Why I Make Time for a Veterans Day Class Performance

 There are plenty of things competing for classroom time in November, but one thing I continue to make time for is a class Veterans Day performance. I use a simple, ready-to-go Veterans Day Performance Script that gives every student a speaking part, and we practice it in small chunks leading up to the performance. It doesn't need to be elaborate. But bringing the class together to prepare something for an actual audience has benefits that are hard to duplicate with a hallway display or a patriotic coloring activity.

Students practice presenting for a real audience.

Speaking clearly, projecting, waiting for your turn, remembering where to stand, and recovering when something doesn't go exactly as planned are all skills students need. A room full of parents gives those skills a purpose - and man, those kids are proud.

Growth isn't always about becoming a polished speaker. Last year, I had an extremely shy student who was reluctant to speak in front of the group (let alone me at the start of the year). The fact she agreed to participate and say one line in front of our Veterans Day audience was a big deal. For her, that one line may have been one of the most important parts of the whole experience.

2. Veterans Day becomes more than a date on the calendar.

When students read, rehearse, and present words about service and sacrifice, they spend much more time thinking about what it actually means to be a veteran. It also starts conversations. Students begin making connections to their own families - a grandfather who served, an aunt in the military, or someone they know who is coming to watch our program.

Sometimes you find out exactly what they thought a veteran was. I remember one student looking very confused during our discussion and finally asking, “Wait...you can be a veteran and still be alive?”

That led to a much better conversation about Veterans Day than I would have gotten from simply giving them the definition.

3. The class has to work together.

A group performance gives everyone a small part in one finished product. At first, students are worried about their line. After a few rehearsals, they're reminding each other where to stand, helping with a forgotten word, and watching for missed cues. It starts becoming our performance instead of 25 individual speaking parts.

4. Parents love it.

A short performance gives families a chance to see their child in a way they don't normally get to see at school. Parents frequently comment afterward, “I can't believe you got him to stand up there and do that!” Parents know exactly what it took for their child to get up there.

5. It has a surprisingly big payoff for the time invested.

This is one of those classroom activities that looks like a much bigger production than it actually is, which is a win! With a ready-to-use script and short practices over several days, you can create a meaningful event without giving up weeks of instructional time.

Want to Try a Veterans Day Performance With Your Class?

One reason this is manageable is that I'm not creating a new program from scratch every November. I use my Veterans Day Performance Script, which is designed to give the whole class a part while keeping the preparation simple. I can adjust the speaking parts for the particular group of students I have that year—and that's actually an important part of how I set it up.

You can see the Veterans Day Performance Script here.

In my next post, I'll share exactly how I assign those speaking parts, including why I don't try to make every student's part the same length.

Mirror Me: The 5-Minute Game I Teach First

Every teacher needs a few tricks for those random five minutes that pop up during the school day. You finish a lesson early. You're waiting to leave for specials. Everyone is packed up, but it's not quite time to go.

Having a small toolbox of 5-minute games means you don't have to figure out what to do on the spot. Teach a some simple games early in the year and you always have something ready.

Mirror Me is a great place to start—and usually the first one I teach.

How to Play Mirror Me

Mirror Me couldn't be much easier. One student is the leader and does a series of slow, simple movement - touch your nose, tilt your head, put a hand on your hip. Everyone else tries to mirror the leader exactly.

That's it. No partners to find, no materials to pass out, and very little explaining.

The first time we play, I model what I mean by slow, simple movements. Students need enough time to watch the leader and copy each movement.

Why I Teach This One First

Mirror Me gives kids a chance to move without making the classroom louder. Everyone has to watch closely and pay attention to the leader, so the movement itself requires focus.

It's also easy to stop. If I suddenly need everyone ready to line up, sit down, or move on to the next lesson, we're done. There's no round to finish, no score to tally, and no materials to collect. Students can go straight from the game into whatever comes next.

Once students know how to play, I can pull it out when we have a few extra minutes. I choose a leader, everyone starts mirroring, and we're playing. When it's time for the next thing, we stop.

That's exactly what I want from a 5-minute game: movement, very little noise, almost no setup, and an easy transition back to whatever we're doing next.

Build a Toolbox Students Can Run

Mirror Me is just one example of why I like having a collection of these games. Once you've taught a game, you don't have to be the one running it. Pick a student leader and let them take over.

Over time, students learn several games and you have a ready-made toolbox to choose from. Have four minutes before lunch? Choose a leader and play. Need a quick movement break? Let a student pick a game. You can even put a student in charge while you finish what you need to do before the next activity.

Teach the games once, and they become something your class can use again and again.

If you'd like a ready-made toolbox, I've put together 5-Minute Classroom Games with quick activities designed for exactly these little pockets of time. The games are simple to teach, require little or no prep, and give you a variety of options for movement, brain breaks, transitions, and those unexpected extra minutes. Print the cards, keep them handy, and once your students know the games, let them take the lead.

Mirror Me is the one I'd start with.

