The traditional "Shoo Fly!" song is one students will likely know, and if they don't it is an easy one to learn. Once they know the words, they can practice singing with a portion of the class forming a small circle. Each student in the circle will sing a verse in turn to express how they feel "like a rainbow rain" or "like a sunshine day." As they add in another feeling, they can invite another partner to join in the circle until it expands to include the entire class.
As students represent songs in a picture, they follow the rules of a game called "Pumpkin Patch." Students begin by sitting in a large circle. They sing the verse "where oh where is," and repeat the name of a student. Once that student joins in the circle, or the "pumpkin patch," they continue with the other verses, "She's picking up the pumpkins, putting them in the basket..." or whatever verse the teacher and students have selected.
Students can learn a great deal about the Solar System by acting it out. Acting out planetary activity can also solidify new learning about the Solar System. Each student takes on a planet, placing a placard in front of them to identify the planet they represent, such as Mars, Venus or even the Moon. One student must be the sun, and the sun is in the center of all the planets. Each placard would include characteristics of that planet, and students rotate around one another and the sun in the order in which they rotate in the Solar System. Some students, such as the one portraying the sun, can even carry glow necklaces to demonstrate their light.
As students construct robots, they can pretend to become robots and rotate around the classroom to demonstrate how they were constructed. Using recycled materials and other classroom materials such as cans, string, used computer parts and even used cell phones, students can string together robotic machines with a technical edge and construction that can be worked into math activities through measurement, construction and distribution of materials. While the actual robots might not walk and speak without more advanced training, students can take on some of their characteristics by dressing up as their robots to form a Robot Parade, demonstrating as they walk in robot costume how their robots were constructed.