What About...Whole Brain Teaching Gestures for ELA?? !!!!!!!

These are not mine. A nice guy from Whole Brain's Website gathered these from the forum posts. Way to go JasonS.

ELA

Abbreviation

Put two fingers together (short form of a word) and then poke one finger in the air as if making a period.

Adjective

Pet an imaginary dog and say, “fluffy dog.” (Emphasize the adjective, “fluffy.”)

Alliteration

Say, “big, busy bee” and play an imaginary guitar (like the illustration on the Power Pix for alliteration.)

Alphabetical Order

Begin with your fist closed and use the following pattern as you speak: “alphabetical order is a (lift thumb on close fist) b (lift forefinger on closed fist) c (lift middle finger on closed fist. three fingers should now be up) order.”

Analogies

Analogies are two similar things," hold left hand as if you are holding up the number 2. Turn it sideways, hand facing you, fingers pointing to the right as you say, "that are related to two other things." Bring the right hand (with two fingers pointed to the left)toward the left hand. Bring fingers of both hands together so they interlace

Antonyms

Wipe your forehead (hot); hug yourself (cold).

Apostrophe

Use one finger to draw a comma in the air and make a squeaking sound (however, you wish!).

Atlas

Point your hand to the four corners of the room and then open your hands as if opening a book

Author

Pretend as if you were writing in the air.

Authors write to

Persuade (Beg)--Hands in praying position
Inform (Tell)--Cup hands around mouth, as a megaphone
Entertain (Fun)--Splay fingers out with hands on either side of head and waggle hands and head from side to side, clown-like
Compare/Contrast— (two gestures together) Compare

Lace your fingers together and nod your head (indicating the two hands are joined together and are like two things being compared).  Contrast

Bring your two fists together and shake your head (indicating two things being contrasted that don’t fit together).

Because and Therefore

Because: A closed fist held vertically.

Several “becauses”: Put one closed fist on top of the other

Therefore (supported by the “becauses): Put a hand flat on top of the last closed fist.

Body of a Letter

Hold an imaginary piece of paper in your hand and then point your other hand at your mouth, as if speaking a message.

Brainstorming

Begin in front of you rolling your hands at your belly and working your way up over your head (storm is building big). Then take your hands and circle around, above your head like a storm going on. (vocal option: while saying brainstorming in a BIG, booming, shaky voice)

Capital Letter

Put one hand on top of the other. Lift the top hand quickly to show that a capital letter is a “big” letter.

Capitalization rule

Using one finger to point at the fingers of the other hand, count off the five kinds of words that are capitalized, the first word of a sentence (1), days of the week (2), months (3), people’s names (4), “I” (5). At the end, with the word “deserve”, jerk your thumb toward your chest, “And I deserve a capital letter!”

Cause and Effect

Kick your foot like you’re kicking a soccer ball.

Chapter Heading

With one hand, hold up an imaginary chapter heading; sweep your other hand back and forth under this imaginary heading, to show all the words in the chapter that follow.

Characters

Using two fingers on each hand, walk your fingers through the air, as if they were characters running around in a story.

Chronological Order

Tap an imaginary watch on your wrist (symbolizing that chronological order is determined by time).

City and State comma rule

Draw a “c” in the air symbolizing “city”; then make a comma in the air symbolizing the comma that follows “city.”

Clarifying

Looking through a magnifying glass

Closing of a Letter

Wave bye-bye.

Comma

Make a comma in the air and then fold your hands (symbolizing a pause).

Command

Point your index finger, wag it almost like you are scolding someone.

Compare

Lace your fingers together and nod your head (indicating the two hands are joined together and are like two things being compared).

Compass Rose

Point Hands in Different Directions

Compound Word

Hold up two fingers on one hand (symbolizing two words). With the other hand, squeeze the fingers together (showing that the two words become one word in a compound word).

Connections

Lock/loop index figures and thumbs like chain links and move them around in a circle in front of the body (can also sing Chain Chain Chain, Chain of Fools…)

Continuous actions

Fish movement (similar to rule number one)

Contraction

Hold your two hands wide apart and then bring them together to show “contracting.” Next make the squeaking, comma gesture for apostrophe

Contrast

Bring your two fists together and shake your head (indicating two things being contrasted that don’t fit together).

