Engaging Classroom Games for any Subject: Series III

        This is week three of Engaging Games for any Classroom Series. Two more engagement games will be introduced that you can use in your classroom for any grade and any content. All you need are problems written on tiny pieces of paper. 

• If you missed week one’s games, click here for the post.  

• To check out week two’s games, click here for the post. 

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This week's games are called Egg Hunt and Jenga.

Egg Hunt

Materials: 

-Tiny Problems cut out. (Only one set.) 

 

-Tiny Problems recording sheet

-Plastic Eggs (one per question) 

-Clipboards (optional)

Set up: 

Place one Tiny Problems question inside each egg.  Write the number of the question on the outside of the egg so your students know where to write their answer on their recording sheet. Finally, hide the eggs around your classroom. Be sure they are in places you want your students looking. I usually hide them in plain sight. This way they are easy to find when the activity is over. 

How to play: 

• The teacher will tell the children they are going on an egg hunt. 

• When they find an egg they must answer the question on their recording sheet. 

• Before they move onto another egg, they MUST put the question back in the egg and return it EXACTLY where they found it. This way, their friends can answer the question too. 

There are many other options out there if you choose not to use plastic eggs. Use what works for your classroom and your students. I use the eggs all year round because I had tons of them at home. Thankfully, I didn’t need to buy anything new for this activity.

Jenga

Materials: 

- Tiny Problems cut out. (Only one set.) 

 

- Dry erase boards for students to record answers.

- 2 to 6 Jenga games

Set up: 

Split your class up into groups based on the number of Jenga games you have. Have the Jenga game set up in the center of the group. 

How to play: 

• The teacher will read a question aloud to the class.

• All students will answer on their recording sheet or their dry erase board. 

• The teacher will ask the students to flip their answer. 

• The teacher tells the class the correct answer.

• Any child who gets the answer correct will take a turn to pull a Jenga block from the tower. 

• This continues until the first tower falls. 

• Restack and  play again. 

                       

There are other versions of this game too. You can print a copy of Tiny Problems for each group to have their own set and the kids can take turns answering. You can just circulate the room and be a watchful eye. 

Stores also sell colored Jenga towers. You can make color coded Tiny Problems questions to match the blocks as well. Each color can be a different subject or concept you taught.

For social distancing this year, I bought the mini Jenga towers from The Dollar Tree. Each student had their own Jenga tower and played alone as they answered the questions I read aloud. 

I’ve also played BACKWARDS Jenga. All the mini Jenga blocks were up on my front table and children were asked Tiny Problems. As they answered correctly on their dry erase board, they earned a block. As they answered questions, they needed to build a tower using all the blocks they earned. 

There are so many different ways to incorporate Jenga tower games into your teaching. I like full class participation so I always have all my students answer the questions. This way, no one is waiting around for a turn to answer. 

That’s all for this week. Come back for the last three games in the series that will keep up the excitement and engagement in your classroom. Please feel free to join my email list for more game ideas like this and an exclusive EDITABLE math freebie to get you started right away. Thanks for stopping by and I will see you next week. 

Happy Teaching! 

Kelly

Engaging Classroom Games for any Subject: Series II

Welcome back to Engaging Games for any Classroom Series. This week I will be explaining two more high engagement games you can use in your classroom for any grade and any content. All you need are problems written on tiny pieces of paper. 

• If you missed last week’s games, click here for the post. 

Join my email list for more games like these and an exclusive EDITABLE math freebie to get you started right away.

This week’s games are called Suck it Up and Hot Potato. 

Suck it Up

Materials: 

- Tiny Problems cut out. - One set should be enough problems but if you want to make a separate color for each group to collect that is fine. I usually do one set for the class to share. 

- Tiny Problems recording sheet

- colored straws (I recommend plastic straws. Buy thin straws if you teach younger students. Thick straws make it a tougher challenge.) 

Set up: 

Put all of the Tiny Problems face down on a table, desk or flat surface. Split your students into groups in advance. Have straws divided so each group member gets a different color straw to avoid mixing straws between students. YUCK!

How to play: 

• Students get out a Tiny Problems recording sheet (Optional: Dry erase boards to use as scratch paper.)

• Students join their teams and pick a different color straw. Give them 15 seconds to establish an order of who is going first to last OR say, “Red straws go first, blue go second, yellow go third”….and so on.

• One student at a time will head to the Tiny Problems table, suck up air through their straw to pick up a problem and bring it back to their group. 

NOTE: This DOES have a learning curve and some students might struggle at first. I tell them to try three times to “suck it up” with their straw, then bring it back to the group.

• EVERYONE in the group needs to answer the question.

• When the whole team has an answer, they write it in the recording sheet in the corresponding numbered box. 

• The next student to retrieve a Tiny Problem needs to return the old problem, face down, to the table before “sucking up” a new one for the group.  

• This continues until all the Tiny Problems are solved.  

You can go over the answers in class or collect the recording sheets. If you want to make it more competitive, set a timer and the group who completes the most questions correctly wins!

Hot Potato

Materials: 

-Tiny Problems cut out. (Only the teacher will need a set.) 

 

-Tiny Problems recording sheet OR dry erase board and markers.

-A “musical” Hot Potato OR something to pass around music. 

Set up: 

Have your class sit in one big circle. Each child should have their recording sheet or a dry erase board for recording their answers. 

How to play: 

• Students will be sitting quietly in a circle ready to listen.

• The teacher will read a Tiny Problem aloud to the group and EVERYONE needs to answer the question.

• When each student has an answer, the teacher will tell the students to begin HOT Potato.

• The children will pass the potato until the music stops.

• The child who is holding the potato when the music stops gets to share their answer with the group. 

