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.**