Looney Labs Educators Mailing list Archive

Re: [Edu] Games in the Classroom

  • FromLaurie Menke <laurie_menke@xxxxxxxxx>
  • DateSun, 9 Apr 2006 15:13:47 -0700 (PDT)
Hi, Magi!  I'm finally getting back to you about some
possibilities for your class.  

First off, I was wondering if you've ever heard of the
Everyday Math curriculum published by The Wright Group
(McGraw Hill)?  I'm asking because the school I work
at uses it, and it includes a substantial game
component as an integral piece of the curriculum. 
None of the games are that amazingly wonderful, but
the kids do seem to enjoy them, the instructions are
fairly simple, and they all use common materials: 
dice, coins, cards, etc.  Many of the games are also
available on computer CD, so if you have a computer
available, that's another option that tends to be fun
just because it's different.  :o)  Start at this web
address: 
http://www.wrightgroup.com/index.php/programsummary?isbn=0076038793
 and look specifically at the EM Games (that's the
computer versions--available for $32 each in K, 1-3,
and 4-6 grade levels) and the Family Games Kits
(includes all boards/materials at $36 each in the same
three grade groups).  Really, what you'd be buying is
the game ideas, because as I say, the materials are
all typical game components...you could use Monopoly
money and markers, Yahtzee dice, etc.  You might also
look at the Activity Books and specialized decks ($60
per book and five card decks, each focusing on a
different topic, such as time or money).  Finally,
even if you choose not to purchase anything, you can
have your students play some of the games by using
their sample pages.  Click on the "Learn More About
This Product" link from each product's page to get
sample pages, and in the case of the computer games,
actual playable sample games.  So that's my first
suggestion.

Other than that, here are some other ideas:

Scrabble:  Use the tile counts to determine things
such as whose name is worth the most points (adding). 
Or for language development, have each student add to
a list in a category you name (such as Types of
Clothing or Vegetables).  Then have the class
determine whose contribution was worth the most points
in Scrabble tiles.

Scrabble:  There is a game on the market called
Equate, which is basically Scrabble with math
equations.  You could create your own by simply
writing numbers (fractions, too, if they're up to it)
and operations (whichever ones you want them to work
on) on the backs of the existing Scrabble tiles.  In
Equate, the "equals" symbol tiles are always available
to all players, but are worth 0 points.  Players then
create number sentences such as "3+3=6" or "12-2x2=20"
or "5=5" and place them on the board in crossword
fashion.  Double/triple letters become double/triple
digits, and double/triple words become double/triple
number sentences.  This game is a definite mental
workout, and may be too hard for your kids...I don't
know.  I have played it with LD kids from 3rd to 11th
grades.  The 3rd graders struggle a lot, but enjoy the
challenge.  The 11th graders are still somewhat
challenged, but seem a little bored by it.

Yahtzee:  If you have two sets of Yahtzee dice in
different colors (such as 5 white and 5 red) that
should be enough to play the small version of
Cephalopod.  See
http://www.marksteeregames.com/Cephalopod_rules.html 
for the rules.  This game does involve a lot of
adding, but only up to six (such as 1+1+4), so it
would be for your more low-functioning kids.

Monopoly:  Use the Monopoly money to set up a
classroom economy.  Each student is a "business" and
collects money for their services.  For example, the
student who "owns" the pencil sharpener could charge
$5 per use.  The student who is the "mailman" (returns
corrected papers, etc.) could collect money for
postage.  In addition, since a student's "job" is to
learn, you can pay each student for their school
successes or for on-task behavior.  If a student does
not do his school "job" to the boss's (your)
satisfaction, his pay can be "docked."  Students can
also be required to pay for supplies, such as pencils
and paper.  At the end of each month, hold an auction.
 You could go to the dollar store for goodies, or
offer gift certificates for free time/no
homework/whatever.  Highest bidder wins each prize. 
This may be more trouble than it's worth for you, but
I have seen it be very motivating for students, it
teaches them about how the real world works, and it
involves A LOT of money counting, making change, etc.

Uno:  Students can work collaboratively or play
solitaire to try to hit a certain target number
exactly (can't go over).  For example, let's say this
time the target number is 100.  Play cards as in
regular Uno, but students must keep a running total of
the number cards played.  If a Reverse is played,
numbers played after that are SUBTRACTED until another
Reverse is played and it goes back to adding. 
Whenever a Wild card is played, the current count is
DOUBLED.  So, if they were at 63, it's now 126, and
they need a Reverse to get back down to 100.  You get
the idea...play around with it to see what works.

