What exactly is a 3-minute motivator? It is a quick activity which is directed by the teacher, in which students want to participate because they see it as a game which brings along a sense of play and fun. These motivators might involve competition, cooperation, or individual thought or action, and overall provide a much-needed break from the task that may have lost the students’ interest. These motivators then re-concentrate and refocus students’ attention and energy back to the teaching and learning task at hand. The purpose of bringing these motivators into the classroom is to give students a positive break, to wake lethargic minds, to remove excess energy, to introduce a lesson, and to even reward good behavior because they are really fun for the students (Paterson, 2007).
It is important to pick the right motivator at the right time! The students may be feeling lethargic and sleepy therefore the teacher may chose a motivator that will “wake them up” and that will provide the students with a jolt of energy necessary to complete the assignment or lesson. As well, it’s a Friday afternoon and the students are noisy, restless and out of their seats, therefore a motivator that involves sitting and speaking may be what is needed. There are so many motivators to choose from and it’s important to choose the right motivator for the class at that given moment. As an educator, it’s important to have a bag of motivators ready at all times because you never know when your class might need that extra boost to get started or refocused.
Here is a list of some of the possible motivators:
Calm Down
Magic Carpet: Sit quietly, close eyes and breathe deeply. Go on a magic-carpet ride. Think about what your carpet looks like, what color it is, what does it feel like. Where would you like your carpet to take you? Once done, discuss details of your trip with another student.
Silent Scream: Students silently show different emotions on their faces and bodies while sitting at their desks. Debrief how it felt to show emotion without words. Follow this with a journal activity about an emotion difficult or easy to express.
Never-ending line: Each pair will have to create a picture without lifting the pencil off the paper. Partner 1 will start drawing until they hear the stop cue, where they will then exchange the pencil. Partner 2 will pick up where their partner stopped and keep going with the same line. To end off, partner will decide what their picture is and share it with the class.
Let’s Communicate
Talk-a-lot: This activity works best when students have been extra chatty. Tell students they have exactly 1 minute to talk about anything they want. Everyone must talk and when given the stop cue, everyone must stop immediately.
First and Last: This game concentrates on word spellings. Your job is to think of a word that starts with the last letter of the word your partner says. For example if I say Mother, my partner would think of a word that starts with ‘r’. This is a competition.
I Appreciate…: Sit facing a partner. Students take turns saying “I appreciate…” and completing the sentence. The communication continues for two minutes. Each student recalls one thing their partner appreciated. A debrief could follow about appreciation.
Up and At ‘Em
Thunderstorm: Begin by rubbing palms together (wind), change to finger snapping (the rain), then to clapping and feet stamping (thunder). Then reverse the sequence. Listen to the silence following the storm.
Monkey See, Monkey do: Turn to a partner. Decide who’s A and B. Partner A will do a movement and Partner B will copy, then add another movement. Keep taking turns adding movement until the stop clue. Try to remember all the actions in sequence.
Shake It!: Students walk around the room, teacher calls out body parts that students have to shake. When teacher says “Shake it!”, students shake entire body.
Do This! Do That!: Everyone stands up. When teacher does an action and says “Do this!” then students copy the action. If teacher does an action and says “Do that!”, then don’t copy.
These fabulous ideas for motivators were found in the book:
Paterson, K. (2007). 3-minute motivators: more than 100 simple ways to reach, teach, and achieve more than you ever imagined. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers