Week One in the Life of the Brainies

The Brainies were very excited.  The first day of school was here, and in a few minutes the students would be entering the room.  All of the Brainies were in their designated spot on the board in front of the room, so that all of the students could easily see them.  Below is the selfie that they took:

                                    

As the first day got underway, the Brainies each waited patiently for their turn.  The moment finally came in the afternoon.  Miss Ray introduced "Capital", "End Mark", and "Because Clapper" to help the students share orally about their first day of school.  The three Brainies were all so proud and were hoping that the students would eagerly use them.  It was awkward at first, but soon the students were beginning to catch on, and you could tell by their smiles that they all thought the Brainies were a lot of fun.

Day two was very exciting!  In the morning the students received their book bags, and Miss Ray taught them how to read using the "Capital" and "End Mark" Brainies.  It was a great sight seeing all of those little hands moving while they were reading.  A few students still hadn't caught on, but as Miss Ray walked around watching, modeling, and encouraging, they began to get the idea.  It was amazing how engaged all of the students were.  They were so focused on making the Brainies, that there were no off task behaviors.

By the time red/green writing arrived, the students had the idea.  They were having fun making the Brainies, as they wrote about the best part of their day, using a "Because Clapper".  One little girl wrote:  The best part about today was the Brainies, because they are fun.  All of the Brainies had huge smiles on their faces when they heard that.

Day three was a big day for "And".  He had been waiting all week for his turn, and he was very excited!  First Miss Ray showed the students how to play Puzzle 1 from the writing game.  The moment came when students had to make lists of two items.  Over and over "And" was being used as students said things like, "dogs and cats" or "footballs and baseballs".  The "Comma" Brainie even got a turn when students had to make lists of three items.  You could hear zoop (comma's sound effect) all over the room as students said things like, "mom, dad and sister" or "apples, oranges and bananas".  When they were done, the students were all asking if they were going to play again tomorrow.  Of course, Miss Ray was happy to oblige.

Day four was even more exciting for "And".  In the morning Miss Ray introduced students to Super Speed Grammar to help them learn about nouns.  As they shared with their partners the nouns that they saw in each slide, they were asked to used Brainies and the following sentence frame:  I see __________ and __________.  It was another workout for "And", along with "Capital" and "End Mark".

Later in the morning students not only played Puzzle 1 again, but they also learned how to play Complexor: And, which is also a part of the writing game.  By this time the students had the hang of  "And" and were able to use him in complete sentences, which they then wrote in their writing journals.  There was even more work for "And" at the end of the day, when students had two write a sentence sharing two things that they had learned that day.

Another Brainie also made his debut on day four. It was "5 W+H".  In preparation for the Crazy Professor Game, students learned how to ask each other questions about their phonics' story.  It was great to hear all of the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions that were flying around the classroom.  "5 W+H" felt very proud.

The highlight, however, for all of the Brainies was when students began to use them during "Teach Okay", without Miss Ray even asking them to.  There were a few students who received Super Improver Stars for this.

On day five the students were using the Brainies more and more.  Today "Comma" got a real workout, as Miss Ray taught the students the Complexor:  Comma List.  Students also learned a new Brainie: "Triple Whammy Sentence".  "Triple Whammy" was so excited.  He had been waiting all week for his moment.  He worked as a team with "And" as students created "Triple Whammy" sentences during the Complexor game.  Students then wrote "Triple Whammy" sentences in their writing journals, using one of three sentence frames that Miss Ray provided.  Students could choose from the following three sentence frames, which Miss Ray explained were in three levels like a video game:

The "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeazy" sentence frame:  I like __________, __________ and __________.

The "Challenge" sentence frame:  My favorite __________ are __________, __________, and __________.

The "Super Duper Challenge" sentence frame:  My three favorite nouns are _________, __________, and __________.

Some students even asked if they could do all three!  Miss Ray's response:  Well, if you really want to.

The Brainies were loving life, but then the moment came when "If Then" was glowing.  He wasn't expecting to be used this week, so he was just kicking back, watching many of his other Brainie friends at work.  Then, it happened.  At the end of reading (Remember, students have been reading books all week using the Brainies.), one of the students raised her hand and said, "I found a new Brainie in my book.  She the pointed to "If _____, then _____" and made the gesture.  Miss Ray had never even mentioned this Brainie.  The student just saw it on the board.  It was a glorious moment for the Brainies, and for Miss Ray as well.

Another highlight came on day five.  Sadly, however, the Brainies did not get to hear it.  It was the end of the day and the students were in line and on their way outside to meet their parents.  On the way, one student raised her hand and said, "I have been using the Brainies when I read at night.  Is that okay?"  It was one of those "Miss Ray would like to jump up and down and shout at the top of her lungs how excited she was, but instead she contained herself and very calmly told the student that she thought it was a great idea" moments.  Miss Ray then stopped the line and, out of curiosity, asked her students if anyone else had tried reading with the Brainies at home or had shown the Brainies to their parents.  To Miss Ray's surprise and delight, almost everyone raised a hand.  It was just too bad that the Brainies missed all of this.

It had been a great first week of school in the life of the Brainies.  They are resting this weekend, but they are all very excited for week two of school.

I hope that you all have enjoyed my story of the Brainies.  If you are not familiar with the Brainies or the Writing Game, you can access them both by going to www.wholebrainteaching.com.  Register on the site. (Registration is free.)  Then you can access all of the free downloads.  After you have registered, just scroll down the right side of your screen and you will see a bar labeled downloads.  Click on it, and and not only will you find the Brainies and the Writing game, but you will also find a number of other great Whole Brain resources.