Games

Why Use Games/Mild Competition Increases curiosity and motivation Creates a student-centered learning environment Reduces anxiety in the classroom Allows for cooperative learning opportunities Inherently differentiates learning Engages individual learners simultaneously

Games Charades Crossword Name that concept (Talk a mile a minute or Password) Taboo $10,000 Pyramid Bingo Jeopardy Pictionary Apples to Apples Word Wall Password Charades Crossword Password

Name That Concept Password Talk a Mile a Minute

Name that Concept! Partner A: Provide clues to your partner without using the actual words, derivatives, or rhymes. definitions, examples, descriptions, contexts Partner B: Name the concept or component or say “pass” to move on to the next item. Goal: Successfully communicate all items in one minute.

Words From Geometry Square Hexagon Sphere Cylinder Parallelogram Rectangle Pyramid

Words from Algebra Slope Y-intercept Equation Exponent Parabola Pythagorean Theorem Linear Googol

Words From American History Abraham Lincoln capitalism industrialization genocide Republic President

Words from Language Arts autobiography protagonist cliché pronoun simile

Talk a Mile a Minute Students are given a list of terms that have been organized into categories. Each team designates a talker. The talker tries to get the team to say each of the words by quickly describing them. The talker is allowed to say anything about the terms while talking but may not use any words in the category title or any rhyming words. The talker keeps talking until the team members identify all terms in the category. If members of the team are having difficulty with a particular term, the talker skips it and comes back to it later.

Things associated with weather Tornado Hurricane Cold front Cumulus clouds Sleet Barometer El Nino

Things associated with oceans Waves Moon Algae Pacific Ships Tropical fish George Clooney

Things Associated with the American Civil War Robert E. Lee Ulysses S. Grant Gettysburg Slavery Antietam Emancipation Proclamation Abraham Lincoln 13

Units of Measure Inches Meters Gallons Hours Quarts Square Yards Liters 14

Pyramid

Pyramid Game 200 points 100 points 100 points 50 points 50 points

Pyramid Game 200 points 100 points 100 points 50 points 50 points Things that happened in the 1970’s 200 points Things Albert Einstein would say Types of Government 100 points 100 points Liquids Titles of Plays Battles 50 points 50 points 50 points

Pyramid Game 200 points 100 points 100 points 50 points 50 points Probability 200 points Metric measurements 3 dimensional objects 100 points 100 points Things that have 4 sides Equations or Formulas Measures of length 50 points 50 points 50 points

TABOO Have the kids make up the game. Pick the words and have them determine the words that can’t be used. They play the game as a study/summarizing technique. president Bush White House Republican Washington Lincoln

TABOO Adverb Adjective Modify Part of speech Time Verb Latitude & Longitude Lines Map Globe Parallels Prime Grid

TABOO cylinder Circle Shape 3-D Perpendicular lines 90 degrees Parallel Right angle Square rectangle

Taboo Teachers or students can make cards Index cards work well More summarization with student-made cards Index cards work well Play demonstration game Pairs, small groups, entire classroom with two teams The more “taboo” words, the more difficult the game. This can be used for differentiation.

Quick Draw Developing Spatial Sense and Communication Skills Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, September 2008, p 101-107 Kerry Richardson and Catherine Stein Glance at a geometric figure for no longer than 3 seconds, then draw what you saw.

Look at This Picture

Draw What You Saw When completed, look at the image and compare it with your drawing. What did you see? How did you draw it? Compare with a colleague. Did he or she draw the diagram differently? How did you describe the image differently from your colleague?

Quick Draw Students explain their thinking in multifaceted ways and teachers need to establish social norms in their classroom that enable students to communicate openly and freely. Students see or describe the image differently than how they draw the object. Teachers should avoid making judgments about the correctness of the drawing. Quick draw sees to draw out not only communication about spatial tasks but also mathematical language.

Other Possible Shapes

Toothpick Challenge One person creates a shape with five toothpicks and does not let their partner see the shape. Give directions to partner to create the shape. Person giving directions may watch as their partner creates the shape and adjust directions given according how the shape is created. Activity can be modified so that the person giving directions can not see what their partner is creating.

Pattern or Attribute Blocks Set up a book between two students so that a small work area can not be seen by either student. Student A creates a design using pattern blocks. Once the design is completed student A gives directions to student B about how to build the design. Student A can not see what student B is creating. Student B can not ask questions. When student A has provided all of the directions remove the books and compare shapes.

Pattern or Attribute Blocks

Others Word Walls Think-pair share