It's a (sight word) Zoo In HERE!

Back story:
I bought some clip art about 6 months ago that has been sitting quietly in my Dropbox (if you don't have an account yet, you NEED one. Click HERE and sign up NOW! Free on-line storage that you can access anywhere. If you use the link we BOTH get extra FREE storage- WAHOO!).
I have really enjoyed making up sight word games for my 6th graders to use with our first grade buddies. So far we have decorated trees, made cookies, had snowball fights, and played in the leaves. All of these games have met great success.

One of my favorite places to take my kids is the zoo. For a field trip, we take our 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to the state zoo once every three years. We just went this past fall. It was super fun. My wife was even able to come as a chaperon for my daughter's 4th grade class.

Nothing beats seeing the smiles that cross children's faces as they see big and small "wild" animals for the first time. Here is a picture of my lovely wife and beautiful daughter. It was so fun to be there with both of them.

Now, the Story!
This got me to thinking about how to take something I love, some clip art that I have really, really, really wanted to use for quite some time, and make a game that would be engaging and fun for our first grade buddies.

I decided to make a zoo game. I went through about 10 revisions before I settled on the final format. I wanted something a little different from what I had already made. I also wanted to incorporate more than just sight word skills, yet do it in subtle ways.

Thus I made the game with math (simple) in mind and critical thinking. For example, students must earn 5 zoo tokens (sight word cards) before they can trade them for an animal card. I liked this part because students would be working with a friendly number of cards. They would also be practicing simple addition and subtraction skills as they added cards to their pile and then counted out and subtracted the cards to trade in. I know these are very low level math skills, but remember, I wanted the focus on reading with SUBTLE emphasis on other skills.

Students are also forced to think critically when faced with an "escaped" animal card or when choosing an animal card when they trade in their zoo tokens. They must ensure it is not already a card they have. This game also teaches social and interaction skills more so than the other games I have thus made.

Below are some snapshots of my kiddos playing it. My 3-year old son LOVED this game. We had to help with the words, but he could count out his 5 cards and trade them. He loved collecting the animals and cheered each time he earned one.

My kindergartner could read a fair amount of the sight words and those he couldn't read he had to spell. He loved to collect lots of cards and then trade them in for several animals at once. It was fun to watch him count out the cards like cash and trade them in.

I created a mat for the cards to be stored on. It worked out pretty well. I would not suggest using all 100 words for the first few games that students play. It was WAY too many cards out at once. Because the cards are recycled back in during the game, 25-50 cards would be way plenty to start out.

My 4th graders and 2nd grader were a "team" because the game is designed for four players and my 3 year-old insisted that I play too. They had a good time and had some serious discussion on strategies about when to use token cards and what animals to choose.

I was very pleased with how this turned out. I know that it will be a family favorite for months to come. I hope that you might want to adopt this zoo for your kiddos too!

Have a Zoo-ish Kind of Day!
-MrHughes :0)

Click HERE to learn more or click on the picture below.

LET THE SNOWBALL (sight word) FIGHT BEGIN (and it's school approved!)

Okay,
So my 6th grade students ask every year why they can't throw snowballs at school, and every year I have to explain that it is a rule of the school and we follow it. They moan and complain and then we move on with our lives (often with kids getting school write-ups for throwing them anyways).

Well, this year, my kindergartner has asked everyday since it has snowed if we could have a snowball fight. Sadly, during school hours I had to tell him that we couldn't. I keep thinking that I could take him out when we get home from school and have a few minutes of fun. However, by the time I would get home from school, it was too dark and cold to go outside (and he has been sick as it is).

So, I thought and thought about what I could do to have a snowball fight with my son. The idea hit me like a cold snowball in the face... WHY NOT MAKE A SIGHT WORD GAME THAT WAS BASED ON A SNOWBALL FIGHT? This would allow my son to practice his sight words/alphabet (he spells the ones he can't read) AND have that needed snowball fight.

I set to work yesterday and after about 4 hours had a game that I felt would "hit the spot". I love how it turned out and he (and his brothers and sisters) have loved playing it. Even my 12 year old enjoys the game. He keeps asking me to make a version with "big kid" words. Something to think about, however I don't know if many middle school teachers are going to have time/desire to play vocabulary games. This game might be an exception where it could be played in teams.

Anyways, I knew that my son would want the game to have some twists, so I added "miss" cards and "thaw" cards that would allow for alternate ways to play the game. Here is how it looks in action:

This game may not be exactly like being out in the crisp winter air with snow flying in all directions, but, this IS a game that I know my kids will play again and again AND it is school approved. I won't have to send any of my 6th graders or their 1st grade reading buddies to the office for being part of THIS snowball fight!

Happy "Fighting" and learning!
-MrHughes



P.S. If you would like to take a peek at the game, you can click HERE or click on the picture below.

Trimming the Tree (with Sight Words)

Greetings Dear Friends,
I hope that this finds you well and gearing up for the holiday season. Putting up the tree is one of my favorite activities. I love how the tree goes through different stages. The tree, then the lights.

 Then the topper (an angel in our house). This is my beautiful wife (the mastermind behind my Mystery Sight Word Pictures) adding some of the more delicate decorations.

 The the kids take over and go crazy hanging decorations like a whirlwind!

As my family put up the tree this year, it made me think about how much I loved decorating as a child. The wonder and awe of adding ornament after ornament to the tree until it was a glowing, eye-catching masterpiece. I wondered how I could capture even a tiny part of the "magic" in a sight word game for my 6th grader's reading buddies.

This is what I came up with:

It was the closest thing I could think up with out actually setting up a tree and having them hang decorations on it with sight words written on them (which DID cross my mind.. ha ha). In the game, up to four students have a tree mat with spaces that must be filled out. Then students take turns drawing a card. If they read the word correctly (it uses Fry's first 100 words), they put the picture on a matching space. If they draw a card that has a picture with spaces that are all covered, they just layer the card on top of a matching picture.
The goal? To "trim" the tree first.

After I made the game, I had my own kids play (5 years-12 years). I wasn't sure they were going to enjoy it. Boy was I WRONG!

I have to say, that even my kindergartener, who can't read all the words yet, LOVES this game. For the words he can't read, he SPELLS them. If he says all the letters correctly, he get to keep the card.

I feel that I have captured the fun and magic of "trimming" a tree while getting kids to practice their sight words.

Check it out for YOUR kiddos by clicking on the picture below.

Cheers!
-MrHughes