Date of a Letter

Look at a (or imaginary) watch on your wrist and tap it three times, once each for the month, day and year.

Dates comma rule

Draw a “d” in the air symbolizing “day”; then make a comma in the air symbolizing the comma that follows “day.”

Days of the Week

As the days are counted, hold up a finger for each day, until you have counted five fingers on one hand and two fingers on the other hand.

Dictionary

Open an imaginary book and then smile because you have found the word you were looking for.

Dictionary/ Reference (three thumb movements)

1. Cup the hand palm up, the thumb is quickly flipping across the fingers (like flipping through the pages of a dictionary for reference)
2. thumb pointing to self (familiar words or cognates)
3. thumb into the universe (indicate asking a peer or teacher)

Draft of a Paper

Pretend as if you are polishing a car by a swirling/rotating motion of your open hand, palm down at mid body level and wiping sweat from your forehead because you are not finished (two gestures in a row)

Editing

In the air alternating making a question mark with your index finger, hit your fist on your palm for exclamation mark, poke the air for period, shrug your shoulders for misspelled words (four gestures in a row) (vocal option: while saying editing)

Encyclopedia

Put both hands on top of your head and then move them away quickly, as if your mind was exploding with information.

Entertain (Fun)

Splay fingers out with hands on either side of head and waggle hands and head from side to side, clown-like

Exclamation Mark

Raise your fist over your head and then bring it down excitedly as if you were saying, “Yes!”

Fact

Hold an imaginary magnifying glass up to your face like you’re a detective looking for facts.

Final draft

Open and close both hands to look like a book (verbal option, while saying “final draft”)

First Word of a Sentence Rule

Hold your hand up to your ear as if listening to a phone. Pound your fist into your palm (sentence) then Put one hand on top of the other. Lift the top hand quickly over your head (capitalization)

Five Ws – who, what, where, when and how

Using both hands to count, hold up one finger for each of the 5W + H until six fingers are held up.

Generating Questions

Shrug shoulders, palms up and raised eyebrows in expression of questioning

            Question Mark (sentence punctuation)

Hold your hands palms up, as if you are saying “what?”

Geographical Name Rule

Point to places in the air as if pointing at a invisible map then raise one hand over your head to show capitalization

Glossary

Open an imaginary book; turn many pages until you get to the end. Then say, “ah, the glossary!”

Greeting of a Letter

Shake hands with an imaginary person (as if you are greeting them) and then raise your hand straight up to show capitalization.

Historical Period Rule

Shade your eyes with one hand as if looking far in the distance (symbolizing the past) then raise one hand over your head to show capitalization

Holiday Name Rule

Wave your hands in the air as if celebrating a holiday then raise one hand over your head to show capitalization

Homographs

Make a bill (as in a bird’s bill) in front of your face and then hold a bill (as in a restaurant bill) in front of your face and smack your forehead, because it is so expensive.

Homophones

Shade your eyes and squint at the sun and pat a son on the shoulder

Illustrator

Use both hands and make a frame, as if you were a photographer or a painter.

I (personal pronoun)

Draw a capital “I” in the air.

Indented Sentence

Hold your fingers up close together to show the small space that starts an indented sentence

Index

Open an imaginary book; turn many pages until you get to the end. Then say, “ah, the index!”

Inform (Tell)

Cup hands around mouth, as a megaphone

Key Word:

(Pretend as if you are writing in the air.)

Letters’

Wiggle one finger to represent a letter.

Main Idea

Hold your hand upside down, With one finger make a circle around the palm

Map

As you say “cities, states, rivers and mountains” point at different places in the air as if you were looking at a map.

Map Key

Hold hands out like you are reading a map (or open newspaper) and then pretend you have a key in your hand like you are opening a door.

Metaphor  

It starts off like simile, linking the hands together (because it is still a comparison) and then while we are saying "with no like or as" shake head no

Months of the Year

Point to both of your eyes at the same time

Months Rule

Point to both of your eyes at the same time raise one hand over your head to show capitalization.

