Great Sponge Activity to do in the Classroom

I enjoy Dr. Thornburg effective teaching class. She is the sweetest! I only attend her class once a week, but I wish it was twice a week because I learn so much from her. She's interesting, fun, funny, and caring.  I wish that she taught some of my classes in the future. One of the last topics that we discussed in her classroom was sponge activities (brain breaks). Everyone in the class had to come up with a sponge activity and share it with the class. Before I share my sponge activity with you, (some of you may call them brain breaks) let me tell you what it is. A sponge activity is something that teachers give students to work on as they are entering the classroom or to keep the students busy while the teacher takes care of necessary business. Now, I'll share my sponge activity! :)

The teacher will have popsicle sticks placed in a container of each student name in the classroom. The teacher or leader of the day will pass the container around to each student and let them pull out a popsicle stick from the container. Each student should have someone else’s name. Once all students have received a popsicle stick with one of their friends name on it, each student will have to share something nice about that student with the rest of the class. This is a great way to build confidence in the classroom. Dr. Thornburg also added that it is a great activity to do on the first day of school so the students can get to know one another.