the next item, unless it directs you to sit down. Hopefully, you will have many students standing when you get to #12. Very few will sit down on #12! Give these students a candy kiss or hug and say, “Everyone deserves a kiss (hug)!” — This leads to further discussions about pets, helping others, healthy eating and habits, traveling, etc. after the activity.
 * 1) If you have a dog, stand up.
 * 2) If someone other than you took the dog out to the bathroom this morning, sit down.
 * 3) If you have a cat, stand up.
 * 4) If someone, other than you, fed the dog or cat sit down.
 * 5) If you are an only child, stand up.
 * 6) If you are the youngest child in the family, sit down.
 * 7) If you are going to take a trip this coming Labor Day weekend, stand up.
 * 8) If you stayed up, past 11:00 last night, sit down.
 * 9) If you have received an A on an assignment during these past eight days of school, stand up.
 * 10) If you did not eat a good healthy breakfast….lots of milk product, cereal, fiber and fruits, sit down!
 * 11) If you helped a neighbor this summer, stand up.
 * 12) If you received a kiss or a hug, this morning from someone, sit down.

=**IMPORTANT NUMBERS:**= A terrific idea from a made4math post, create a SmartBoard quiz called " [| Mrs. Ratzel by the Numbers] " quiz for that first day. 9 or 10 of the most important numbers in my life...and a way for me to help students connect. At the end of my quiz, they'll have to tell me the 5 most important numbers in their life and why. I asked the question, gave them options as to why it was important and then I used the Object Animation feature to "hide" the real answer. Once they offer their ideas, I'll tap the hidden textbox to reveal the "right" answer. It should be great fun and set a positive sharing note between us. Looking forward to the 5 most important numbers in their life. I'm sure they'll be funny, sad, rediculous and help me learn more about my students.

==**Beach Ball** - one member holds a beachball, They then toss the ball to another member ensuring that the ball spins. When the member catches the ball, they look to see what color of the beach ball their right index finger is touching. They must now tell the crew something about themsellves that starts with the same letter as the color they are touching.==

**Best Summer (or whatever) Ever -** Student introduces self and then tells about their best summer (or whatever) ever.
Greeting: Baseball Four kinds of hits are singles, doubled, triples and home runs. The students will choose what kind of “hit” or greeting they will do. If they choose a single they will shake hands and greet by saying, “Good morning,,” to the person next to them, double will be two people down, triple will be three and home run will be four. The people they pass on the way to their hit will slap hands with them. Once students have been greeted,they sit down and fold their hands in their laps and will not slap hands with the person who is greeting. The game/greeting continues until everyone has been greeted.
 * Community Level 1 – Acquainted **
 * Grade Level: ** Primary, Intermediate, and Middle School
 * Materials: ** None
 * Plan for Success: ** This game/greeting works well to mix up who students greet on a daily basis.
 * Variations/Extensions: **Other sports can also be used for this greeting such as football. For football students can choose a touchdown, field goal, safety, or two point conversion. This greeting would also work with basketball

> //Adapted From Scholastic: B//egin by reading "Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10." We discuss the fact that teachers are "real people" and have normal lives. Next, I share a PowerPoint slideshow with my students. I include pictures of my family, my home (and all of the rooms in it), pets, what I did over the summer, things I do for fun, etc. After I share, the students are to write an introduction of themselves. When they finish writing their draft and editing, they type what they have written. Next, they make a slide using PowerPoint of their introductions and include their picture on the slide. Put all of the slides on one PowerPoint to use at Open House or to share throughout the year to remember the beginning of the school year. > > //Adapted From Scholastic:// > Focus on the idea of everyone being unique. Get in a circle and begin by saying that I am going to say something about myself that is unique or something that is special and no one else in the room shares that quality with me (I tell them that it is ok if some people have the same ideas, but that we want to try to find ideas that make us different). I tell them that unique is another word for different. I ask them, what do you think about when you hear the word different? Often, they name things with a negative connotation. I tell them that I like the word unique, because it means the same thing, but that negative connotation hasn't ruined the word. > > I grab a ball of yarn and I tell them one thing I think is unique about me. Example: "I competed in a tennis tournament this summer and won the whole tournament!" I will then hold my end of the ball and throw the ball to someone else in the circle. That person will say something unique, hold a part of the string and throw the ball to another person. By the time the ball of yarn has made its way around the circle, everyone will be holding a part and it will look like a web. When we finish, I will ask the kids, "What did we make?" They will of course say that we made a web. I will then ask them to tell me about the web. Through discussion, I will eventually have them discover that, even though we are all unique and special, we are all connected to each other like a web, because we are a crew. > > //Adapted from Scholastic// > Give crew members a special bookmark that can be used to introduce yourself. Put some of the things you like to do outside of school. One thing, of course is reading! Invite crew members (and I do the same) to bring in a book. Crew members mark their favorite part. It can be any book - one they are reading now or one that has always been a favorite. They mark the part they enjoy with their bookmark and we take turns telling about the book and why we like it. > > The students LOVE this. We even make a list on chart paper of books we recommend to refer back to throughout the year. Get to know students as readers, they get excited about reading first thing, and they find out that their classmates enjoy the same kinds of books they do!. > > //Adapted from Scholastic// > I use this to teach analogies to prepare them for testing. I will say the hand is to arm as the foot is to. Then they have to match their bodies to the correct part. (There weren't any other samples). > > > //Adapted from Scholastic// > This get-to-know-you activity is called "What's In a Name?" It is a fun and easy way for kids to learn each other's names and a little bit about each other. Just give each student a "What's In a Name?" form. The form is simple - just a few questions for them to answer OR ask their parents/guardians to help them answer. Without fail, parents enjoy this beginning-of-the-year task. They often write lengthy responses about how special their child's name is to them. I've found it is a great way to get to know the parents as well! > > Here are the questions for "What's In a Name?":
 * 1) CREATE A CREW SLIDESHOW
 * 1) EVERYONE IS UNIQUE - SPIN A CREW WEB
 * 1) BOOKMARK GREETING - GET TO KNOW YOUR CREW AS READERS
 * 1) HUMAN ANALOGY GAME - BUILD A COMMUNITY
 * 1) WHAT'S IN A NAME?