Names of People Rule (proper noun)

Point at your chest where a name tag would go, (symbolizing you are a “specific person” whose name should be capitalized).

Narrator

Hold an imaginary book as if you were narrating a story

Noun

Point to yourself, the room, and then knock your knuckles on a table top

Opinion

Shrug your shoulders as if you are not positive.

Paragraph

Hold up a large imaginary block of text in the air (symbolizing a paragraph), and then hold up one finger (showing that the paragraph is about one topic).

Paraphrase

Lift one hand in the air and open and close your fingers as if it is “speaking.” The other hand then mimics this speaking hand, symbolizing paraphrasing.

Period

Poke the air in front of your face with your forefinger, as if putting a period at the end of a sentence.

Personification (Statement: giving human-like qualities to things that are not human.)

Pat yourself on "human-like qualities" (you can add simple gestures for qualities if you to demonstrate human motions), point to or grab items when saying "things", and waggle one finger left and right (like a mother warning a child not to do something) and slowly shake your head no on "not human."

Persuade (Beg)

Hands in praying position

Plot

Scratch your head to show that characters are trying to solve a problem.

Plural Noun

With one finger, make an “s” in the air and then wiggle your fingers (showing that a plural noun represents more than one person, place or thing.)

Possessive Noun

With one finger, make an “s” in the air and then grab one hand with the other, showing “ownership.”

Praise Boo-Yah

My students absolutely love the 'Boo-yah.' This gesture is more of a celebration of the smallest success in the classroom. When a student who normally sits quietly shares an idea or answers a question, I simply look at the class and say, "Guys, don't you think, Johnny deserves a Boo-Yah!" The students respond by covering their eyes momentarily with their hands then removing their hands while exclaiming, "Boo-Yah" to little Johnny!

Prediction

Scratch your head (a guess) and then point straight in front of you (the future).

Prepositions of time

Two palms facing each other but at a different distance indicating different preposition e.g.

AT (very close)

ON (a bit further)

IN (the distance is the biggest)

Prefix

Hold your left fist in the air, symbolizing a word. Tap the thumb of your left fist with your right forefinger and say “prefix.” From your students’ point of view, the thumb is at the “beginning” of the word.

Prewriting

Get out an imaginary piece of paper by putting your hand close to the table/desk as if you were picking up a paper, with you palm down grasp the paper with your thumb and four fingers then bring your hand up a few inches (centimeters) while turning it over so that the palm is facing up. Then with the index finger of your other hand act like you are writing on it (verbal option: while saying “prewriting”)

Pronoun

Make a fist with one hand and then bump it away with the open palm of the other hand

(symbolizing one word, a noun, replaced by another word, a pronoun.)

Proper Noun

Point at your chest where a name tag would go, (symbolizing you are a “specific person” whose name should be capitalized).

Question Mark

Hold your hands palms up, as if you are saying “what?”

Generating Questions - shrug shoulders, palms up and raised eyebrows in expression of questioning

Quotation Marks

Using two fingers on each hand, make quotation marks in the air.

Remember

Index finger showing up.

Review Story / Book

To go back in the story use a two hand gesture: one open hand palm up, held in front of the body facing sideways (not pointing toward the front)as if holding an open book.  The other hand is held over the first and with the index finger pointing sideways across the body.  Do a "reverse" one finger rotation with the pointing finger.  The bottom hand represents the book while the rotating top finger/hand represents going back.  Together they mean "go back into the story/book".

Revolution (physical movement – not political movement)

Spin your entire forearm from elbow in an imaginary, elliptical orbit.

Rotation

Spin your pointer finger

Rough draft

Fold your arms in front of you (hands touching elbows with elbows pointing away from your body at 90 degrees]) and rub them back and forth [like I dream of Jeanie did]) (verbal option, while saying “rough draft”)

Rhyming Words

Hold up three fingers on each hand. Wiggle the first finger on each hand. These are the letters that change in the rhyme on the Power Pix: cop and pop.

Schema

Point both pointer fingers to your brain.

