Teaching tip: Word associations/get the kids up and moving

One of my philosophies with teaching here is "the kids know more than they think they know." The students are walking storehouses of knowledge--knowledge that comes from class and from daily life. I like using word associations to get the students thinking about new topics because they build on what the students already know. In this instance, I did a lesson about Christmas this week and began it by asking each student to think of a word that's related to Christmas. After a minute of thinking about it, each one would write his word on the board. Sometimes this would lead to unexpected words because the students see what everyone else is thinking and it may spur their memories. Here's one of my 2nd graders demonstrating it.