• The students check their boards, ask questions if needed and then prepare to answer the next question. 

You can even make multiple circles so more children get a chance to share an answer. I’ve had one giant circle with four or five stuffed animals circulating as potatoes. This is another way to give more children a chance to share their answers when the music stops. 

Thanks for stopping by today. Please come back next week for two more games in the series that will keep up student engagement in your classroom with minimal prep. Join my email list for more game ideas like this and an exclusive EDITABLE math freebie to get you started right away.

Happy Teaching! 

Kelly

Engaging Classroom Games for any Subject: Series

            Student engagement has always been a top priority when planning each of my lessons. I usually try to play some sort of game during the week with the concepts that we covered. 

The games explained in my blog posts over the next four weeks are engaging ways to motivate your kids no matter what content you are teaching. All you need are Tiny Problems* and a few simple materials to make content review hands-on and loads of fun! 

*Tiny Problems are content related questions written on small pieces of paper.

This week’s games are called Balloon Pop and Dig it Out. 

Balloon Pop 

Materials: 

-Tiny Problems cut out. 

 

-Tiny Problems recording sheet

-Good quality balloons

 *A balloon inflator is optional but extremely helpful

Set up: 

Put one question inside each balloon and tie it tightly. If you want certain teams going after certain colors take that into consideration when choosing your balloons. Inflate the balloons accordingly. 

         

How to play: 

• Students need a Tiny Problems recording sheet (Optional: Dry erase boards to use as scratch paper.)

• Split students into teams and assign each team a color balloon. Give them 15 seconds to establish an order of who is going first to last.

• One person at a time will retrieve a balloon and pop it however they wish. 

• They grab the question that was in the balloon and head to their group where EVERYONE needs to answer it.

• When the whole team has an answer, they write it in the recording sheet in the corresponding numbered box. 

• The next student is off to grab another balloon. This continues until all the balloons are gone. 

You can go over the answers in class or collect the recording sheets. If you want to make it more competitive, set a timer and the group who completes the most questions correctly wins!

You can even write the questions on the outside of the balloon and put the answer on a piece of paper inside. They can ask the question to the class, see what some of their classmates respond and then get the answer out by popping the balloon to see who was correct.

Dig it Out

Add anything into the container you are using to make it a bit more challenging to grab those problems. 

Materials: 

-Tiny Problems cut out. (One set per team. I make them in different colors.) 

 

-Tiny Problems recording sheet

-A bag of plastic ball pit balls or a large amount of packing peanuts.

- Foldable laundry baskets or deep buckets. (One per team.) 

Set up: 

Put a set of Tiny Problems inside each laundry basket/ bucket. Dump ball pit balls, balloons or packing peanuts on top of all the problems. I even mixed in base ten blocks. 

How to play: 

• Students need a Tiny Problems recording sheet (Optional: Dry erase boards to use as scratch paper.)

• Split students into teams and assign each team a basket. Give them 15 seconds to establish an order of who is going first to last.

• One person at a time will retrieve ONE problem from the bottom of the basket and race back to their group. 

• They will read the card aloud to the group and EVERYONE needs to answer the question.

• When the whole team has an answer, they write it in the recording sheet in the corresponding numbered box. 

• The next student is then off to dig out another Tiny Problem. This continues until all the problems are completed. 

          

You can also put other items in the baskets as distractors or decoys. For example, base ten blocks, unsharpened pencils, block erasers etc. Another option is to add little action cards the size of the Tiny Problems that the students will complete if they bring those back to the group. Some ideas might be jumping jacks, spins or other movements. The possibilities are endless! 

That’s all for today, but come back next week for two new games in the series that will keep up student engagement in your classroom with minimal prep. Join my email list for more game ideas like this and an exclusive EDITABLE math freebie to get you started right away. Thanks for stopping by. 

Happy Teaching! 

Kelly

The Roaring 1920s for the 100th Day of School

The 100th Day of School is always an exciting day for elementary students. Lower elementary (Kindergarten, first grade, second grade and even third grade) focus on the number one hundred, counting to one hundred and doing math that equal up to one hundred. Teachers also join their students in dressing up like 100 year old people. I have seen some really neat shirts with 100 items on them. Families can get super creative with costumes and projects for the 100th day of school.

100th Day of School for Upper Grades

Sometimes it is more difficult to motivate older students to participate in "100 day" activities. Unless you make them age appropriate and motivating. This school year I was moved from 2nd grade back to upper elementary, so I wanted to be sure my students were able to celebrate the 100th Day of School in a way that didn't feel "babyish" or immature to them. 

With help from the internet and each other, the 4th and 5th grade team came up with an idea that we knew would surely surprise our students. This would be a mixture of social studies, reading, fun and engagement. We brought our students back 100 years to the Roaring 1920s! That's right! The age of flappers, jazz music, the Model-T and prohibition. 

The Content

I chose some of the biggest concepts that made an impact one hundred years ago and created a scavenger hunt for the children to solve based on our current skill of finding main idea and key details. 

     

Click here for the Activity.

We split the children up in teams. They read the passage and figured out the main idea based on the supporting details. Once the children did this, they scanned the QR Code to check their answer. At the bottom of the screen, it would tell them which passage to find next and so on. As the children moved through all the cards they would finally reach the end. They would then grab the math task cards (based on the same concepts they just read about) and solve the word problems while the other groups finished. 

After the groups were finished, we made a large Venn Diagram on the board and spoke about what we learned from the passages. The children really enjoyed learning about the 1920s time period and comparing it to today. 

Click here for the activity I created for the Roaring 1920s

If you decide to try this in your classroom for the 100th Day of School, please tag me in any social media posts so I can see your photos! Thank you for stopping by my blog!

xoxo Kelly