Bear-Cowboy-Ninja: Class energizer!

Last week, my classes will resembled a collective episode of the “Walking Dead.”  Yes, it was the first week back from Spring Break and my students were zombies.

Unfortunately, I need my zombies to be productive.  After all, we are heading into testing season and my seniors have a fast pass to graduation in June.  We need to get workin’.

WIth that being said, I also needed to bridge the gap from a sloth-like spring break to an intellectual powerhouse of a classroom.  What’s a girl to do?

Bear-Ninja-Cowboy.

This is a simple energizer that includes the entire class, takes no more than 10 minutes, and will wake everyone up with a little laughter while also reconnecting your kids to one another (need to build that classroom community back up, right?).  It is a take off on ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS, but the kids use their entire body to portray one of the three characters.  It is an elimination game, so you may want to have a little candy treat for your final two kids.

Simple steps:

1. Have everyone stand up and cue some cheesy music of your choice (I used the original soundtrack from the TV show “Glee”).  

2. Kids mill around to the music and when the music stops, so do they.

3. Have them face the person closest to them, shake hands, and then turn so they are back to back.

4. You now countdown (3-2-1-DRAW!)

5. They take three steps away from one another and then flip around on the word “DRAW”!

6. This is where they have three options:

A. BEAR:  Raise hands over head like claws, stand on tip toes, and growl REALLY LOUD!

B. NINJA:  Crouch down, pull one knee up, place hands in front of chest, flat like in a karate chop position.  Make “Ninja sounds” (i.e. hayahhh!)

C. COWBOY:  Stand up straight and tall, have two guns pulled at waist level, make a gun shot shound (bam, bam!).

7. DEATH CODE:

A. Bear KILLS Ninja

B. Ninja KILLS Cowboy

C. Cowboy KILLS Bear

8. Dead person sits down.  If there is a TIE, both people stay alive and continue to mill about the room until they pair up again.

9. Keep going until you have your final two.  Have the whole class circle around them and cheer them on.  

10. Make sure to reward then both for a job well done.

This is silly, takes little to no prep, and can be used anytime your class needs a “pick-me-up” or even when you have the dreaded ten minutes left until the bell at the end of class.

Now we shall see if the bears, ninjas, and cowboys can kill the post Spring Break zombies!  Wish me luck!