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!

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