 * What's your full name?
 * Were you named after someone?
 * What does your name mean?
 * What names did your parents consider before deciding on the one you have?
 * Why did they choose your name?
 * What is your name's country of origin? (ex. "Ivan" has Russian origins)
 * What is your nick-name? How did you get that nick-name?
 * If you could change your name, what would you name yourself?
 * Now.... on the bottom of this paper, please write your name in a creative way. Can you use color? Fancy writing? Swirls? Block letters? A pattern? Design something as special as YOU are!
 * If possible, please attach a small picture of yourself to this form. (photo will be returned.)

The kids bring back their forms, and everyone gets to share about their name during Crew initiative. I usually have kids tell us their name and then they can choose up to two other pieces of information from their form to share with the class.

=Greeting: Number=


 * Community Level 1 – Acquainted **


 * Grade Level: ** Primary, Intermediate, and Middle School


 * Materials: ** Numbers printed on small pieces of paper

Put numbers on scraps of paper so that there are doubles for each number and then place them in a container. Each student pulls a number out from the container. Return the container to the center of the circle. The teacher calls out a number and the two students with that number get up and greet each other in the middle of the circle. The students place their numbers in the container in the middle of the circle.


 * Plan for Success: ** Remember that you will need two of each number and enough numbers for everyone in the class. For example, if you have 24 students you will need 12 numbers. Decide before you start the greeting what type of greeting will be used, for example a handshake, a wave, high five, etc. This greeting works well to mix up usual patterns of greeting among students.

Greeting: One Minute

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Students move to the center of the circle and greet as many people as they can in one minute.
 * Community Level 1 – Acquainted ****Materials:** None**How To Play:** ======

Greeting: Silent


 * Community Level 1 – Acquainted **  ** Grade Level: **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;"> Primary, Intermediate, and Middle School  ** Materials: **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;"> None

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Teach appropriate ways to greet one another when we can’t use words. (For example, we can nod heads, smile, eye contact, etc.)

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Give examples of times when we would use a silent greeting. (For example, the teacher is in the middle of a lesson and our friend returns from a small group. We see a friend and he is in a conversation with someone else and we don’t want to interrupt, etc.)


 * Greeting: Have students go around the circle, one partnership at a time, greeting each other silently. **


 * Plan for Success: **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;"> Brainstorm with the class different types of silent greetings. Model and practice the various silent greetings.


 * Variations/Extensions: **<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">When everyone has been greeted, talk about what it felt like to be greeted silently. A variation is to have students look across the circle and connect with at least three of their classmates.

__ Machinery __ Divide the group into teams (3 or more teams). Assign each group to build a certain machine with their own bodies. Give them time to work it out. Then they build the machine and the other teams guess what it is.

__ Touch - No Touch Greeting __ 1. Make eye contact. 2. Smile 3. Ask person next to you 3 options for a greeting. One option must be a no touch option. EX: "Would you like a handshake, wave or fist bump?" 4. Be creative!

__ New Year Greeting __ Students select an appropriate Happy New Year greeting. Ex: fireworks, horn, party hat, champagne cork popping. Act out the greeting.

__ Balloon Greeting __ An inflated balloon is tossed into the circle. As each person taps the balloon to keep in in the air, everyone greets that person (EX: "Good morning Jesus!"If the balloon hits the floor, start over. Continue until everyone has been greeted in a single round.

Select two captains who pick even teams.
Crew leader is the referee and the game follows all volleyball rules. Pick a score to be the winning number.

