Time to the hour and half hour {Spot It & Steal It}

With new year's eve creeping up, I thought it would be the perfect time to introduce the concept of time to my lil Cinnabun. He has been showing an interest in watches and telling time, so I figure... why not nurture his interest. Plus, since new years is all about watching the clock strike 12, it just seemed like perfect TIMING ;)

My son loves playing card games so I knew that he would enjoy my new TIME Spot It & Steal It game. The interactive element of the game is just what he needs - he is not into boring worksheets!! This pack comes with hour and half hour cards!

Yesterday we were with the fam so my lil man got to play the game with his cousins! I love how they were learning without even realizing it!!

Here's how to play in pairs: Lay out all the "picture cards" and take turns reading the "spot it" cards. Reading the cards allows kids to practice reading the time in different ways. I have included "spot it" cards that are written in word form and digital form.

Whoever spots the "picture card" that corresponds with the "spot it" card can SPOT IT (or in this case, SWAT it!) & STEAL it!!

You can put this little spin on any of my Spot It & Steal It games if you'd rather have students use the cards in pairs versus groups!! All you need is a fly swatter!

I left my swatters at school so I made my own with a spatula and yogurt lid! I just inserted the paper into the lid and voila - homemade Time Spot It & Steal It swatter done! I actually like it better than a boring ol' fly swatter... so it all worked out!

You can download the template for free HERE.

Later, my nephew wanted to join so we changed the set up to allow for more players.

In this set-up, each kid gets 2-4 cards (depending on how many players) and they take turns reading the "spot it" cards.  Again, if you spot it, you can steal it! The player with the most cards wins!!

You can save your card from being stolen by slapping your card before anyone can steal it!! This element of the game really forces everyone to pay attention! It also increases the FUN factor!

If you want to use this game in your classroom, you can use it in the ways mentioned above (in pairs or small groups)... but you can also play as a class. Just combine a couple of the centres in the pack (there are 4 centre options) to play as a class.

CLICK HERE TO GET THIS GAME! 

SPICE UP Your Math Vocab & SWEETEN UP Your Graphing!

Mmm... chocolate!!

I. LOVE. CHOCOLATE! I seriously think I overdosed on treats this week!  The worst part of this confession? Each night after my boy went to bed...I would sneak into his bag of treats to get my sugar fix.  This is what a chocolate addiction does to a person. You are probably thinking,"Stealing treats from a little child? How dare you?". Well technically I worked just as hard to get those treats... I did take him trick-or-treating ...in the RAIN!! So, I think I deserved each and every moment of those endorphin releasing highs!!!

On Monday, my grade 2's couldn't stop talking about all the fun they had trick-or-treating. So, as any teacher would... I made the most of their post-Halloween excitement and planned a couple of lessons around it.  We did a fun writing activity (which I will have to blog about later) as well as some graphing.

I got my munchkins to bring in some of their Halloween candy and we allowed these sugary treats to make a guest appearance in our math lesson ;)  Yes, that's how you SWEETEN UP your graphing!

Prior to Sorting and Graphing:

First, we reviewed some features of a graph and discussed important graphing vocabulary.

Building math vocabulary is just as important as building the critical thinking skills needed to succeed in math.  I have come up with a fun way to do that this year.

I use my Spot It & Steal It games which my kiddos just LOVE!! The best part? The game cards for my graphing game can do double duty and serve as a WORD WALL!!!

Before they play the game, they need to get familiar with the graphing terms. I posted up some of the bright picture cards (which are from the game) and the class had to figure out which words matched the pictures.  I will introduce more math vocabulary in the coming weeks, but for our first lesson, we just reviewed the basics...

Although we weren't working on a pictograph (or 'picture graph' depending on where you're from) we added it to the word wall because it came up in our discussion.  We talked about why a pictograph might be more feasible in day to day life (versus a concrete graph). For example, using real objects might not be a practical way to represent data in everyday life but using pictures to represent real objects is! Our graphing activity will be a nice segue into pictographs, so I figured, why not review the word!

Putting It In Action:

Some were better than others at planning their graph, BUT that's OK! I will use this info to guide my instruction over the next couple of weeks.  I will definitely have to review labeling and 1-1 correspondence with a few of them.

This little girl is helping her friend understand why his graph shouldn't go up to 15.

Wow! This graph impressed me! Although...after looking at it closely, I realized that even this student had troubles with 1-1 correspondence.  We will definitely add "1-1 correspondence" to our vocabulary (and word wall) next week! The great thing about the vocab cards is that it also serves to remind me of all the topics I need to cover!!!

Once my grade 2's are a bit more familiar with ALL the vocabulary cards, I will take them off the word wall and my kiddos will be able to play the Spot It & Steal It game! The game helps to keep important terms fresh in students' minds throughout the year! Plus, taking the words down frees up precious bulletin board real estate...so I can add my next set of math vocab words! (I will be creating more vocab cards/Spot It & Steal It games to cover all areas of math! )

How to Play: 

Each player places 3-4 picture cards out in front of them. Players take turns picking up a vocabulary card. The first person to SPOT the matching picture card yells STEAL and gets to keep the card!

If the card is in front of you, and you notice this before someone yells steal... you can SLAP the card so that NO ONE CAN STEAL IT!!! 

Kid-tested, super fun! I love these games :)