The English Teacher.

I often conducted "Sponge" minilessons at the beginning or end of class (English, Reading, and/or History) . My secondary students also loved what we called "Brainstreams." I'll explain the difference.

 

A SPONGE is normally a timed (90 seconds - 3 minutes) activity to see how many items one can list on any given topic or term. As we would wring a sponge, we wring our students' minds.

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Examples:
List everything you know about the Civil War.
Name everything on your bedroom floor.
List all the girls you know.
Name all the nouns in this room.

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A BRAINSTREAM is another timed activity in which students "stream" from a word. Great way to introduce vocabulary or new ideas. It's always interesting to hear their last words on the brainstream. Normally, after a brainstream, I ask each student to call out the last word on his/her list - seriously interesting and crazy funny! In the first example below, a student went from Civil War to Jewelry.

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Example: Say, "Civil War-Go!" Students write that word on the top of their paper and then list the first words that come to their minds from the previous word directly before it. (Civil War, Yankees, baseball, diamonds, jewelry, etc. )

 

Example: Write a new word on board and give definition. Then time them as they "stream" from that word. They'll never forget that word!

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Within a few weeks, my students would easily have 50-80 words on both sponges and/or brainstreams. They normally start with 10-15 words. I used my "smacker" to push them to over think less, write more. Super fun, all students are engaged, and a great exercise for their minds!

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I call Sponges and Brainstreams "activities," but they often become contests. The students try to outnumber their classmates, and it can get intense. Love it! 

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For the ELA classroom, I might use Sponges like this:

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Before beginning To Kill a Mockingbird, I ask them to sponge everything they know about the Civil Rights movement (words and phrases only). After time is called, I ask each student to call out the first word (or last word) on their paper. Great starters for class discussion.

I give them a word from our text. Let's say, "Mulligrubs" (which means "bad mood"). After defining the word, I ask the students to list all the things that give them the "mulligrubs."

After a lesson on active verbs, I ask them to list all the action verbs they performed the day before.

 

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More Sponge Ideas

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copied from http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/MoraModules/vocabularydev.htm

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We can thank an unknown teacher/consultant from the Texas Education Agency for this delightful list of activities she called SPONGES. The term was originally coined and used by Madeline Hunter. A "sponge" is an activity designed to produce learning during the times taken up by "administrivia." These sponges stem from her teaching philosophy that there should be no wasted moments in her classroom. Therefore, she created these sponges to soak up every valuable moment. The concept of sponges has changed names over time and place. Some teachers call them "bell work" or "vocabulary builders." Whatever we call them, they are worthwhile for many reasons. They are especially useful as effective vocabulary builders for English language learners. ELLs can work on sponges in heterogeneous cooperative groups so that they can learn from each other, but everyone can contribute. These sponges can also be competitive within groups or by forming groups assigned related topics to see which group produces the most responses, or finishes first, and so forth.

It is important to keep in mind that vocabulary is learned most effectively when words and their associated concepts are practiced and used in a meaningful context. These vocabulary development activities should be related to the content that students are studying as a form of "brain-storming" for initial teaching or reinforcement of already familiar concepts. Teachers should use their professional judgment as to the appropriateness of any particular "sponge" activity within their overall curriculum

