The long-anticipated day has finally come! My first-grade Grammar Games are HERE! And the best news is they’re on sale this week only! This is a growing bundle, so the price will go up as soon as I add more games. Once you’ve reviewed the link above, come back to this post for tips on introducing Grammar Games in your classroom.
Want to take a look at other grade levels available in my Math Games and Grammar Games? These links take you to all of the grade levels I currently have in my store. Don’t see your grade? Don’t worry! I promise that more games are in the works and will be up soon.
How to Introduce Grammar Games
You’ve bought the games, and now you’re wondering how to use them in your classroom. Let me help!
Day 1:
When introducing Grammar Games, I start by explicitly reading the rules to my students. As a part of those rules, we discuss what things we should and shouldn’t do while playing Grammar Games. So that we don’t forget the rules, we create an anchor chart together. The anchor chart is a T chart with one side dedicated to things we should do and the other side dedicated to things we shouldn’t do.
As we’re creating this chart, we stop to model what each behavior looks like, which, as you can probably imagine, ends up being a fun, silly time. I recommend displaying this chart so students can easily see it while playing.
We also model and discuss how to get the games, find a spot, and clean up the materials.
Days 2:
The following day, we practiced playing the board game as a whole group with partners. I may stretch practicing to last the entire first week, depending on how well my students understand the games and how to play. With my second graders, we played as a whole group once, and they instantly got it. They did a great job, and we didn’t need to practice for multiple days.
It just depends on your students!
If you don’t allow your students to practice with partners during whole group time, you’ll find that when you send students into centers to play the games, they may not know what to do. That’s because they haven’t had enough practice.
For example, before I knew how to introduce the games properly, I had sent my students to centers to play. While they were playing, I looked back and realized that one of my students was staring into space the entire time. He was completely lost!
I had to stop centers and reintroduce the game and how to play it. Pay attention. If your students aren’t engaged or playing correctly, they need to practice how to play again.
If you’re wondering what I mean by playing as a whole group with partners, I mean that pairs will have their own gameboard, but they will play during whole group time, which is supervised by you.
Day 3-ish:
Once your students understand how to play the Grammar Games board game, you’ll move to this next step then (it doesn’t necessarily have to be on day three.) It’s time for centers! Yay! Although there are other ways to use Grammar Games in my classroom, it’s important to note that we only use the board game for centers.
I’ve found that playing the other games in whole or teacher-led small groups is best. Send your students to centers and let them get to playing!
Want tips on how to play them? I go into detail here in the post “How to Play Math and Grammar Games.”
Click here if you’d like to try a free grammar game to see what it’s like!
Tips for Introducing Math and Grammar Games
Start with the Grade Below
When introducing a new skill or topic, don’t start with the grade level you’re teaching. For example, if you teach second grade, introduce the topic using the first-grade game.
Here’s why. In math especially, there are stepping stones in each grade level, especially with numbers and base ten concepts. There’s an order in these stepping stones that need to be taught, and students need to have a strong knowledge of each before moving to the next.
For example, if you’re teaching place value to your second graders, make sure your students have a strong grasp on first-grade place value first. If not, you need to fill in any of those gaps. I tell you this because the easier the game is for your students, the more engaged and confident they will be.
That’s why starting with a grade level below what your students are learning is really important.
As you introduce the topic, in this case, second-grade place value, you can introduce the new game. I have my students mix the first and second-grade place value games together.
Practicing both below and on grade level solidifies their skills, builds their confidence, and makes learning fun.
Use Them for Review
If we have a test coming up, I like to use Math and Grammar Games to help them with a review. I have this six photo box organizer container where I store six Grammar Games. I use these games for whatever skill we’re about to take a test on. When we have a test, I tell my students that they need to review the topics in the box, and they do! Sometimes we will also do a whole class review in pairs.
Ready to give Grammar Games a try? My nouns Grammar Game is perfect for back to school. Click here to download the freebie and try it in your classroom.
The details on math and grammar games just keep coming! Check out my post next week, telling you when to play Math and Grammar games.
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