My students need new board games such as Connect 4, Guess Who? and Apples to Apples. The dog days of winter are here and most of our recesses are spent indoors due to the cold temperatures or uncooperative weather. All our games are 10 years old.
Our elementary school sits in an inner city school district. My students come from a variety of social and economical backgrounds. They have struggles and successes throughout the day. Our classroom is comprised of those that are receive support in special education, bilingual, as well as talented and gifted. The students all have one thing in common though; they all want to succeed in fifth grade and are looking for the stability of a routine oriented classroom. My students want and need a place to become independent learners who can drive their learning to their interests and life goals. This cannot always be done in the "traditional" classroom setting, so I strive to provide students with different options to accommodate their needs and likes.
My Project
Since the drop in temperatures and uncooperative weather outside, most of our recess time is spent indoors in our classrooms. When I had first started teaching, I purchased great board games such as Battleship, Connect 4, Sorry, and Operation. Over the years, these board games have been well loved and well played. They have been played so much and in so many different parts of our buildings, that some pieces have gone missing from each game. Being over ten years old, this is expected.
If we had these new board games in our classroom, the students would become more engaged during their recess time.
They will activate their brains and work cooperatively with classmates. They will be able to play a game in full, without changing the rules to accommodate missing pieces or parts. Overall, it will make for a more structured "play" time, while still providing the opportunity for learning and development of social skills. With the new games of Connect 4, they will learn to use strategy and thinking ahead. With Guess Who?, they will strengthen their communication skills and use of language. For Apples to Apples, they will be able to group and categorize words. Overall, these games are games meant for play and entertainment, but they also have educational value as well!
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