A Simple Solution for Those Extra 5 Minutes

Why Every Teacher Needs a Toolbox of 5-Minute Classroom Games

Every teacher knows those little pockets of time. You finish a lesson faster than expected. There are seven minutes until lunch. Everyone is packed up, but the buses aren't there yet.

It's not enough time to start something new, but it's WAY too much time to let 25 kids sit around waiting.

That's why I'm a big believer in having a toolbox of quick classroom games ready to go.

The 5-Minute Toolbox

The best five-minute games require almost nothing—no copies, no supplies, and no complicated directions. Once students know the games, you can pull one out whenever you need it.

The trick is having several to choose from. Kids may love a game, but play it every time you have five extra minutes and the magic wears off pretty quickly.

Instead, build a collection. Then when you suddenly have six minutes to fill, you're not trying to invent something on the spot. You simply pick a game and go.

Five Minutes Can Do a Lot

I don't think every minute of the school day needs to be academic. Sometimes kids need to move. Sometimes they need to laugh. And sometimes you just need something that will keep everyone together and reasonably sane until it's time to head to specials.

A good five-minute game can get kids moving, listening, thinking creatively, working together, or practicing self-control—all without feeling like another lesson.

That's a pretty good return on five minutes.

Teach the Games Before You Need Them

Here's the key: don't wait until you have five awkward minutes to explain a complicated new game.

Introduce a few games ahead of time and play them together. Once students know the routines, starting one should take about 30 seconds. If you need three minutes to explain a five-minute activity, it isn't really a five-minute activity.

It also helps to have different kinds of games available. A class that has been sitting for a long time may need movement. A group that's already wound up probably needs something more structured. Having choices lets you ask, "Which game do we need right now?" instead of "What on earth am I going to do with them for the next five minutes?"

Keep Your Toolbox Simple

You don't need another elaborate classroom management system. Keep your games somewhere you can actually see and use them—on cards, on a ring, in a small container, or even on a list inside a cabinet door.

The point is to make those unexpected minutes easier, not create one more thing to manage.

Those odd little chunks of the school day aren't going away. Five minutes is enough time to reset the room, laugh together, get moving, practice a skill, or simply have a little fun before moving on.

You just need something ready.

I've collected my favorite quick activities in 5-Minute Classroom Games, designed for brain breaks, transitions, early finishers, and all those inevitable moments when you look at the clock and realize you have five minutes to fill.

Grab a game, play, and move on.

What Do I Say? Simple Teacher Language That Gets Kids to Listen

You know exactly what you want a student to do. You want him to stop interrupting. You want her to listen to the directions. You want them to quit talking while you're talking.

And then you open your mouth and say WAY too much.

I know I did.

The longer I taught, the more I realized that some of my most effective classroom management wasn't really about a system. It was about the words I used. Or, more accurately, the words I didn't use.

Here's a simple example. You've just given directions. Alec wasn't listening. You could repeat everything, remind him that he should have been listening, and tell him to get started.

Or you could say:

"Who can tell Alec what the next step is?"

Done. Alec gets the information he needs. Another student does the talking. You keep teaching.

Here's another. Lexi is talking to the kids at her table while you're giving directions. Instead of stopping everything to correct her:

"Lexi, ask your table group to tune into me."

Now Lexi isn't simply being corrected. She's responsible for helping solve the problem.

Say Less. Let Kids Do More.

The best teacher language tends to be short, calm, and hard to argue with. Whenever possible, it also puts the responsibility back where it belongs, with the student.

And how you say it matters. Say it kindly, confidently, and with a genuine smile. Calm doesn't mean cold.

The tricky part is having those words ready in the moment. A kid argues. Someone interrupts. A student refuses to get started. You've repeated the same direction three times. Suddenly you're standing there thinking:

What do I say NOW?

Experienced teachers build a mental library of language they can pull from in those moments. That's exactly what I wanted to capture.

Want to Try It?

I created a FREE two-page resource, Before You Say Another Word: 5 Simple Ways to Say Less and Lead More. It gives you five common classroom situations, what to do, and the exact words to try.

Download the FREE resource here.

And if you find yourself wishing you had language ready for more of those moments, that's why I created What Do I Say? Teacher Language for Everyday Classroom Challenges.

It takes the same idea further with 10 common classroom situations, words that work, why they work, common traps to avoid, and coaching notes to help you build your own mental library of language.

Take a look at What Do I Say? Volume 1.

Sometimes better classroom management starts with saying less.

And knowing exactly what to say.

How We Practice Our Veterans Day Performance Without Losing Instructional Time

 This is the third post in my series about putting together a simple Veterans Day class performance for parents. I've already shared why I think a Veterans Day presentation is worth doing and how I assign speaking parts to individual students. Now everyone has a part. It's time to practice.

Who has time to run a drama camp? Not you - and not me. One reason I like doing a simple Veterans Day program with elementary students is that we can get ready in small chunks. A few minutes here and there does the trick.

