January always brings the promise of new opportunities and adventures, although I always feel a bit of a let down after the fun and excitement of the Holidays, I try to focus on things I want to accomplish in the new year. I am not good at resolutions, well I take that back, I am great at making them but not so good at following through. This blog is part of what I am looking forward to accomplishing this year. I want to add new content on a regular basis, but it is so easy to get caught up in other activities and forget. So for now I am going to focus on one new post per week and see how that goes. I have also decided to try to stick to a theme because I need to have a focus for my posts. So I am going with Math Mondays and Fun Fridays! I may not post every Monday and Friday but I will do my best to alternate and provide a wide range of resources.
Since today is Friday I will start the new year off with a fun site I found called Game Goo, (even the name sounds kinda fun.) Game Goo has a variety of educational games that build literacy skills for elementary students. The games are broken down into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, instead of by grade levels. Scrolling over the name or icon for the game will show what skill it targets. The games are colorful and fast paced with crazy characters and lots of sound effects. Each game begins with an introduction that demonstrates how to play, but is not too long, so students get into the action quickly. On the home page teachers and parents will find a description of each game along with a the Standards it addresses and the grade levels it targets.
While students are enjoying the silly characters and the challenge of successfully completing each level, they also build early reading and listening skills which are essential building block of literacy. The games can be used to help students learn or reinforce skills, and since the instructions are easy to follow, once students have reached the site they can work independently. Each level is short so the games are engaging and maintain the students interest. Try it out yourself and see if it something that you can use in your classroom.
My challenge to you as we begin the new year, is to try one new activity each month with your students. I know how hard that can be, especially with all the mandates we are trying to meet every day in our classrooms, but this is your opportunity to have some fun and spice up your lessons. Just remember the kids love to try new things so let them be your guide, they will surprise you with how much they know.
