Games provide child centered activities to apply problem solving strategies as well as an opportunity to practice basic skills. The student is presented with a situation or a question to be explored. He/she becomes an active participant in the discovery of the solution. Often trial and error is involved in the search for a pattern toward the solution.
Many students start with a random, unorganized approach to the problem, making several errors and must begin again and again. Through multiple experiences, they begin to construct a more deliberate strategy. The learners will begin to draw on previous experiences to organize their problem solving approaches. Generalizations discovered in one game, can many times be applied in a new situation. The students soon become successful at many different formats. Through these experiences, the students are constructing their own problem-solving strategies, which is a major objective in mathematics.
The young learner should first experience games simply to learn the art of gamesmanship. Once they have learned the format, they can then focus on the basic skills which are being practiced and taught. Gamesmanship can enhance their life skills toward building a good citizen by teaching them:
To acquaint the young learner with gamesmanship, School Days is ideal. The players throw the dice, and move a marker around a game board according to the number shown on the dice. The students are practicing the basic skills of counting and one-to-one correspondence. For experienced game players, add the element of practicing additional skills by using the Basic Skills practice cards. When a playerÜs turn comes up, they draw a card from the deck, name the letter, numeral, beginning sound, etc. If the player names the card correctly, they roll the dice to make their move on the game board. If they answer incorrectly, they pass the card to the next player until the correct answer is named.
Count and Match is another beginning game format that can be used to practice gamesmanship. The players roll the dice and then search for a space on the board which has the same number of shapes as shown on the dice. They place their marker on this space and continue moving around the board with each turn. To add practice of an additional basic skill, instruct the players to also name the shapes on the space they land on each time.
Generic Game Boards provide teachers with a format in which to incorporate their own themes and a tie into seasonal activities being presented in the classrooms. The teacher can add thematic stickers, rubber stamps, or the studentsÜ own artwork to the game boards before laminating for extended use. Designed to be used with the Basic Skills practice cards, they can provide many opportunities for the necessary practice of basic skills such as color, numeral, letter, naming, counting, sound matching, more than/less than, opposites, etc. If the teacher does not have the extra time or need for decorating theme game boards, Sierra Bear Game Boards are designed to save time!
The Basic Skills Practice Cards are designed to be used in many different formats. They can be used as described above with a game board or in a lotto format. The students find several cards that have the same beginning sound or are given a letter card and are then asked to find beginning sound cards that would go with that letter card.
Another way to use the practice cards is to deal four cards to each player. Place the remaining cards in a stack in the middle of the group. Taking turns the players draw a card. If they can find a match to one or more of their four cards, they are to keep that card and are directed to draw another. If they cannot make a match, they return the card to the bottom of the stack. Play continues until all the cards in the middle of the stack are taken by the players. The player at the end of the game with the most cards can be declared the winner.
Matching upper case to lower case letters, matching numerals with objects of the same count, matching letters to sounds are all important skills to be practiced by young learners. One such game is Breezing Down With Rhyming Sounds. A set of four game boards are provided so that each student in a group will have a different board. Playing cards are placed face down in front of the group. Taking turns, each player chooses a card. They name the picture and then find another picture on their game board that rhymes with the card they chose. They place this card on top of the rhyming picture on their game board. Once all the students have filled their game boards, the game is over and they are to trade boards among the group and begin the game again. This game provides multiple opportunities for the students to practice their recognition of rhyming skills.
To provide further practice with rhyming sounds,
A literature tie is made by using the Big Book, The Adventures Of Sierra Bear With Rhyming Sounds. A delightful, patterned book, that offers a story setting for discussing rhyming sounds.
Sierra Bear is used throughout the three rhyming activities to give the students a familiar figure to identify with.
A series of games for small group experiences are the; I have. Who has? cards. Each game comes with ten cards. Some of the games practice counting, others simple addition, color naming, shape naming, and position words. The games are thematic in that some use the Three Pigs others the Gingerbread Man, and still others Sierra Bear.
