Take it to Your Seat

I am currently in the process of making the Math version for grades 3-4 of these "Take it to Your Seat" games for the third grade teachers I work with. Although pretty time consuming to make initially (great activity for a parent volunteer or classroom helper!), I love having these types of activities on hand for students to use at their seats for some independent work that is a little more fun and interactive than plain old paper and pencil worksheets.

I have both the Phonics K-1 and the Grade 1 Math versions and used them both in my classroom last year. Sometimes I would do a game day where students would all be working on different games and other time students could select the games when they finished work early or had extra time.

The games are designed in color and are on perforated sheets which make them easy to tear out of the book. The directions are simple and the games are really cute and fun. It is different depending on which set you get, but the ones I have required gift bags and manilla envelopes as the containers for the game pages and pieces. The math ones I am working on now require pocket folders. A cute colorful image with the name of the game is laminated and glued to the front of the bag/folder/envelope and the directions are laminate and glued to the back. Inside the bag/folder/envelope the students will find all the materials required to play the games and several copies of the student worksheet. I like the fact that these games require students to document the work they did rather than just play a game and not be accountable for the content. When my students would play, I would have them turn in their worksheet so I could make sure they were solid on the concept. I have other games that don't have that built in accountability and I always felt like my students could be quite unproductive while working on them. These games also store quite easily because of the materials used. I have other games that use file folders and the pieces always fall out. I found that the items stayed inside the manilla folder and gift bags and things did not get lost as frequently. Once laminated, the pieces tend to stay in good condition as well for many years of use.

Another cool aspect about these games is that they are available for many different subject areas and grade levels. If I had struggling students, I could purchase the games meant for a lower grade, or if I had some high flyers, I could purchase math or science games geared towards more advanced level students. They can be a great way to add some modifications to a curriculum to build in extra practice or challenges for students who need either one!