Dominoes:  Turn all dominoes face down.  Each student
takes one domino and does the operation for this game
(add the two numbers, subtract them, or multiply
them).  Each student announces their number...highest
number takes all of the dominoes for that round.  When
the draw pile is empty or there isn't enough for
everyone to take one, the game is over.  The player
with the most dominos wins.

Monopoly:  More of a puzzle than a game, but you could
challenge the students to determine whether or not
there is enough money in the entire bank to purchase
every single piece of property.  This would involve a
lot of collaboration and planning, money counting,
record keeping, etc.

Another board game that your kids would probably
really enjoy is called Masterpiece.  Players are art
collectors (added bonus--it includes reproductions of
many famous paintings) who are trying to end the game
with the most net worth, between their cash and the
value of their paintings.  Spaces on the board declare
Auctions, tell the player to collect a certain amount
of money, or allow the player to buy or sell a
painting for a certain amount of money.  If this
sounds interesting, but you can't get ahold of the
actual game, let me know and we could probably come up
with our own version using the Monopoly board and
auctioning off the property.  :o)

Another fun game for understanding time concepts
doesn't require anything but a clock and home-made
challenge cards.  Half the cards have amounts of time
(30 seconds, 3 minutes, 10 seconds, etc.) and the
other half have challenge activities (drink a glass of
water, do a page of math problems, blink your eyes 100
times, etc.)  On his turn, a student flips a card from
each deck and then attempts to do the activity in the
time allowed.  The rest of the players use the clock
to time him.  If he succeeds, he gets a point.  Play
then passes to the next player.

For estimating and measuring lengths, a fun game is
Half Way.  The teacher or a student names an object
(such as the height of a desk, the width of a book, or
the distance from the door to the opposite wall) and a
unit of measurement (inch, foot, yard, centimeter,
meter...) and also how close you have to be (within
___ units).  Each student writes down an estimate of
what the length will be.  One student is then asked to
start measuring the distance.  When the student is
somewhere in the middle (half way, a quarter of the
way, two thirds of the way...it's not an exact
science), the teacher has them stop and everyone is
given one chance to change their guess based on the
new information.  The measuring student then finishes
measuring and students get points if their guess was
within the allowed error range.

Well, I think I'm running out of thoughts about now,
but hopefully some of these ideas will work for you,
or will give you an idea for something that will work
for you.  If I think of anything else later, I'll let
you know.

Enjoy the rest of your Spring Break, and I hope you
get over your bug soon!

Laurie



--- "Magi D. Shepley" <magid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I have noticed that my students infinitely prefer
> playing games over 
> doing any other type of work, except perhaps cooking
> activities.  In the 
> past, I've always used ordinary commercial games
> like Monopoly, Yahtzee, 
> Dominoes etc, for doing math.  I've also used Uno...
>  I have a set of 
> "boards" with the 4 arirthmetic operations on them
> (1 on each card).  
> The instructions tell the students to draw one Uno
> card and place it in 
> the '1' box, and then repeat, putting the 2nd card
> in the other box.  
> They also get a worksheet with a table...  one
> number in one cell, 2nd 
> in another cell, operation in the middle, and the
> answer.
> We use the standard Uno scoring for word cards
> (Reverse, etc are 20, 
> Wild cards are 50).  The kids LOVE it... 
> 
> Does anybody know, or have you seen, similar things?
>  The other favorite 
> in the classroom is Monopoly.  Scrabble isn't far
> behind, and Fluxx 
> (though, surprisingly, Family Fluxx was not the hit
> with the kids I 
> thought it would be!).
> 
> I would love to find some Monopoly math that doesn't
> involve actually 
> playing the game.  I am aware of the Trend
> publication products that 
> have Monopoly themed workbooks... but they aren't
> really MONOPOLY!  The 
> books use the characters, but that is about as far
> as it goes.
> 
> I do teach kids with cognitive impairments (mental
> retardation), 
> emotional disturbance, speech language impairment,
> etc.  The beauty of 
> the Uno math is that the kids can do it
> independently... and unless 
> we're doing a group activity, I usually have the
> kids all working on 
> different things because levels are so different. 
> And, of course, we're 
> ALWAYS trying to encourage independent work and
> asking for help when 
> appropriate.
> 
> Magi
> _______________________________________________
> Edu mailing list
> Edu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://lists.looneylabs.com/mailman/listinfo/edu
> 


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