[Edu] Games in the Classroom

Thu Apr 6 19:20:16 EDT 2006

Magi,

I think you have LOADS of possibilities with Yahtzee, as you can have your 
students, depending on their cognitive level, find different combinations, 
or even create or answer formula created with the dice . . . In fact, once 
they get used to the idea, you can bring in less familiar materials, like 10 
siders and so on . . .

I've been toying with Fluxx in the classroom lately (and have to write this 
up, darn it!). Using Stoner Fluxx worked so darn well in my Political 
Science class (Collegiate level), that I offered extra credit for students 
who want to create "Poli Sci Fluxx" in that class, and "Sociology Fluxx" in 
my Intro to Soc. sections.

Kristin, any chance of getting some incredible discount on Fluxx Blanks, or 
maybe offering Fluxx Blank Decks for teachers? I'm REALLY jazzed about using 
these for my Sociology class next year, and already have quite a few ideas . 
. . as do some of my students. I'm even considering a Journal article on 
them as an alternative to flash cards, for revision (studying - sorry, been 
using loads of UK Sociology notes with my students lately) purposes . . .

-Solomon

<DIV>
Dr. Solomon Davidoff
 
Professor/Inductor/Writer/Editor

 Assistant Professor Humanities, Social Sciences, and Management 
 Beatty Hall Wentworth Institute of Technology 550 Huntington 
Avenue Boston, MA 02115 Assistant Professor General 
Education/Broadcasting Faculty New England Institute of Art 10 
Brookline Place West Brookline, MA 02445 Assistant Professor of 
History Arts and Sciences Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and 
Health Sciences 179 Longwood Avenue Boston, MA 02115 Biology 
Instructor Secular Studies Mesivta High School of Greater 
Boston&nbsp; 34&nbsp;Sparhawk Street Brighton, MA 02135
 Cel - 617-953-4337 doctordavidoff at hotmail.com</DIV></html>

>From: "Magi D. Shepley" <magid at concentric.net>
>Reply-To: Looney Labs Education Discussion List <edu at lists.looneylabs.com>
>To: Looney Labs Education Discussion List <edu at lists.looneylabs.com>
>Subject: Re: [Edu] Games in the Classroom
>Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2006 13:51:33 -0400
>
>Sounds interesting...  Certainly something that would be worth looking at. 
>:)  I guess, though, that I wasn't specific enough.  I was looking for 
>things that would work with the games that the kids already know and 
>enjoy... like Uno, Monopoly, Yahtzee, etc... but that could be done without 
>actually having to play the game.
>
>Magi
>
>Kate Jones wrote:
>
>>Hi, Magi, Kristin and all the rabbits,
>>
>>There are a few other games I know of that may help with doing math in a 
>>fun
>>way. Assuming you want numbers with which to do arithmetic operations (as
>>compared to most of the Kadon products that deal with shapes), you might 
>>try
>>these:
>>
>>*  Six Disks (Kadon) - www.gamepuzzles.com/histfun2.htm#SD *  Lucky Sevens 
>>(Games Above Board) - www.gamepuzzles.com/msamuel.htm#MSL *  Take a Number 
>>(soon to be released by Kadon as a supplement to Leap)
>>*  Leap (Kadon)- www.gamepuzzles.com/abstrct2.htm#LP *  Shut the Box 
>>(sometimes called Flip Out and other titles)
>>*  Muggins
>>
>>Shut the Box involves rolling two dice and using the two numbers to come 
>>up
>>with sums or digits from 1 to 12, with flippers to flip over with each
>>number obtained. In Muggins, roll 3 dice and manipulate the three numbers 
>>by
>>any math operations to get totals of from 1 on up. You can find these
>>through Google.
>>
>>In Leap, place number disks from 1 through 36 by turns on a 6x6 grid to 
>>form
>>equations, criss-cross fashion like Scrabble with numbers. Six Disks
>>(numbers 1 through 6) and Lucky Sevens (coasters numbered 1 through 7) 
>>have
>>dozens of shapes to solve by arranging the numbers to produce either all
>>same sums, like a magic square, or all different but consecutive sums for
>>the rows in the figure.
>>
>>In Take a Number, there are 25 different themes using numbers 1 through 25
>>in a variety of ways on a 5x5 grid. Take a Number is a supplement to Leap,
>>played with the same equipment. It can be played by one, two, or teams of
>>players.
>>
>>Magi, send me your snailmail address and I will mail you a complimentary
>>copy of the Take a Number book, to see whether it would work for what you
>>are requesting for your classroom. If you have number tokens from 1 
>>through
>>25, and can make a 5x5 grid, you can try out all the activities in this
>>book.
>>
>>-- Kate Jones
>>Kadon Enterprises, Inc.
>>www.gamepuzzles.com
>>(Also a Looney Labs Mad Lab Rabbit)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: edu-bounces at lists.looneylabs.com
>>[mailto:edu-bounces at lists.looneylabs.com] On Behalf Of Magi D. Shepley
>>Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 8:30 PM
>>To: Education list
>>Subject: [Edu] Games in the Classroom
>>
>>I have noticed that my students infinitely prefer playing games over doing 
>>any other type of work, except perhaps cooking activities.  In the past, 
>>I've always used ordinary commercial games like Monopoly, Yahtzee, 
>>Dominoes etc, for doing math.  I've also used Uno...  I have a set of 
>>"boards" with the 4 arirthmetic operations on them (1 on each card).  The 
>>instructions tell the students to draw one Uno card and place it in the 
>>'1' box, and then repeat, putting the 2nd card in the other box.  They 
>>also get a worksheet with a table...  one number in one cell, 2nd in 
>>another cell, operation in the middle, and the answer.
>>We use the standard Uno scoring for word cards (Reverse, etc are 20, Wild 
>>cards are 50).  The kids LOVE it...
>>
>>Does anybody know, or have you seen, similar things?  The other favorite 
>>in the classroom is Monopoly.  Scrabble isn't far behind, and Fluxx 
>>(though, surprisingly, Family Fluxx was not the hit with the kids I 
>>thought it would be!).
>>
>>I would love to find some Monopoly math that doesn't involve actually 
>>playing the game.  I am aware of the Trend publication products that have 
>>Monopoly themed workbooks... but they aren't really MONOPOLY!  The books 
>>use the characters, but that is about as far as it goes.
>>
>>I do teach kids with cognitive impairments (mental retardation), emotional 
>>disturbance, speech language impairment, etc.  The beauty of the Uno math 
>>is that the kids can do it independently... and unless we're doing a group 
>>activity, I usually have the kids all working on different things because 
>>levels are so different.  And, of course, we're ALWAYS trying to encourage 
>>independent work and asking for help when appropriate.
>>
>>Magi
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>>
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