Transcript Teacher Tested, Kid Approved

Teacher Tested, Kid Approved
Fun Games and Activities for Your Classroom
Presented by: Lisa Janezic
My Philosophy
Take your teaching seriously,
But never take yourself,
the teacher, too seriously
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Creating Games in Your Classroom Home
 Create teams by choosing them yourself or by
random method: month of birth, color of eyes,
color of hair, roll of a die all work well
 Create smaller teams rather than two large
teams
 When possible, allow students to solve problems
in pairs rather than alone, this decreases
competitive tension
 Avoid situations that make individual students
feel stupid, if you know certain students will
struggle, build in coaching time during which
other team members can help
Creating Games Con’t.
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 Allow for “think time” by pausing after asking questions,
not all students process answers rapidly- you can tell
students they must wait to respond until you indicate it is
time to answer
 When possible, students shouldn’t know the order in
which they will be answering questions, they will stay on
their toes and will always be ready to answer
 If you are calling on students, return to some students
who have already answered questions- they won’t lose
interest and are more likely to pay attention
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Source: 1990 Education Digest Article, “Game-Based Teaching” by John Magney
Presentation Overview
GAMES
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Wheel of Fortune
White Board Review
Egg-citement
Sponge/Ball Toss
Sparkle
Silent/ Recycle Ball
Row Races
20 Questions
Trivia Pursuit
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Prizes and Rewards
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Stamps
Stickers
Pencils
Cut-outs
Candy
Great Resource Sites:
 www.orientaltrading.com
 www.crafthobbywholesale.com
 www.teachercreated.com
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Writing Activities
 Beginning, Middle, and End
(Triads)
 Alphabet Stories
 Alphabet Books
 Memo to…
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Assessment
Student Created Rubric
Pass and Admire
Trade and Grade
Positive Talk
Mystery Grade
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For More Information
Please visit my website:
http://www.lz95.org/msn/faculty/ljanezic/
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Thank you for attending!
Have a Great Day!
Triad Stories
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 Students write a character, action and setting on three
separate pieces of paper
 Mix up the papers, keeping each category separate
 Students then choose one from each category
 Sitting in groups of three, students begin a story using
the character, action and setting
 After a teacher designated time, students switch papers
 Students then write a “middle” to the story that they
receive
 Students exchange on last time and add an ending to
the story
 The original clues go back to the first student
Alphabet Stories
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Students write a story of exactly 26
sentences. The first sentence starts with a
word, the second sentence starts with a b
word, the third sentence with a c word and
so on through the alphabet
For x they can cheat and use a word
starting with the prefix ex
This can be done as an individual
assignment or a group activity
Wheel of Fortune
Good for vocabulary review
Teams or rows choose letters
Each correct guess earns 4 points
Each vowel costs 2 points
Winning team gets 4 points for correct
guess
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White Board Review
Have students research and write 10
questions with answers
Each team gets one white
board/marker/eraser
Answers are written on white board
Points awarded to the team for correct
answers
Great for spelling/vocab/subject area
review
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Egg-citement
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Create 10-20 questions
Students work in pairs
Place questions in
eggs/baggies/envelopes- number the
container
One student from each pair picks an egg
Only one question can be out at a time
Can be a timed race
Sponge/Ball Toss
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Divide class into two or more groups
Set up three tape lines and basket
Each line has a different point valuefarthest line most points, closest line has
lowest value
If the student gets the answer correct, they
throw the ball at the basket
Team with the most points wins
Sparkle
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 Great for spelling and vocabulary
 Arrange students in rows
 Students are given a word to spell
 Each student says one letter
 After the letter is spelled correctly the next
student says, “Sparkle”- the person behind
him/her is out
 If a word is misspelled that student is out
 The same word continues until spelled correctly
 Winner is last person to survive
Silent Ball
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 Good for vocabulary/spelling
 Students sit on desks or stand in a circle
 If they talk or throw the ball inappropriately they
are out and sit down
 Teacher starts game by giving word and tossing
ball to student
 If the student catches it and gives the correct
answer they can toss to another student
 The next student after the word is spelled
correctly give the definition of the word
 Last student left standing wins
Recycle Ball
Great for multiple subject review or
vocabulary review
Set up two bins of two different colors
Student must bounce the ball and
whichever bin it lands in decides the
category of the question
Competition can be set up in
brackets/elimination rounds
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Row Races
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Students are set up in straight rows
Questions are asked in order of rows
Each correct answer scores a point for the
row
Any talking or communication results in
row losing chance to earn points
20 Questions
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Can be purchased or created (student or
teacher)
Each student gets a clue
Student to get the answer correct wins
prize
Encourages listening skills
Trivia Pursuit
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Students play in small teams
Categories can be created by teacher
Categories can have various point values
Useful for cross-curricular questions or
multi-unit review
Students can also create questions