Trying to get a class full of kids to all stop talking and pay attention at the same time is not an easy task. Sometimes Sunday School teachers feel like they have to resort to yelling, which is not ideal for either you or the kids.
Fortunately, classroom teachers, especially public school teachers, have a lot of tricks for getting children's attention in a fun and non-frustrating way. If some of your students are in school (as opposed to being homeschooled or in a small private school setting), then they will probably already be familiar with some of the attention getters below!
The first time you are trying to get your students' attention will be the hardest, as they won't know what to do. Using the "If You Can Hear Me..." attention getter explained below is a good one to try the first time you are trying to get attention.
After you get your students' attention for the first time, explain to them clearly how you will get their attention in the future and what you expect.
As you are explaining, have the kids practice several times. Then, review it each week. After a couple of weeks, you should have a much easier time getting your students' attention.
1. Students Repeat / Finish a Phrase
For this attention getter, the teacher says a certain phrase, and the students either repeat the phrase or respond with a predetermined phrase, and then turn their attention to the teacher. A common example of this is for the teacher to say, "1, 2, 3 - eyes on me," and for students to respond, "1, 2 - eyes on you."
Another example common in classrooms is for the teacher to say, "Class, Class," and the students to respond with, "Yes, Yes!"
This is my favorite attention getter for Sunday School, because you can use it to help students memorize scripture. If you are trying to have your children memorize John 3:16, for example, you could say, "For God so loved the world..." and have students respond with "...that he gave his only Son." You could repeat this attention getter repeatedly until the children really seem to have it down. Then, move on to the next part of the verse. The teacher could say, "that whoever believe in him shall not perish..." and children could finish wish, "...but have eternal life."
This can be done with any phrase you would like, as long as you have have taught your kids ahead of time. To eliminate confusion, make sure the part the kids need to say is short and sweet.
2. If You Can Hear Me...
For this attention getter the teacher says, "If you can hear me..." and finishes that off with asking students to do something. It works best if you ask your students to do something visible (like stand up) or audible (like clap once). The idea is that only a few students will hear the instructions the first time, but as they make noise or move, other students will notice and try to figure out what is going on. As you continue to give "If you can hear me..." instructions, eventually all of the students will be listening.
Here are some instructions you can use with this:
- stand up
- sit down
- turn around
- clap once
- clap twice
- hop on one foot
- raise your hand
- nod your head
This works best if you do not leave a lot of time in between instructions for students to get distracted and start talking again.
This is a good attention getter if you are trying to get the attention of a group of students for the very first time, or if you are trying to get the attention of a rowdy and active group of kids.
3. Repeat a Clapping Pattern
For this attention getter, you clap a rhythmic pattern and your students repeat the same pattern by clapping back. You can stick with the same pattern each time to make it predictable or vary it up to keep kids on their toes.
Some of your kids might already be familiar with this attention getter, but others will need to be taught what to do when they hear you clap.
4. Count Down to 0
For this attention getter, you simply count down to 0 with the expectation that kids are quiet by the time you get to 0. This gives them a chance to finish up conversations so they do not have to stop talking mid-sentence.
You can vary this up depending on how much time you want to give students by counting slower or faster, or counting down from a larger number.
This is also useful trick for when students are moving around and you want them to go back to their seats, or get in line, or sit on the ground within a certain period of time.
There are many other attention getters you could use, but keeping it simple and sticking to the same one or two usually works best.
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