Dismissal

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Games to play 
Submitted by: Mary Smith-Kobs, FirstOriginally posted at the Discussion Forums
I teach first grade. Dismissal can get out of hand. Two games my students have enjoyed playing are ‘Heads up 5-up’ and ‘The quiet game’. The first is a modified Heads Up 7-up, while the second is even more simple. Pick one student to begin. The class must be silent. The first student picks a student who is silently sitting, by tapping him/her on the shoulder. They then exchange places, the chooser sits in the desk of the chosen one. The game continues until everyone has ben chosen and all students are sitting in someone elses desk. They must be silent at all times or they are out of the game. If the same student is chosen a number of times, I remind them to look for someone who has not been chosen. I was very surprised the first time I introduced the game to my class. The results were great! They actually ask to play the ‘Quiet Game’.

Mad libs, vocabulary games 
Submitted by: UpsdaisyOriginally posted at the Discussion Forums
My class this past year went absolutely nuts over Mad Libs. We all laughed so hard. In fact it was the last thing we did on the last day of school. They also liked a game called Blurt which really surprised me because all it was was a vocabulary game. There were cards with words and brief definitions. They had to guess the word. They begged for this game every day. I used up all the cards in the deck and just went to the dictionary. It was great.

Quiet Game 
Submitted by: shoseltonOriginally posted at the Discussion Forums
This “quiet game” might help during dismissal….the kids love it and most importantly, it’s QUIET. All you need is a Nerf ball. The children spread out in the room. One person (usually the winner of the previous game) gets to make the rules i.e. throw underhand, throw overhand, right arm stays behind your back, catch with left hand and then throw with right hand, etc. The children take turns throwing the ball to a classmate. If the classmate misses or does not catch/throw the ball correctly, he or she is out and must sit down. The children must also stay in their original position. If anyone talks or makes a noise they are automatically out. The last person standing is the winner and gets to make the rules for the next game. The only disadvantage for playing it during dismissal is that the children who leave first won’t have an opportunity to win. It’s also great for inside recess!!!!

Student Clues 
Submitted by: clarnet73
When I did my student teaching in 2nd grade, the teacher picked one student per week who got to give “clues” at the end of the day… all the kids are dismissed at the same time (it’s a reasonably small school), so to get them all lined up, the person of the week (used as another job on the job rotations) gets to give “clues…” If you’re wearing green, line up. If you’re in Boy Scouts, line up. Stuff like that… if the kids are talking, they’ll miss it, and they don’t get to line up when their category is called… this works especially well if it’s a quiet kid giving the clues and you refuse to repeat them… makes them really listen to each other.

Use a song 
Submitted by: J. Brady
I use a song to dismiss my students. I constantly have music playing in my classroom and the students know the cue to clean up for dismissal. This takes a lot of practice, but is quite impressive when the students can do it. I use a Raffi CD and play Day-O. In this time, the students should pack up their backpacks, stack their chairs, pick up the floor surrounding their area, then be seated quietly on the rug. In the meantime, team leaders are sharpening pencils for the next day and two other students are cleaning tables. It takes a LOT of practice, but when the routine is set, the students can get all accomplished by the end of the song. As students gather to the carpet, I play a word game or something with them and then we reflect on our day before we are dismissed–everyone shares a little.
Grade Level(s): 1-2

Using a Student Helper 
Submitted by: AngelaS, 3rdOriginally posted at the Discussion Forums
My students are to sit and read quietly or rest their heads on their desks. I have to be in the hall for hall duty, so I have another student (a well-respected, leader-type) dismiss students. They must be called one at a time when their bus is announced. Anyone who was talking or playing will be called last and may have to stay in the classroom a few extra seconds before being dismissed. This generally works very very well and the kids enjoy it. It’s also no work for me.

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