Virtual Activites

What kind of activities do you do with your students virtually? I am going to share some things I do when working with my students virtually. It took me awhile to find what works best but now it has become natural to teach virtually and to have to do so without a few days’ notice. Below are some activities I did with my students virtually this week on Zoom. I facilitated each activity and modeled it for them.

Materials I sent home for these activities:

• glue stick

• full paper plate

• painted half paper plate

• paper plate with hold cut out

• 2 sets of eyes

• Bear face pieces (ears and nose)

1. Snail Plate

I gave students a half paper plate that was painted and a little baggie with two eyes. Students colored a full-size paper plate and then glued the painted half on with the two eyes.

2. Fork Bear Painting

Students used either a fork to paint or a crayon to color and made a circle on a white piece of paper. Then they glued the bears eyes, ears and nose on the paper.

3. Number UFO

I had students take a paper plate that had a hole cut out in the middle and write numbers 0 through 10. We then used the numbers to practice counting to 10. For those who had a hard time writing the numbers I had an adult write them for the students and had them have the student trace the numbers. After writing/tracing and counting, students were able to color the "UFO".

4. Tracing/Writing

Who knows that Zoom has a “whiteboard” option when screen sharing? I use this often when teaching virtually. This week we used it to draw shapes, write our numbers and to practice writing our name.

5. One on One Lessons

During one-on-one lessons I was able to read a book to some students, do flashcards with some and others I did matching activities with. Below you will find an example of the matching activities I use. I have one for colors, shapes, numbers, letters and common objects. I stated the color, shape, number, letter or object for the student to point to too "match". For my students who may struggle with this, I hold up a flashcard for them to use to help them match. These types of activities work great with non-verbal students

Although teaching virtually can be challenging, it can also help bring out our creative side as educators! If there is one thing I enjoy most about virtually teaching it is the challenge of finding new fun ways to interact and engage students! What do you enjoy about virtual teaching?

~Marissa