Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Using "Don't Break the Ice" in Your Classroom

We all know that students love to play games!  When we sneak educational concepts into game playing we have a win-win situation: engaged students practicing the new skill.

I received a grant and one of the items that I had requested was this game:


We got so much use out of this last year!  I'm going to share a ton of ideas here for you to take back to your own classroom. You may be surprised just how much mileage you can get out of a game that is usually available for under $10!


Math:
  • Answer a flashcard (addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, etc) and then take your turn.
  • Roll a die, identify the number, then take your turn.
  • Draw two number cards.  Add (or multiply; depending on the skill you want). Then take your turn.
  • Draw a missing number card, state the missing number and then take your turn.  Missing number cards are just index cards with a pattern...for early learners it might be "2, 3, ___, 5" and they would have to say "4".  For older learners it might be large numbers with a skip count pattern such as "___, 450, 475, 500" and they would have to say "425"
  • Rounding.  Give students a number, have them round to the nearest tenth/hundredth/etc.
  • Place labels on each piece of ice. Each label has a number.  Students first identify the piece of ice (and it's label number) they want to tap. Then they roll a die and multiply the two digits together before taking their turn. Ex: Student wants to tap the piece of ice labeled "7".  They roll a die that lands on 4. They must multiply 7x4 and say "28" before taking their turn.
Language Arts
  • Read a sight word flash card, then take your turn.
  • Put small labels on each piece of "ice" that contain sight words. In order to tap that piece of ice you have to read the word.
  • Put a label with a LETTER on each piece of "ice".  In order to take your turn you have to identify the letter name and sound.
  • Rhyming: You say a word, student has to generate a word that rhymes before taking their turn.
  • Phoneme Segmentation: You say a word, student has to segment the phonemes before taking their turn. (Ex: Teacher says "bug".  Student says: "/b/   /u/   /g/".)
  • Word Talk: Especially for those of you that use Fundations phonics.  Lay out 10 or so word cards.  Before the child takes their turn you ask a question.  Examples: "Stacey, which word is a synonym for  close?"  Stacey would find the card that says "shut".   "Thomas, which word has a digraph after the vowel?"  Thomas may find the card that says "luck". And so on.  Great way to weave review of your current and past concepts!
  • Spelling practice.  You say the spelling word, student orally spells (or writes on a scrap of paper), then takes their turn.

More ideas on how to use Don't Break The Ice to teach social skills!

*Links may be affiliate links. See full disclosure here.*

No comments:

Post a Comment

Happy to have you here at the Zucchini Summer Blog! :)