Thinking Outside The Book: Center Games in The Library
My students need manipulative games such as Mancala, dominos, and blokus to practice math, teamwork, spatial reasoning, patterning, shapes, and sharing.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Each week, I have one day of extended library where I utilize library centers. Currently, the library is relying on puzzles and laptops for these centers. I would like to expand the students experiences with new and exciting games, puzzles, and building tools to further promote learning.
My students are voracious learners, and I like to keep them challenged.
Teaching without my students realizing they are learning is my favorite part of my job.
As the librarian in the school, I am able to interact with every student in the building, as well as reinforce skills learned in all of the core subjects. I enjoy seeing them succeed in STEM activities I have implemented in the library, but I feel they would do better if they had access to this type of thinking every week, not just once a month when we do that type of lesson.
More than 65% of my students are on free/reduced lunch and breakfast. I want to give my students opportunities in library that they may not have outside of school.
Our community is diversified with students from all over the world due to a high population of military (all five branches within 25 miles!). At the same time, I have students who have lived in multiple countries, and I have students who have never seen the ocean that is 10 miles away.
My Project
Have YOU ever played with Magna Tiles? While teaching STEM lessons, I realized my students don't have enough time to BUILD things, and build they will! I will have lessons prepared to get them thinking outside the box to create different 2 and 3 dimensional objects.
My younger students will practice making shapes and patterns. They will have constraints that challenge and excite them.
Mancala is a traditional game that will assist my students with simple math and thinking ahead several turns. They will develop critical thinking skills and learn teamwork as well as patience.
Blockus will challenge my students to think outside the box and help them with spatial reasoning. Like Mandala, they will develop and implement critical thinking skills to work ahead in their minds before placing pieces.
Dominos will be used with my younger students to help them learn numbers, patterns, and matching. They will learn to work together and on their own, developing independent team working skills.
As mentioned before, my school is technology rich.
However, the technology we have was provided on a grant, so it's not reoccurring.
My students need new and exciting games that encourage their learning and curiosity. Technology is wonderful to have in a classroom, but my students need to learn skills that require them to work together, face to face. I want them to look forward to library center days, be excited to do math, build cool things, and work with their friends in class.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Choate and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.