Plant Lamp LNT! (Secret Handshakes)

Hi everyone, Becky here! I wanted to share a really fun and motivating activity my kiddos just finished this week. If your kids are like mine, they can taste the start of summer (just like us!), but we still need to motivate them to think creatively and apply the skills we have worked so hard to teach them all year. Insert GoNoodle's Secret Handshakes! My kids LOVE GoNoodle, so I instantly knew that anything GoNoodle related would be a huge motivator! I announced to the class that they would be creating their own secret handshake with a partner, and they went nuts!

We began the project by watching and doing all four of KooKoo Kangaroo's Secret handshakes. I also asked them to pay attention to the motions/movements while doing the GoNoodle piece. After the handshakes were completed, we came up with a list of the different types of motions we noticed in the clips, and also added other categories we thought would help us create our ownl

I then sent them off to work with their partner to brainstorm the different movements they wanted to incorporate into their secret handshake. We thought about how the Mash Up's at the end of KooKoo Kangaroo's videos usually had three different steps, and agreed that two to three steps would be appropriate for our own secret handshakes. 

Once the decisions were made, the students wrote out their steps and gave it a name. This part was a lot of trial and error for my kids. They had too see how the different movements worked together, what may need to be switched, and what they thought they were capable of doing in comparison with what they really could do! It must have been hilarious walking by my room during this phase because in one blink you may have seen ballerina, penguin, or baseball motions! 

When my kids felt like they were ready to debut their secret handshake, they came up and showed the class, and then we all tried to do it together! There was a lot of laughing together through this part, and an all around good time! I just have to share some of them with you! They still have me cracking up!

Once the steps were written, my kids spent some time practicing their secret handshakes, in preparation for recording and class participation. They also decided that we needed a background like KooKoo Kangaroo, so we pulled up some GoNoodle Champs and picked a few to print out and decorate on some butcher paper!

This activity really showed me how much my first graders have grown up this year! Their growth in maturity allowed them to work together and make compromises with their ideas for the handshake motions. The trial and error part of this lesson was also huge, because it showed me that they were analyzing and reflecting on what they were doing and being honest about what they thought, or recognizing if any changes were necessary.

If you have a few more days left of school, I would recommend doing this activity with your kiddos! Watch out KooKoo Kangaroo! You may have some secret handshake competition!

By the way, have you heard about Camp GoNoodle?! Inside sources tell me that making up your own Secret Handshakes like these is slated to be one of the activities. It's sure to be a hit! I shared this tidbit with my kiddos when I sent home the flyer to parents, and they can't wait for it to start!  (Click "Invite Parents" on GoNoodle's site for the flyer!) Have fun!!