Sunday, February 2, 2014

Bright Ideas Blog Hop: An Adaptable Learning Game!


Welcome, welcome, welcome! What an exciting blog hop to be participating in! I just KNOW that you are going to find soooooo many fabulous new ideas to use in your classroom!
 
Because you have so many great ideas to go through, I'm going to get right to it! :)
 
I want to talk about a game that I play in my room called "Snowball fight!" Trust me when I say it is KID TESTED and passes with flying colors!
 
First, the directions, then read my example and hopefully it will all fit together and become a game you try in your class!
 
How to play:
1. Prepare word cards based on topic of choice on regular notebook paper.
2. Decide how to split the word cards so that they are in "pairs" or "groups".
3. Give cards out to students at random.
4. Tell the students to "Snowball your papers" - This is when the students will *carefully* crumple their paper into a "snowball".
5. Tell kiddos to CLOSE THEIR EYES, count to 3 and say "Snowball Fight!" (Students will throw their "snowballs" up or across the room)
6. Tell students to open their eyes and pick up the FIRST paper they see!
7. Students should uncrumple their papers and read what's on it.
8. Students will circulate the room to find their matching pair!
 
Ok, so one way I have used this game in my room is for practicing PREFIXES. I made word cards that I cut apart into groups of three. I had the prefix on one card, the root word on another, and the definition of the word. Students circulated the room and had to find BOTH people to complete their trio of cards.
**See picture for example**

What I love most about this game (and the kids too) is that it gets them up and moving around the room. We all know that kids learn more and have fun when they can get up out of their seats. They really get into this game and little do they know that they are learning and thinking while doing it! :) It's a win-win people!
 Some other topics I have used this game for:
Compound Words
Suffixes
Vocabulary Words + Definitions
Nouns & Verbs
Adverbs
Blends
Antonyms & Synonyms
Comparative Endings
Pictures + Words
 
Those are just a few... but really, there's tons of ways to use this game as it's very adaptable and takes very little prep work on your part! Plus, once the kids get the hang of it, you don't have to spend time giving directions anymore either! :) I truly hope you try it out!
 
If you're on the hunt for even more great ideas, make sure you blog hop on over to the next blog on this hop who just so happens to be one of my good blogging buddies Sara from Miss V's Busy Bees! I love her and I know she's got something great in store for you also! Hop on over! And please share the love... if you like someone's idea, leave a comment! I promise it means a LOT of us bloggers! :)
 


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13 comments:

  1. Love this idea! Thanks so much Daina :)

    Hugs
    Anna

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    1. So glad you like it! Thanks for the love Anna!!! :)

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  2. Thanks for a fun idea, D! :) Love visiting your blog! :) It always makes me happy! :) Definitely the ideas...but...also the color! :) Just so fun in this corner of the bloggysphere!! :)
    XOXO,
    Tamara

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  3. Oh, my kiddos would be all over that snowball game! Trying it this week! Thanks so much for sharing!
    XO
    Laura

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    1. I hope they love it Laura!!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!!

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  4. How fun!! My kids would LOVE this!! Especially since we don't ever have snow;) Mahalo for sharing!!

    Aloha,
    Corinna (✿◠‿◠)
    Surfin' Through Second

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    1. We don't get a lot (if any) snow here either Corinna! I think that adds to the excitement for sure! I hope they enjoy it!! Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. What a great way to get the kids to mix it up! I love moving kids around the classroom and having them talk to see if they have matching sets of cards. Thanks for sharing!

    http://buzzingwithmsb.blogspot.com/2014/02/bright-ideas-hop-special-delivery-book.html

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by! So glad you like the idea! :)

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  6. This looks like SO much fun, Daina! Thanks for sharing this bright idea.

    Nicole
    Mrs, Rios Teaches Second Grade

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  7. Yay Deb! I hope they love it!!!!! Thanks for stopping by!! :)

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