27 mars – clues

Today I had a lot of different slices in my head, but I can’t seem to get any of them out today because I’m excited about something else.

Three of my fifth grade classes have been working on rooms in the house, hobbies, and family. vocabulary in English. These classes are really motivated and their classroom teachers do a lot of reinforcement of my activities on days when I’m not there, so their level is really high. I decided to try an activity that is a bit more difficult than our standard fare of flashcard games and charades.

Tomorrow we are playing CLUE! It was always one of my favorite board games growing up, enamored of Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown as I was. I always wanted to play be Professor Plum. My sister was usually Madam Scarlet, and if I remember correctly, I believe my dad often played as Colonel Mustard.

Tomorrow, we won’t have the same colorful characters. I’ve modified the game to include the vocabulary we’ve been working on all year long. Instead of wondering if Mrs. White killed Mr. Body in the Ballroom with the Lead Pipe, we will ask if Grandmother is dancing in the living room or if Brother is playing football in the bedroom.

I’m really looking forward to trying out this more complex game tomorrow. My students worked hard the past few weeks to learn more grammar than I thought they’d be capable of in elementary school. My goal for this quarter has been to work towards longer term projects rather than simply teaching vocab, playing hangman and telephone, and then moving on to the next subject. This game definitely fits the bill. As simple as it is, it’s stretched both me and my students. I’ve created my own game board, my own cards, everything! All that’s left is to print and laminate tomorrow morning, and then PLAY!!!

If you’d like to play too, check out my materials here!  ❂

 

Slice of Life is a daily writing challenge during the month of March hosted by Two Writing Teachers. Visit their blog for more information about the challenge and for advice and ideas about how to participate.