__ Another Balloon Greeting! __
An inflated balloon is tapped around the circle. Each person can only tap 3 times to keep it in the air before passing it to the next person in the circle. At the same time, they must say, "Good morning, __." If the ball hits the floor, start all over again.

Three Word Sentence Greeting Students sit in a circle. In alphabetical order each student goes in turn to make a 3 word sentence: EX: A Alligators are awesome! B Beaches bring bikinis. C Cats can cha-cha. D Dogs dig dirt. =__Basket Choice Greeting__= This requires a little teacher preparation. Put pieces of paper in a basket that have different criteria (Ex: long hair, glasses, braces, wearing earrings, wearing sneakers, etc., etc.) 1. Place all criteria papers in a basket. 2. Pass the basket around the circle. 3. Each crew member takes a paper in turn. Reads the criteria aloud. 4. Each person who meets the criteria raises their hand. 5. Select a person to greet. 6. Continue around the circle until everyone has a turn and everyone has been greeted. =__ People to People Greeting __= OEveryone stands and picks a partner. OCaller gives commands (Ex: toe to toe, elbow to elbow) OCrew members follow commands. OWhen the Caller says, “People to People,” you change partners and greet that person. OContinue being creative for about 5 minutes.

=__ Beach Ball Greeting __= Spin and toss an inflated beach ball to a Crew member. Whatever color your right, pointer finger lands on, you must say something about yourself beginning with that letter. Ex: red = I like __reading__. Keep going until everyone has a turn. (This can be changed up and the Crew members think up something for the person who catches the ball and the color their finger lands on.)

__ Another Beach Ball Greeting __ Toss the beach ball to a Crew member. Whatever color your right, pointer finger lands on, you must make up a 5 word nonsense sentence with all words with the beginning letter Ex: red = Really red roses remain rigid. Keep going until everyone has a turn.

__ Motion Name Game __ Have everyone stand in a circle. Leader begins the game by saying his/her name and demonstrating a physical motion to go with it. (Ex: slam dunk, high five, hand clap, etc.) When the person is done, the entire group repeats the name and the motion. Then, the next person in the circle introduces him/herself and does a motion. The entire group repeats that name/motion and then the first name/motion. This will continue until each person has given their name and done their motion, and the entire group has repeated everyone’s name and motions.

__ Name Game __ State your name with an adjective beginning. Ex: “Hi, my name is Kind Kibbe.” Next person says, “He/She is Kind Kibbe, and I am _ __.”__

Me, Too Game __ One player starts by saying “Hi everyone.” In response, everyone says in unison, “Hi _____ (name)!” Then the player says something that is true about himself, e.g., I live to play basketball. I have two brothers. If that is true about anybody else in the circle, they may snap their fingers or stand up (choose one or the other) and say, "Me too!" The game goes around the circle until everybody has had a chance.__

__** Mad Lib Greeting **__

__ Materials: 18 index cards or slips of paper __

__ Mad-Lib story __

__ As crew members file in and circle up, they are each handed one index card with one of the following words written on it: **adjective (4 cards), noun (2), verb (1), adverb(1), crew member (1),** **STEM class (1)**, **STEM teacher (1)**, **appropriate body part (2), number (1), celebrity (1), piece of furniture (1), animal (2).** Therewill be a few cardsleft over, so they should go around again until they are gone. __

__ The crew leader advises the crew members to look at their cards and to silently think of an example. (This is a good time to clarify the parts of speech if necessary and remind them to keep the words appropriate.) __

__ When every crew member has thought of a word, the greeting begins. Each crew member takes a turn greeting the group ("good morning everybody.....") and the group responds ("good morning //name"//). The crew member then tells the group the word he or she came up with. __

__ As each crew member greets the group and reveals his or her word, the crew leader fills the words in the following Mad Lib-style scenario: (which I encourage you to modify or rewrite completely!) When the greetings are done the crew leader reads the story aloud. __

__ Riotous laughter ensues. __

__ **This Week At STEM** __

__ Hi my name is __**Crew member's name** __and I am very excited to come to STEM today.__

__ In science, we will be dissecting a/an __**animal.** __I'm going to remove it's__


 * appropriate body part **__ from it's __**appropriate body part.** __How__ **adjective**__!!!!!!!__

__ Yesterday in __**STEM class,** __when__ **STEM teacher** __slipped on a__ **noun** __and stumbled into__

__ a __**piece of furniture** __, we all__ **verb (past tense).** __I felt bad about it later, and brought__

__ him/her a big bouquet of __**plural noun.** __They smelled simply__ **adjective**__!__

__ It's still early in the year, but so far things seem to be going __**adverb.** __In fact, I have only__

__ received __**number** **adjective** __homework assignments!!__

__ On Friday, __**celebrity** __is coming to our community meeting to talk to us about the__

__ Habits of Scholarship. He/she is also going to bring his/her __**animal** __named__ **adjective.__**

I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!

The End