Smartboard Games!

Okay. I'm the first Luddite to say that kids are oversaturated with technology - I'm worried about the long-term repercussions of tons of screen time and individualized devices, I hate when young kids are stuck completing online remediation when their peers get to do an enrichment activity.

However. SMARTBOARD GAMES. Y'all. Get on board. Creating themed, standards-aligned Smartboard games is one of my favorite things. (Along with raindrops on roses and smashing the kyriarchy.)

I've done this throughout the year, and last, but this past unit - Hábitats - seemed like a great way to showcase a few different types of games: counting, sorting, and syllable segmentation.

 First: la tundra. This was obviously a teacher-mediated activity - for the most part, my students don't know numerals yet - but a very fun one. The penguin on the iceberg is an "Infinite Clone," which means that each time students try to move it another penguin appears. That way each student could slide the penguin down the iceberg, plop them in the water, and count with the group. I would move the corresponding numeral in the "Hay _______ pingüinos" space.

Next was la Selva, and definitely my favorite game - at least aesthetically speaking! This was introduced in large group and then became an independent play option during centers. Students touch one of the orchids, which I programmed to say the name of the bird segmented into syllables: "quet-zal," "tu-cán," o "co-li-brí." They would then fly the corresponding bird over to its flower.

This next one is a simplified (for independent play) version of los pingüinos. Like in the tundra game, the scallop shell is an "Infinite Clone." So, as students touch the original and move the clones, the beach quickly fills with shells. Students can count the resulting number.

  For this last one, I was so totally thrilled with my littles. They could do it! Sure, it was the culminating week of a six-week study, we had a corresponding book I had created that we read and they got personal copies to illustrate and annotate at home, and students practiced by playing with the same animals in their individual habitats on previous Smartboard Notebook pages... but still! I was mad impressed. They chided the creatures, saying things like "Tenemos que ayudarte" y "Ay, no, estrella de mar, tú no perteneces allí" y "¡Chango, vete a la selva!"

I couldn't recommend it more highly. It is ESPECIALLY cool because there is an app for iPads wherein you can download the Smartboard Notebook technology - for free! So, if I want to do a small group / one-on-one session with any of these games, I just throw it in my DropBox, move it over, and open it on my tablet. ¡Precioso!

Hasta pronto ~

**And as a note, I hope to upload my games on the Smartboard Exchange; the website was having trouble the time I tried it, so I'll have to attempt again. Until then, I am happy to share any of these games! Claro que compartiré cualquier de estoso juegos, si alguien tiene interés.**

Historias del Juego: LET THEM PLAY!

My afternoon class is, in a word, tremenda. (Es un salón de diéciseis niños de tres añitos.) There are hitters and screamers and biters, and about four classroom-circuit sprinters. For storytime circle, I divide the class into two or three homogeneous groupings and pull them during play time. Whole group is... well, it's utter chaos. As there are at least three children who need one-on-one assistance at any given time, it's simply not tenable. (A whole other post is how I am trying to stop imposing my prideful adult will of "what they should do" onto them; they are showing me very clearly where they are, and how they work best. )

The one time we do a full storytime + activity circle a week is when we have our fabulous SLP and OT in the class with us for half an hour. With four adults, it's almost close to manageable. A couple of weeks ago, after such a circle of kids rolling around and chewing on their shoes and jumping on chairs, we went outside and then came in for centers play.

And this selfsame group of kids transformed. Esos traviesos se transformaron. I took the following pictures within seven minutes. (Please marvel at their sophistication of play, their wonderful imaginations, and my ability to avoid faces.)

V. was pretending to text with an old cellphone. She also was singing to her baby, whom I helped 'swaddle' in a ripped skirt. She later joined friends at the table and they had a tea party with plastic sandwiches and very real water.

These two boys, B. & Y., were doing what they do every choice time -- engaging in elaborate dollhouse play. The dolls have names, go about their day (including fighting frequently with large snakes who invade their parlor), and they have excellent interior design skills.

Here are the magnatile engineers! There were steeples and hexagons and six-pointed stars; when the afternoon sun pours through the window, the students watch how the light seeps through the colored shapes.

Here are two of my girls, Y. and A., listening to New Mexican music and dancing up a storm. Y. has a pirate vest and top on, A. has Princess Jasmine pants and a bouquet of poppies, and they are dipping and swinging each other.

X. is quite the artist. Making Valentines was so popular that I left a bin of hearts and stickers, and they're still in heavy rotation. Note especially the pre-writing at the top and the beveled edges. 

And last, but certainly not least, here are my entomologists! X. and D. As they reported: "Somos esposos y estamos estudiando estos insectitos y arañas."







This is how kids learn. Full stop.
Así aprenden los niños. Y ya.

Types of play: all 16. (exceptions perhaps for Mastery Play and Deep Play)

Hasta pronto ~