UPPER GRADE SPONGES

1. List the continents of the world.
2. Make up three names for rock groups.
3. Name as many kinds of windstorms as you can.
4. Take a number. Write it. Now make a face out of it.
5. Name as many gems or precious stones as you can.
6. Write the names of all the girls in the class.
7. Name as many teachers at this school as you can.
8. List as many states as you can.
9. Write: (a) an abbreviation (b) a Roman numeral (c) a trademark (d) a proper name (biographical) (e) a proper name (geographical)
10. How many countries and their capitals can you name?
11. How many baseball teams can you name?
12. Write down as many cartoon characters as you can.
13. List as many kinds of flowers as you can.
14. Turn to your neighbor. One of you tell the other about an interesting experience you have had. The listener must be prepared to retell the story to the class.
15. List all the things in your living room.
16. Write what you would do if you saw an elephant in your backyard.
17. Name as many kinds of ice cream you can.
18. List five parts of the body above the neck that have three letters.
19. List one manufactured item for each letter of the alphabet.
20. List as many nouns in the room as you can.
21. List the mountain ranges of the U.S.
22. Write the 12 months of the year correctly. Stand up as soon as you are finished.
23. Make a list of five things you do after school.
24. List one proper noun for each letter of the alphabet.
25. Write one kind of food beginning with each letter of the alphabet.
26. Name as many holidays as you can.
27. How far can you count and write down by 6's?
28. Name as many balls as you can that are used in sports games.
29. List as many U.S. presidents as you can.
30. List all the work tools you can think of.
31. List as many models of cars as you can.
32. Name all the colors you know.
33. How many parts of an auto can you list?
34. How many animals can you list that begin with vowels?
35. List as many kinds of trees as you can.
36. Name as many countries of the world as you can.
37. List as many personal pronouns as you can.
38. List as many kinds of transportation as you can.
39. How many different kinds of languages can you name?
40. Write as many homonyms as you can. Example: past-passed
41. You have five children. Make up their five names.
42. Name as many things as you can that are made of cloth.
43. Name as many things as you can that you can wear on your head.
44. Name as many movie stars as you can. Tell what movies they were in.
45. List all the musical instruments that begin with "t".
46. Name as many television game shows as you can.
47. Name as many politicians as you can.
48. Name as many breeds of dogs as you can.
49. Write the days of the week correctly in order. Stand up when finished.
50. List all the kinds of sandwiches that you can.
51. Scramble five spelling words, trade with someone, and unscramble them.
52. List as many things as you can that make people the same.
53. List as many kinds of soup as you can.
54. List all the places you find sand.
55. List as many breakfast cereals as you can.

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SECONDARY SPONGES

 

1. List as many states as you can. Name their capitals. List the states in alphabetical order. List the states in rank order by size (largest population, number of Representatives in Congress, by regions, etc.)
2. Write: (a) an abbreviation, (b) a Roman numeral, (c) a trademark, (d) a proper name (biographical), (e) a proper name (geographical).
3. How many countries and their capitals can you name?
4. How many baseball teams can you name?
5. Turn to your neighbor. One of you tell the other about an interesting experience you have had. The listener must be prepared to retell the story to the class.
6. List all the things in your living room.
7. Name as many kinds of ice cream as you can.
8. List five parts of the body above the neck that have three letters.
9. List one manufactured item for each letter of the alphabet.
10. List one proper noun for each letter of the alphabet.

11. Write one kind of food beginning with each letter of the alphabet.
12. Name as many holidays as you can.
13. List as many U.S. Presidents as you can.
14. List as many models of cars as you can.
15. How many parts of an auto can you list?
16. Name as many countries of the world as you can.
17. List as many personal pronouns as you can.
18. List as many kinds of transportation as you can.
19. Write as many homonyms as you can. Example: past-passed.
20. Name as many movie stars (singers, cartoon characters, action figures, famous sports figures) as you can. Name the movies are they in?
21. Name as many politicians as you can. Name an idea they believe in. Tell what office they hold. Name the political party they represent.
22. List all the places you find sand.
23. List as many breakfast cereals as you can.
24. Make a list of the 10 largest things you know.
25. Name as many planets as you can.
26. List all the sports you can think of in X minutes.
27. List all the foods you can that have sugar in them.
28. List all the foods you can that have milk in them.
29. Name as many rock groups as you can that begin with the letters A-F.
30. Name as many teachers at this school as you can.
31. Name all the models of Ford (Toyota, Chevrolet, or other name brand) cars you can think of.
32. Name all of the parts of speech and give an example of each.
33. Why were these dates important: 1492, 1606, 1776, 1812?
34. Find these rivers on your map: Mississippi, Rio Grande, Colorado, Hudson.
35. Which television series can you name that have high school-aged characters as regulars?
36. Name as many airlines as you can.
37. Name the different sections of the newspaper.
38. Name as many islands as you can.
39. Name all the types of musical instruments you can think of.
40. Name all the foods you can think of that contain protein.
41. Name as many kinds of fish as you can.
42. Name all the words you can that begin with the prefix in
43. Name as many of the album titles of records by Ricky Martin, Madona, Selena, the Beatles (update according to current interests of students).
44. Name all the countries that have the letter "E" in them.
45. Name as many animals as you can which cause harm to man, either directly or indirectly.
46. Name five books you've read recently that you really enjoyed.
47. Name a movie you saw recently that you did not enjoy and tell why.
48. Name as many places as you can remember where you and your family have spent vacations.
49. List things you would buy if someone gave you a $100.00 gift certificate from Target (Toys-R-us, Nordstrom's, Staples, Home Depot, etc).