[azulcat]

Hello,

I am looking for ideas for "Do Nows" that can be done everyday in 10 minutes or less, like journal prompts, Mug shots etc. I was wondering what you do for your daily "Do Now".

Thank you in advance.

[MissESL]

Daily Language Review.
Sometimes I do the Free-Write Five...5 minutes to write whatever however, as long as your pencil is moving and so are your thoughts.

[English1103]

For the first 10 minutes of class, I have my students write about a selected topic, complete a fun language based worksheet, or correct a paragraph using good editing skills.

I think it is always a good idea for students to write during the first part of class because it gets them motivated and actively paying attention to what they are doing.

One suggestion: Try giving them topics that promote thinking and good writing skills. For example, they might focus on writing with Vivid Verbs, or something.

Good luck!

~~ Wonderful, you are a sixth grade teacher, as I am. I'll go ahead and send you some of the prompts that I use .

[tammynj]

I try to switch it up and to relate it to our main objective for the day. For instance, today we previewed a story that we will start reading tomorrow; the Do Now for tomorrow is to make predictions based on the 5W's (who, what, when, where, why). It's okay if their predictions are wrong, of course, but we will discuss why they made the predictions they did. At the end of the lesson, we will compare their predictions and see how many were correct.

The next day, we are doing a mini lesson on compoiund nouns. For each table/group, I made flashcards with one word on each. The Do Now for that day will involve the students working together to compose as many compound nouns as they can (the caveat is that each word has to be matched to another word that makes sense together). I used compound nouns for the flashcards (which were index cards cut in half) and scrambled them up.

I also have a bulletin board that I have a basic story map on (a place for setting, theme, characters, etc.). A Do Now might be to write one of of those items from a recent story on a sticky, and we would place it on the bulletin board. (For instance, if you have a blue sticky, write a major character; if you have a pink sticky, write the setting (time) or setting (place).

The other day, they had to work in small groups to brainstorm *new* adjectives for ones that we were over-using in our persuasive essays (good, great, interesting). They used a thesaurus if needed (they all eventually used one). Then we made lists of alternative words, and kept it up. We incorporated it into our writing that day (I let them see me use several of the words when I modeled writing my closing paragraph).

Hope this gives you some ideas. I hope to see other ideas here, too.

What are mug shots, BTW?

I teach 6th, too.

[azulcat]

Mug shots are paragraphs or sentences that have mechanics, usage and/or grammar errors.

[ATeachH]

Usually, I have a short, non fiction passage up on my smartboard when they are coming in the room with the timer on 10 minutes. They just have to read the story and answer the questions - we rotate students who get to put their answers on the smart board. This is how I get in a little "test prep" every day...after this - no more multiple choice for me!

[azulcat]

Color me jealous! :-)

Thank you so much for all of your ideas. I think I can do a mix of journal prompts, multiple choice and lesson based "Do Nows"