In order to play, the 10 cards are randomly distributed to 10 students in the class. The teacher asks one student to begin by reading their card. "I have Sierra Bear inside a circle. (the card has a picture of a bear inside a circle rather than the words) Who has Sierra Bear next to a triangle?" Another student will respond by reading their card and the game continues until all the cards have been read. The students are practicing shape naming as well as using the vocabulary of inside, next to, in front of, behind, under, on top of, etc.Sierra Bear Shapes and Positions
The I have. Who has? games also provide an opportunity for the students to practice a statement and a question and to see the punctuation and capitalization which is appropriate with each.
Using a variety of formats to teach basic skills is important to help provide exciting and high interest lessons for the students. The bingo format games help to provide that variety. Gingerbread Bingo and Shape Bingo are played in the traditional Bingo format. Students practice recognition of colors in Gingerbread Bingo and recognition of shapes in Shape Bingo.
An added twist is put on the traditional Bingo format in Sierra Bear Bingo Add . First and second grade students play with a partner and are required to make a decision as to the number of double sided markers they need to shake and spill with each turn, based on the needed number story on their game board. The object of the game is to either mark three in a row diagonally, up and down, or across, or to block out their entire board. The game is designed to offer a connection between using manipulatives for addition by connecting these manipulatives to the symbolic representation by using numerals. It is important for the students to have this opportunity to make this connection before they are expected to write the numerals themselves. The combinations are a mixture of number families of fives through eights.
For the younger learner, this mixture of addition problems can prove to be confusing. Sierra Bear Bingo Add Families provides a focus on one number family at a time. There are a set of four different game boards for each number family 5 through 10. The player places five two color markers into a cup. They shake and spill the markers onto the table. They identify the number story represented such as, three red markers and two white markers equals five markers. They find this number story 3 + 2 = 5 on their game board and cover it with a game piece (bean, Unifix Cube, bottle cap, etc.) The object of the game is to block out their game board or to cover three in a row. The lesson provides practice in discovering that the number families can be represented in many different number stories; 1 + 4 = 5, 4 + 1 = 5, 2 + 3 = 5, etc.
Games are generally designed to give a quick drill and practice to previously taught skills. They usally consist of several gamecards or gameboards for the students to read and respond. Using the back side for additional practice is an economical and smart way to use any of your game formats. Patterning is one way to enhance your game play. Enlarge one of the focus figures from the front of the gameboard. Duplicate that figure in at least two or three different colors. Glue one of these figures, in a random order, to the backside of each of the gamecards within a game. Arrange the cards into either an A,B or A,B,C pattern according to color. Write numerals 0-10 onto the figures. Instruct the students to come to the front of the classroom to show their cards while playing the first part of their game. When they are finished with the first part, instruct them to turn their cards around to show the colored figures. Ask if they are in the correct counting order. The answer will be no. Tell them to now arrange themselves according to 0-10. Once in the correct order, a pattern should be evident - either the A,B or A,B,C pattern, depending on which one you chose to set up. If you had followed this procedure with the Sierra Bear Zip Around Shapes and Position, then you would have taken your students through a quick practice and review of:
The teacher should select the games to be used in his classroom according to the needs of the young learners. The skills being practiced in the games need to be closely related to the skills being taught in the classroom. The major focus should be on the practice of the skills rather than on the playing, winning or loosing of the game. The players need to be aware of the purpose of the game, the rules and the appropriate ways in which to conduct themselves while playing the games. Arithmetic becomes exciting and inviting for the students through the use of these formats. No more drill to kill, only drill to thrill! They provide a chance to apply problem solving skills in real situations rather than a contrived arena. A small amount of competition is good, natural and motivating to students. They soon discover that the more they know, the better they can play the game; the more they play the game, the more they learn. The skills practiced become automatic and can be applied in all areas of the curriculum and in their daily lives.
These are only a small example of a number of games that can be integrated into your curriculum. Additional card games, games using dice, spinners, dominoes and more will be shared in next month's edition of The Kindergarten Connection!