G6 Whimsy Warm-Ups: Force, Motion, and Energy (TEKS 6.7A-6.8C)

Whimsy Warm-ups

Why assign boring warm-ups when you can launch your lessons with some whimsy? Whimsy Warm-ups challenge students to think creatively and in-depth about the science content they are learning and maybe even have a little fun. Each of the six, 6th grade Force, Motion, and Energy content TEKS, has five different Whimsy Warm-ups types that are designed to puzzle, challenge, and stretch student thinking beyond typical multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank questions. These warm-up strategies intentionally highlight the strengths of different learning styles including visual, kinesthetic, linguistic, and auditory learners. Lastly, these warm-ups can also be used as formative assessments or exit tickets to wrap-up lessons.

• Awesome Anagrams: Students are provided three anagrams to solve that reveal key terms associated with the aligned TEKS. (Anagrams are words or phrases formed from the letters of other words or phrases.) Students are then challenged to create their own anagrams from a provided key term. This challenge is optional and provides a differentiation opportunity for advanced learners or early finishers. You can also ask students to define the terms they revealed.

• Energetic Emoji: Students are provided three to five emojis and asked to connect how the emojis demonstrate key concepts from the aligned TEKS. (Sometimes just one emoji is sufficient for communicating the science concept while other times a chain of emojis are used.) Students are then challenged to pick a different emoji and relate it to the science content they are currently learning. This challenge is optional and provides a differentiation opportunity for advanced learners or early finishers. 

• Dynamic Doodler: Students are provided a random doodle and challenged to incorporate the doodle into a drawing that represents a science concept they are currently learning. They are then asked to write a one sentence explanation of their drawings. Some examples doodle sketches are provided if students need help getting started.

• Secret Sentence: Students are provided a sentence that is missing all of the letters except the first letter of each word. They are tasked with coming up with a sentence that fits the letters and aligns with the concepts they are currently learning. A scaffolded version of the sentence (Challenge Mode) is provided for differentiation in which some of the words are pre-filled in the sentence.

• Legendary Letters: Students are given a section of the alphabet and asked to record words, phrases, or complete sentences that start with each of the provided letters. They then share ideas with a partner and record at least one new idea they heard from their partner.

All Whimsy Warm-ups are designed to be completed in student’s notebooks. Sample answers are provided, but there is not only one “correct” answer. Encourage students to provide rationales for their thinking!