1-2-3 Come Do Question of the Day With Me

Do you do “Question of the Day?”

If not, you’re missing out on a terrific opportunity to reinforce math skills such as graphing, tally marks, greater & less than, as well as counting, and number recognition. All this in less than 5 minutes! Woo Hoo!

Children are eager to give their opinion. Doing so, builds confidence, which leads to self-esteem.

Besides all these advantages, a Question of the Day allows students a fun way to practice writing their name.

When everyone’s name is displayed on the white board, it’s also a way children learn to read and recognize their classmates’ names as well.

For me, the best part, is getting to know each other better through sharing.

With all this in mind I designed a Question of the Day packet.

The packet includes:

* An explanation of how I set up my Question of the Day activities.
* A question mark poster to make a display with.
* Yes and a No posters you can also use in your display

* A Yes/No graphing sheet, which you can use instead of having children write their names on your white board. 

* 5 things I’d say yes to writing prompt
* 5 things I’d say no to writing prompt
* Yes-No I have an opinion trace & write worksheet

* A list of 485 Yes or No questions, so you don’t have to wrack your brain in the morning thinking of something, or wondering if you’ve already asked that question.

Simply run off the pages, laminate & check off the ones you’ve done. (Reuse every year)
I use a permanent marker, so that my check marks don’t rub off, and then at the end of the year I use a Mr. Clean eraser to rub them off. Works like a charm!

* Finally, a pair of clipboard Tally Worksheets for girls & one for the boys.  I tossed these in to switch things up a bit once in a while, so that students get a hands-on opportunity to practice using tally marks, as well as data collection & analysis.  

A boy & girl is chosen to think up their own question of the day, then armed with a clipboard (my kiddos LOVE carrying around a clipboard) they interview their classmates, record data, then share their findings with the class.

Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop to get this 34-page packet.  It's just $1.95. Question of the Day Packet.

The FREEBIE for today is a Question of the Day Poster.  This one is not included in the packet, but just a little something to get you started. 

Well that's it for today.  The squirrels are scampering back and forth outside my window; their cheeks are stuffed with acorns.  I wonder if this is a harbinger of winter creeping up on us?

Anyone else out there think that fall should last longer? Wishing you a terrific week.

"Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt." -William Allingham

To Ask Or Not To Ask?  That's A Good Question. I say, Ask away, With a Question Of The Day.

How To Do Question Of The Day:

 I use Question Of The Day as a way to introduce simple graphing to my students.

All of these questions are YES or NO questions.  I make two columns by running a piece of colored tape down the center of my metal closet door.  For this packet, I dreamed up 485 yes or no questions.  There are some for each month/season.

Question of the Day is also a great way to help my Y5’s learn to recognize their name.  

I make up a sheet of address labels with my students’ names typed on them, and then stick them on a sheet of construction paper that I laminate.

After I cut them out, I put a magnet strip on the back.  You can use a portion of your white board, or the back of a cookie sheet.

Laminate a sentence strip and write the Question of the Day on it with a dry erase marker or write up permanent questions of the day, laminate them and store them in a long flower box.

Color co-ordinate your sentence strips with the season.

I put the sentence strip at the top of the door.  Underneath, I have a thumbs up for yes, next to a thumbs down for no.

The first thing my students do when they walk in the room, is find their name magnet and sit quietly on the carpet in front of the door.

When everyone is ready, I read the question and call on a student who gives their answer and then puts their magnet in the correct column.

You could also write the Question of the Day on a dry erase board, chalk board or paper easel and let students write their name under the appropriate answer.  You could also use a pocket chart.

Whatever you use, I think it’s extremely important to implement, as a variety of skills can be covered in just a matter of minutes. 

Computer Question Of The Day:

If you have a computer that is viewable by your students, you can also see if you have “scrolling marquee” as a screen saver.

If you do, right click on properties, click on “scrolling marquee” type in your Question of the Day, and set the time for the shortest amount, so it will change to the Question of the day quickly.

You can read the Question of the Day here, as well as on the board or wherever else you have it posted. 

Tally Mark Interview Question Of The Day:

You can also make Question of the Day a Tally job on one special day of the week for a boy and a girl.

 Students copy the Question of the Day from the board, or dream up their own.

The girl goes around the room after she has completed her work, and interviews the girls, asking them the Question of the Day and recording their answers and then counting up the results.  Great practice for data collection & analysis.

The boy does the same thing with the boys. During Show & Tell time they give the results.  Doing this activity helps children feel special and reinforces a variety of report card skills and standards. 

Why Do Question Of The Day?

Graphs make counting and comparing meaningful to students and provide opportunities to bring a variety of skills to a child’s attention.

A Question of the Day helps a teacher and the students learn about each other.

It’s an easy and fun way for even young children to learn how to collect, organize, analyze and understand data in a graphic representation.

It is ideal for counting practice and gives teachers a chance to teach math vocabulary such as: more than, less than, and equal to.

Question of the Day also supports literacy development because students are recognizing their names in print, understanding that print has meaning, learning to identify words, learning that words make up sentences and learning to track print in a sentence.

I also believe that it makes children feel special, because we are asking their opinion.  They are learning to think about their answer and give in-put so that we can collect data and analyze the results. 

Yes or No Opinions During Story Time:

I will often ask my students’ opinion about the stories I have read to them.

Thumbs up if you enjoyed the story; thumbs down if you did not.  Or… Thumbs up if you liked the ending or thumbs down if you did not, or did you like the character or the illustrations, or whatever else I can think of to get my students thinking.

You can graph the results as well.  I’ve also included a yes & no Question of the Day thumbs up and down poster. 

This packet will be free for an entire year, after which time it will be revamped, up-dated and put in my TpT shop.  Question of the Day packet.

Thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to PIN away.