Sentence

Hold your hand up to your ear as if listening to a phone. Pound your fist into your palm when you say “must.”   Note: A sentence is a complete message. Every sentence must start with a capital letter and must end with an end mark.

Sentences

Command - point your index finger wag it almost like you are scolding someone.

Exclamation - Raise your fist over your head and then bring it down excitedly as if you were saying, “Yes!”

Question - Hold your hands palms up, as if you are saying “what?”

A good sentence (hands wide apart in front of you)

has a capital letter at the beginning (Put one hand on top of the other. Lift the top hand quickly to show that a capital letter is a “big” letter.

punctuation at the end ( make a fist with both hands together and punch them forward on the right side of your body)

has a who ( point to yourself) a what (point to the desk) or is doing something (run in place)

has order (chop your hands in front of your body)

Setting

Sweep your arms out in the air, indicating that the classroom could be the setting for a story.

Similes (compare two items using like or as)

Lock hands together, interlacing your fingers like "Hands and Eyes", on the word "compare," separate hands and hold up two fingers, like a peace sign, on "two items", make an "L" using thumb and index finger of your right hand on the word "like" (it will look backwards to you) and an upside down peace with your left hand on the word "as" and place the left hand in front of the "L" so the thumb of the "L" is the crossbar of the "A" (upside down peace sign). You will end up with the Logo for the LA Dodgers

Subject of a Sentence

Hold up three fingers on each hand, making “W’s” (symbolizing “who” and “what”).

Subject / Verb Agreement

Insert gestures as follows: “If the subject is singular, the verb is singular (hold up one finger on each hand to symbolize a singular subject and a singular verb); if the subject is plural, the verb is plural (waggle the fingers on each hand to symbolize a plural subject and a plural verb).”

Short Vowel

Wag your finger in the air, to show “does not.”

Signature of a Letter

Pretend as if you are writing your name in the air and then pat your chest to show it is your name.

Singular Noun

Hold up one finger each time you say “one” in the answer. (one person, one place, one thing)

Syllables

Clap twice then clap once

Synonyms

Hold your hands open and together with thumbs up (showing similarity).

Table of Contents

Pretend as if you were opening a book; then point at parts of the table of contents.

Tenses

With a thumb.

Past (point backward)

Present (point to the floor)

Future (point forward)

The same gestures are used to show Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow. Similar gestures are used to revise irregular forms as well. But this time both thumbs are working indicating the infinitive form with a "Thumbs down" movement and Past form with a "Thumbs backwards" one.

Text to Self Connections

Hold hands out like a book, point pointer fingers together then point to yourself.

Theme

T.H.E.M.E. (The Huge Essential Meaning Explained)

Huge: arms out wide. Essential: pull arms in close like begging. Meaning: point to your brain (same as rule 4 “make smart choices”).  Explained: hands out like giving a gift

Topic Sentence

Stroke your chin as if thinking of a topic sentence. Then nod your head to show that you’ve found one.

Thesaurus

Hold your two hands close to each other (the synonym gesture showing similarity) and then open your hands as if opening a book

Title

Pretend like you’re holding a book in one hand; use the forefinger of your other hand to tap on the book’s title.

Verb

Use both arms and pump them as if you are running.

Verb Tense

Point your hand over your shoulder (the past), point your hand at your feet (present), point your hand straight ahead (future).

Vowels

Make a fist; then raise one finger at a time as you name the vowels. On the other hand, wiggle a finger as you say “and sometimes y.” 

Word

Hold the fingers of one hand wide apart (these are “letters”). Then snap your fingers together indicating the letters have been joined together to make a word

Word Family

Make a circle with your arms as if embracing a family

Works Cited

when to underline

Long underline with flat hands moving out, remind us that LONG things (books, movies, albums, collections of poems, etc) are underlined. –

For title - arms shaped like a "T".  Then, to emphasize that titles are underlined, after we say "title" and make the "T" pull the bottom arm up flat to top arm - to make a line of sorts - and say "underlined".

when to use quotation marks

Make quotation marks with the fingers of both hands, and scrunch your arms and shoulders together a little, reminding us that quotation marks are for SHORT things (poems, short stories, songs, etc).