Looney Labs Educators Mailing list Archive

Re: [Edu] It's official

  • Frompat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • DateThu, 22 Mar 2007 14:58:08 +0000

First - congratulations!

Just a place to start - look at the Mensa Select games that you can still get - and use these to your advantage - you can hit most of the core skill areas through these games.  We do this for the gifted and talented programs in our area and have a 3 month curriculum developed (1 quarter of 1 hour/day) that is designed to hit the local standards for most of the 6th grade.  Start with the easiest ones to teach and pull the students together with and then work to the more difficult to learn and play.   Using the Mensa select games adds credibility to your curriculum plan and you can then select other games to meet specific standards or to evaluate the students preformance / comprehension of them.  Many other 'awards' may seem to offer a high level of worth, but in reality are paid for the label type of awards.

One 'trick' we use us Apples to Apples as a ice-breaker and use it over the entire course to introduce new vocabulary.  It's quick, easy and very social and extremely easy to teach.

Also if you have time do a capstone type project where the student create a game themselves.  It forces them to understand the dynamic relationship of rules, probability, and social aspects of the game in a way that no game itself can teach. 

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Pat Fuge
The Head Gnome
Gnome Games
www.gnomegames.com

Current Thread