BRAIN BREAKS MY WAY - CREATING QUESTION SETS IN GONOODLE

First off, are you still standing?  OMWORD people, the time change dang near imploded the primary educational system on our campus this week and it's only Thursday.  On Monday we had oodles of tears, heads on the desks, whining, fighting, tattling . . . and this was just the morning reading block.  I know we have a crew who thrives on systems, but I was ready to pull my hair out at 11. By the time the afternoon rolled around and we couldn't seem to sit through a lesson of any kind, I suddenly remembered my friends at GoNoodle and the question set I had created to use within their games.  Well, let's just say that the FREEZE IT GAME saved our day . . . more on how in a moment :)

I know you have heard me gush about GoNoodle before, but as my recent conference presentations have proven, there are still tons of people who don't know about this amazing free brain break site.  It's mind blowing and my kids eat it up.  Our current fave is Pop-See-Ko . . . the kids always loose it when the hot dog crashes through the house.  If you haven't checked this out it is SO worth your time.  Try it.  I guarantee your kids will love this site!

For those of you that know about this site, they just added a super NEW FEATURE.  You can create your OWN question sets in GoNoodle Plus now.  Let me say that again, your OWN question sets. Now I want to pause for just a moment here to let you know that this awesome tool is on the GoNoodle Plus side.  This part of the site costs a small annual fee, but it's worth it's weight in gold. You can run with just about anything . . . YOUR WAY.  

There is a new MY QUESTIONS tab across the top of the home page.
Simply click New Set.

You can add questions of any kind (click New Question).
This thing is a no-brainer.  A nice and easy process.
I chose to make Story Problems (more on how I used them in a sec).

There is a true/false option or multiple choice.
I ran with multiple choice!

The coolest thing is that you can SHARE the question sets that you make.
I shipped the link to a bunch of my teacher friends who have GoNoodle Plus!

These questions can be used in three different games.  I love that the GoNoodle team gave us more than one option!  We ran with the Freeze It game as it seemed to lend itself nicely to what I wanted to see unfold.

These three games have a My Questions option now. 

See that little Q in the bottom left corner?
You use this to access your question sets!

For those of you who don't know, I teach first grade.  This time of year we are really hitting the story problems.  When I saw the My Questions come out on GoNoodle, it hit me . . . I could incorporate word problems into active movement breaks.  I quickly made a Story Problems #1 question set for my crew.  This set directly aligns to the CCSS standards and sample problems that kiddos should be able to solve before they exit the first grade.  

My post has now come FULL CIRCLE (I take awhile to tell a story sometimes -just ask my husband).  Anyway, I remembered that I had made this set and after enduring a morning of the first day back in the saddle after Daylight Savings Time, I abandoned the math lesson and tossed it into the mix. 

I asked the kids to get out their mini white boards.  I pushed PLAY and they boogied until the FREEZE screen popped up.  I'd yell, "sit" and they would grab their pens and get ready for business.  I would then read the story problem out loud to them.  

They danced around like wild animals.  It was perfect.
My little cowboy asked to wear his hat while he danced.
ME: "Um, will it help you work harder?"
COWBOY: "You bet, Mrs. Dolling!"
ME:  "GO for it, buddy."

The kids were to draw it out first . . . then write the corresponding equation. Many kids also decided to give me a number bond . . . SWOON!  Those fast finishers were asked to support their neighbors if need be.  It was a magical teamwork experience and they actually LOVED solving the problems.  I'd select a volunteer to come up and click the correct multiple choice answer (they were all dying to be the mighty "clicker").  The music would come back up and the crew would start boogying again -- except the few that were mesmerized by the video and just stared at the screen.  

Number Bonds . . . and I didn't even ask??!!
#teachervictory

We didn't go through the whole question set . . . just 3-4 problems.  It was perfect.  A few days later, we jumped back into the game and picked up where we left off.  The kids are just eating this up and I plan to make OODLES of additional sets of word problems to use with the other games.  

Are you a GoNoodle Plus user?  Want to try this set with your crew (it would work well for both 1st and 2nd graders)??!!  CLICK HERE to have access to my word problem questions.

Alright, there you have it . . . the latest GoNoodle feature.  It's {insert mind-blowing adjective here}!!!!  This feature definitely picked us up off of the floor and we were able to finish out Monday strong.  Daylight Savings ain't no match for GoNoodle :)

One final note today.  Remember, most of GoNoodle is FREE.  If you don't want to pay for a Plus subscription, jump in on the regular side.  There are NO strings attached and it offers SO much.  We used the FREE version daily.  A 3rd grade teacher heard us through the walls during her lunch break on Tuesday (I share a wall with the teacher's room . . . whoops).  The next morning she asked to join us later that afternoon.  Um, YES!  We showed the BIG KIDS how to Pop-See-Ko and we just had to follow up with a Secret Hand Shake video.  It was EPIC!  She signed up for the free version that afternoon!

On that final story, I am out of here.  Thanks so much for visiting me.  I'll be back later this weekend.  Until then . . . good luck the rest of today and tomorrow.  Keep clawing your way through this one . . . we can do it!!!