All Ages Daily Warm Ups Start the Brain

iTeachScience

iTeachScience

Legacy Member
Each lesson I teach begins with a daily warm up question, related to what the students learned the day before or related to a new topic that we will be beginning with the new lesson. Daily warm-up questions are written down and answered by students as the first part of class each day. These warm ups help students to recall information needed for today's lesson before moving on, or sometimes are used to simply gain student's input and opinions on controversial topics. I usually give no more than 5 minutes each lesson for students to complete the daily warm up. This is also a great classroom management strategy, as it's a signal to the class that class has begun and it allows me time to take attendance while they work on it. After they have been given enough time to complete it, I randomly call on students to share their answers. This is a quick assessment to use to assess student knowledge before moving on to the next topic.

Do you use warm ups in any of your classes? What do you like or dislike about daily warm ups?
 
I can definitely attest to this. As a practicing musician, there is absolutely no substitute for a good warm-up, and the difference becomes very very obvious within the first few years. Because music is ruined at the first mistake, you have to do everything you can to function in the most precise way possible. In my experience, the only thing as effective as a warm-up is being properly hydrated.
 
Actually these academic warm ups should be standard practice. This enables students to connect with the previous lesson and the present one. There should be short summaries, question and answer sessions and the like. A quiz should be administered at the end of each topic.
 
Warming up is essential for, well, everything we do in life. We need to oil our joints and minds prior to using them efficiently. I usually warm up by body before I dance or hit the weights with release technique practices and improvisational dancing. If find that when I teach little kids, they respond best to active warm ups, where we run around first, get excited, and then give introductions or answer some questions. The questions can be about anything. I allow silliness to get the creative juices flowing.

When I was in school, my teachers would prepare simple tasks for us to complete in the morning. Sometimes it would be a simple math equation or a quick writing prompt (i.e. journal). It usually got me into the moment and helped me learn more since I could focus.
 
I think that it's an excellent idea. I haven't done them in a while but I remember when I did it made all the difference. I think I should start doing them again it can really get everyone motivated and ready for the new work.
 
I think that warm-ups before starting any class are very effective in getting students' attention and programming their brain that we are about to start our class for the day. I also used to do that when I was still teaching in university. It has been my way of assessing how well my students learned from our previous class and what still needs to be tackled further for the day.
 
Daily warm ups are a fantastic idea for any classroom and for any age, and I often do these, in various forms, in my own life when I need to get my mind going. I love crossword puzzles so that is always a pretty easy way for me to get going, but if I have the time I like to find things that are a little more interesting or at least attractive. There are so many options online, too, which is great. Every once in a while I will start class with a simple Sudoku puzzle to get my kids going.
 
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