I have now officially lost my voice. The copier was broken on top of that, so my students couldn't do math worksheets. This meant that I had to find an alternate way for my students to practice their addition and subtraction today. Card games are fun, right?
I'm sure everyone is familiar with "War." Split the deck, two people "battle" with their cards and whoever has the higher card wins. Well, we changed the name to "Snap" to make it a little more school-appropriate and we turned it into a math lesson.
Each student got four cards, so we had mini-battles. When they flipped their cards over, they had to tell me "[number] is bigger/smaller than [number]." Once everyone had had a chance at playing, I had them organize their cards from smallest number to highest number, then take those two cards and add and subtract them. They loved the game so much that they played it three times in a row and I didn't have to say a single word.
Definitely going to the doctor tomorrow. Can't talk, can't eat/drink cold things, can't breathe. Don't want to have one more day being a mute teacher.
Beanbag baseball? Sounds like fun to me.
ReplyDeletePlay is where it's at. It's been proven to make a huge difference in a kids'ability to learn. Start tossing beanbags around and kids will do at their studies. Bringing in fun games is such a great idea, Cally. You're a creative, fun example to your kids. I wish I'd learned math by playing cards; I might have done better at the subject!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could take credit for beanbag baseball... that's actually one of Charles' inventions! One person is "catchman," another is "empire," and one is "batterman." They don't have a bat, so they just use their arms to hit the beanbag. If you hit someone with the beanbag, then you get a yellow card.
ReplyDeleteThe card game was completely accidental, honestly. I just started out with them telling me which numbers are bigger and just continued from there. So glad it worked out!
One of the things I learned about the benefits of play at my Exuberant Animal workshop this weekend (check it out: www.exuberantanimal.com) is that the more you play, the more cognitive, problem solving skills you learn. This has been scientifically proven. Creativity begets creativity. GOOD WORK!!
ReplyDeleteHahaha! I just re-read your comment. Love Charles' versions of "catcher," "umpire," and "batter." Did he make those up on purpose or doesn't he know the correct words for them?
ReplyDeleteHe didn't know the correct words, so that was his version. I've told them the correct words, but they still prefer the original names.
ReplyDeleteSarah loves War too! And it is a great math helper. Try solitaire (on the computer works well), another great way to learn math by playing.
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