First, Send the Speaking Parts Home

Once I've assigned the parts, each student gets an individual practice card. We read through the lines at school, and then I send them home with one request: practice saying this out loud. By the time a child has performed their line for Mom, Dad, Grandma, the dog and possibly an unwilling neighbor taking out the trash, they're much more comfortable saying it at school. Many memorize it along the way, but that's a bonus, not the expectation.

Practice in Tiny Pieces

I don't start with full run-throughs of our Veterans Day script. For the first few days, we squeeze practice into little openings in the day. I have kids read their line to two different people before lunch, during a transition or during carpool, and eventually everyone reads it to me.

I'm listening for the basics: Can I hear you? Are you reading too fast to understand? Do you know how to pronounce the words?

Figure Out Where Everyone Goes

Once the kids are comfortable with their lines, we figure out where everyone will stand. I put each student in a spot. This is when I discover which two kids absolutely cannot stand next to each other without poking, whispering or making each other laugh. I separate them now. It saves unnecessary crabbing later.

Next, we practice getting into those spots quickly. Once they can do that, we add the movement: Who steps forward to speak? When do they move? Where do they go when they're finished?

If everyone knows where to be and when to move, the whole thing suddenly looks surprisingly organized.

Give Them a Safety Net

Memorization isn't the goal. I tell students to keep their individual practice card with them even if they know their line, and I use the large prompting cards during rehearsals and the performance. If someone freezes—and you know someone will—they look at me. I'll be holding their line, and we keep going. No teacher whispering across the room while 23 others wait.

Keep the Whole-Class Rehearsals Short

As we get closer to our Veterans Day presentation, we put everything together. We run it. I pick one or two things to fix. We try those again. Then we're done.

Elementary students reach a point where another rehearsal doesn't make things better. They begin to shut down, or perform their line in a strange theatrical voice they've decided the occasion requires. And... there's the sign that we've practiced enough for the day!

Prepared Is Good Enough

I'm not trying to produce a Broadway show. I want students to understand what they're saying, speak loudly enough for our families to hear them, and work together as a group. That's prepared enough for me.

The individual practice cards and large prompting cards I use for this process are included with my Veterans Day Class Performance Script, along with the 24 student speaking parts and line-assignment sheet.

Veterans Day Script: Class Performance, Assembly & School Program

Next in the series: How I set up our Veterans Day performance for parents—from where everyone stands to the little details that make performance day run smoothly.

How I Use Reader’s Theater for Fluency (Step-by-Step Classroom Routine)

Fluency practice was dragging. Kids were bored. I was bored. 

And pulling small groups all day? Yeah, not happening. 

Something needed to change. 

I needed something that:

• didn’t feel like extra work

• kept kids engaged

• actually improved how they read

Using Reader's Theater to improve fluency isn't complicated. That’s the whole point.

You can try this tomorrow without changing your schedule.

I put students in groups of 4. Everyone has a role and no one is allowed to disappear. I hand out the script, assign parts and move along.

Here's the gig. We read it three times.

First read:
Choppy. Fast. Some mumbling. Some guessing. Perfect.

Second read:
Better pacing. A little confidence. You’ll hear it starting to click.

Third read:
Now they’re performing. Voices change. Timing improves. This is the part where even your reluctant readers start to care

Looks too simple? Nope. It's fluency practice without a fight.

My kiddos are:

• tracking text because they have a job
• listening so they don’t miss their turn
• rereading without complaining
• adjusting how they sound (without a lecture from me)

What Happened? 

• Engagement went up
• Repeated reading started happening automatically
• My lower readers stayed in it instead of checking out

But here’s the one that matters: Kids ask to read it again. And they ask that I make a Reader's Theater Booklet for student use 'cuz they love it.

Print, hand out and go!

How to Do this Tomorrow: Don’t overthink it.

• Groups of 4
• Pass out a script
• Assign roles quickly
• Read it 2–3 times
• Let them share if you have time

That’s it. The structure does the heavy lifting.

This is exactly what I hand my students—nothing extra, no prep.

The scripts are set up so:

• every student has a role
• parts are balanced
• fluency support is built in

If fluency feels like one more thing on your plate, this is the one that actually sticks.

Same goal.
Different approach.
Way better results.

And once your kids know the routine, it pretty much runs itself.

DIY Privacy Headphones

I found a treasure pile in the hallway! There was a box labeled DONATE filled with old headphones.  You know the ones that plug into a junction box for a listening center - from, like, 15 years ago. You know the ones with the enormous jacks and the thick curly cords that are constantly tangled? You know the ones with sturdy plastic and comfy, padded ear covers?
I plucked them from the box, clipped the cords and voila, privacy headphones! No explanation needed. Kids love them and use them regularly. My only wish? I had one for each kid...
During Read to Self.
During a test.
During writing.
To get away from a classmate.
Saved from the landfill, and totally free,  privacy headphones are now a fixture in my room!