Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: Chapter 4

I'm linking up with the Queen of the First Grade Jungle to talk about Strategy 4: Games!  

     As soon as I read "Games" I immediately thought of John Hunter and his World Peace Game. I have been able to hear John Hunter speak twice on this, and let me tell you, it is SO COOL. Talk about higher level thinking... his fourth grade students were invited to the Pentagon by officials who heard about their work with this game... they wanted to know how these 4th graders were solving the issue of world peace. If you haven't heard of John Hunter, then you need to go check out this video as soon as you finish reading this post. :)  Would love to hear some thoughts on how to incorporate this kind of problem solving game play into the K classroom! 

    My self proclaimed mentor teacher, other momma, and BFF,  has modeled the power of game play for me in her K4 classroom. She is all about (developmentally appropriate) game play and competition in her classroom and it works! Her students participate in individual and group competitions. Sometimes she engages her students by simply writing all of their names on the board and putting a check next to their name for each correct answer. The student with the most checks at the end of the day wins a trip to the treasure box.

Around the World 

     

     Draw a students name at random. Have this student stand by a student you choose. The student who can answer the math fact the quickest advances to the next seat and the competition continues around the room. The last student standing is the winner. This is always a favorite for my students! 

School-Wide Bible Bowl and Math Bowl Competitions 

Math and Literacy Center Games 

Sight Word Games 

Lately, I have noticed a few of my students really struggling with their sight words, so I created this year round sight word pack to help me better serve my students in this area. You can click on the picture below to find this product in my TPT shop . 

I even included this tool for helping students keep track of their individual sight words!!!

Other Sight Word Games 

 

     Thanks for stopping by my blog. Please click on the picture below to find a sample of my Sight Word Splat pack for FREE in my TPT store! Leave a comment and let me know what games your students are playing as well.