Thinking Outside the Box: Make a Board Game

As an introduction to this task, I asked the students what board games they liked to play.  I chose a few games that many kids were familiar with, such as Candyland and Snakes and Ladders and we talked about the rules for these board games.

I unpacked a whole bunch of cereal boxes, cracker boxes and cardboard that I brought from home and told the kids they were going to create their own board games.  The only criteria, their game could have no more than three rules.

Each student had to complete a planning sheet before beginning to build the game including the name of the game, the rules and materials needed.

The part that the kids enjoyed the most, was teaching their game to others.  We spent some time, once the games were all completed trying out the games.  The inventor of the game took the role of the teacher and taught the other participants how to play the game.

A new version of Snakes and Ladders called Swim to 100.

Shake the apples board game.

A soccer game for two people.

A fishing game.

An elaborate game modeled after the board game, Mouse Trap.

This game was a board game version of the solitaire game called Mine Sweeper.

Blog Neglect and the 100th Day of School

Oh my goodness, there has been nary a blog post in this space since the beginning of March.  We call that total blog neglect.  I have some catching up to do.

In February, yes way back in February we celebrated the hundredth day of school. The kids had a blast celebrating the day and I was happy with the activities.  Over the years, I have simplified one hundred day, but I am still happy with the results.

The kids were greeted with this at their table spots when they arrived in the morning.  I found this adorable idea here.

We made these one hundred hats to celebrate being 100 Days Smarter.

We made Froot Loop necklaces.  This year, to make it easier to keep track, after every ten, we placed a numbered paper on the string.

We have been working on estimating, so one of the stations included some candy filled estimating jars.

We built with one hundred things.

We did a number search, circling numbers that added up to one hundred.

By far the biggest hit of the day was the game, I can find one hundred numbers.  I hid coloured numbers around the room from one to one hundred. Each student was given a hundred chart and a clipboard and they search the room for the numbers and colour them the correct colour.

We ended the day by reflecting on our learning.  This was my favourite part of the day, watching the kids write down the things they have learned in the first one hundred days of school.

Math: 3D Shapes Who Am I Activity

I found this lesson in a great book,  Math and Nonfiction by Jamee Petersen.  On the first day of introducing the lesson, we read the book Cubes, Cones Cylinders and Spheres by Tana Hoban.  We talked about the examples in the book and all the other places we see these shapes in our own lives.  I gave them each a paper lunch bag with the homework instructions typed onto it.

On the following morning as the students arrived, I wrote a note on the chalkboard asking students to put their bags at their seats, but not to share the contents with anyone.  I had extra bags for students who did not bring any items.

At the beginning of the lesson, I read the clues for the items in my own bag to model I expected of them for this lesson.  They had fun trying to guess the items in my bag. After setting some criteria and talking about what their clues had to include, I sent them off to write their own clues.

This is M's first clue and item.  He focused on the tennis balls inside the container.

I am fuzzy and I am green.  You can hit me.  I love aces.

What shape am I?  What am I?

I am black.  You can keep balls inside me.  I am clear.   I have

a flat face.  What shape am I?  What am I?

I chose this example because this student is a reluctant writer and to see him write this much on his own and take this risk made me so happy.  

 I have 9 spaces on the outside.  And it have a lot of colours on it.  What shape am I. 

 And it have 6 faces too.

I love this one because I love bugles.  Yummy. The kids had a hard time with this one, but mostly because I don't think they eat them that often.

 I am a toy that can transform.  I am like a ball.  I have o faces.

 I am something that is a circle.  Some people put water in me.

I am from the house center.  What am I?

I have a circle on my top and a point on my bottom.  I have been used

to hold ice cream and taste delicious.  What am I?

At the end of the lesson, we formed a sharing lesson.  Each person chose their favourite clue and item and shared it with the class.  The class then had to guess the object.  They liked this so much that they didn't want it to end.  So then we broke into smaller groups and gave students the opportunity to share another one of their clues.