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Lesson Plans


Re:Noise Level

From: ARTNSOUL12
Date: Fri Mar 17 2000 - 04:23:14 PST

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    Here are some of the "techniques" I use to keep the noise level down: 1.
    Rearrange the seating. I have found that sometimes the best way to do this
    is to ask a couple of reliable students in the class to put together who
    should sit with whom to help keep down the noise. I actually overheard one
    student say to another who was formulating groups,"Put me with you." To
    which that child replied, "I can't, we'll talk too much!" 2. Have an
    occasional Quiet Table Contest. With the Kinders- 2nd graders this really
    works well. I announce to the class after 5-10 min. the "Winner". There can
    be a tie between tables (an there usually is). No prize except the "honor"
    of being the quietest table. Repeat the contest if noise escalates. 3. Once
    in a while with the older kids (the week before a school break is a good
    time) I use raffle tickets- the kind that come on a roll that you tear apart.
     If a child is following the rules ( Talk Quietly is one ) then he or she
    gets a raffle ticket during class. Students can receive one, many, or none
    thoughout the class, but I remind them they have to "be in it to win it"!
    (like the NY Lotto slogan) I quietly give them out as I circulate around the
    room. You can, by the way, hear a pin drop! At the end of class I have a
    raffle ticket drawing and "winners" go to my "prize box" What's in the prize
    Box? Lots of sample art supplies I've collected at conferences and small
    treats. 4. I have a big clear plastic jar in the shape of a teddy bear on my
    desk filled with animal cracker-cookies. On it is labled Cookie Compliments.
    I might approach a child quietly and ask that child to get a Cookie
    Compliment. Or, I might announce that a whole table is working so nicely
    that everyone at that table go to the Cookie Compliment Jar. The jar lasts a
    long time. Get it at BJ's or Price Club. And, by the way, I always assess
    what kind of "noise" it is. If the kids are still art directed, or
    discussing their work, I look at it as a positive talking experience or
    socialization. Only if I feel that the noise level has become disruptive do
    I react. Just a few ideas that I find work for me. Susan on Long Island 

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