Michigan History

I currently live in the State of Michigan. Michigan history is an important part of our curriculum, starting with first grade. I recently purchased a book called M is for Mitten: A Michigan Alphabet. This book is an excellent resource for all Michigan elementary school teachers. While reading the book I came up with an idea for two vocabulary games: Michigan Scrabble and Matching Michigan.

Apples Bridges Cherries Detroit Evergreen Lakes Michigan Erie Huron Ontario Superior Harbor Invention Island Kellogg Lansing Lighthouse Mitten Native Northern Ore Prehistoric Robin Sand Wolverine

For this game I will use card stock and using the vocabulary list as a source create a set of 4*6 letters. I will have one set of letters per student. I will laminate each letter and place a small magnet on the back of each. I will also incorporate 4 blank tiles for each set of letters. These can be used as wild tiles. These tiles will be placed on the board. This game can be played with 2 or more students or teams. We will have a bin with all the letters.

Each student/team will be provided with a copy of the vocabulary words. Each student/team will draw 7 letters to start and will have to use their letters to create a vocabulary word. The game will move from left to right with each student/team having to build a vocabulary word off the words already on the board. When the students/teams next turn comes they will be able to draw new letters to compensate for the letters previously used. The game continues until all letters are used. The student/team with the most words will win.

For this game I will use card stock and using the vocabulary list as a source create a 6 sets of 4*6 cards. I will laminate each card. Three sets of cards will have a vocabulary word on the front. One set of cards will have a picture of the vocabulary words on the front. This game will be played either on a table or the floor and can be played individually or in teams. The cards will be stored in sets.

To play this game, the student/team will determine how many sets to use based on the number of participants. The entire set(s) will be placed face down. The player(s) will lay all the cards face down and then flip over one card. They will then try to find the match by flipping a new card. If they dont match both cards must be flipped back. The player then tries again, using memory to find matches. Once a match is made, the cards are removed. This game can be played as a competition or as a study tool. If played as a game the player(s) with the most matches wins.