We Are Teachers Games

WEBSITE ↬ We Are Teachers Games

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Such a fun concept! We Are Teachers has created a page on their site where they share out place with fun brain boosts and other challenges that teachers can use in their classroom. They are building this out, so keep an eye out for new games to added!   

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this for brain breaks, fast finishers, or morning work. 

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Number Hive

WEBSITE ↬ Number Hive

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

CONTENT ↬ math

GRADE LEVELS ↬ 3 & up

I'm impressed! 100% a game format, Number Hive is going to appeal to your students. And it will 100% force your students to think about math and apply math. It's focus is on number relationships, number operations and multiplication facts. 

If you teach math, you will definitely want to check this out ... if for no other reason than the free printables where you can try it out for free.

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this exactly how it's presented - whole class, individual students, as homework, as a game, digitally or print. So many options and depending on your budget, you could gain insights with their analytics. 

*** Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. Interested? Sign up here!  ***

Puzzlemaker!

WEBSITE ↬ Puzzlemaker!

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Puzzles might not be everyone's idea of high-impact learning, but they sure can be fun little breaks for all ages. I also believe they push a person to use their brain in a different way, so as long as it's not the only method of learning, puzzles can be great additions to your classroom. Discovery Education shares this FREE website with the ability to make 10 different types of puzzles. 

HOW CAN TEACHERS USE THIS RESOURCE?

I can see teachers using this to create fun activities for students. Brain breaks - teasers - revealing a special surprise - fast finisher activities - puzzles can be used for many reasons in classrooms of all ages. Maybe even allow students to help create them for other students.

*** Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. Interested? Sign up here!  ***

Wheel of Fortune!

WEBSITE ↬ Wheel Fortune Slides & Jamboard Walkthrough YouTube video

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 2 & up

I found this gem in one of my email groups where educators shared various classroom game ideas. I'd not heard of a Wheel of Fortune game, so I was intrigued and checked it out. The video helps demonstrate how to do this with your students and how easy it is! 

You can play a game tomorrow with your students!

Be sure to give the shout outs to the creator: Michelle Manning - @ManningTechTalk on Twitter. She has also shared out this Google Drive folder that contains instructions.

*** Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. Interested? Sign up here!  *** 

Wheel of Names

WEBSITE ↬ Wheel of Names

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

As a classroom teacher, I was always looking for a "better" way to call on students - sometimes so prevent the same student from answering, sometimes to encourage participation, but most often because it was just fun. I have found a super fun - and super easy - way to do this in YOUR classroom with "Wheel of Names"!

Type or copy/paste a list of your students names in the box and voila! ....... AND it's a click to spin with a fun way to share the winner! This is one you will DEFINITELY use today. 

But don't stop there - you could use this wheel for anything. Classroom jobs? Review questions? Writing prompts? Math facts? 

*** Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. Interested? Sign up here!  ***

Toy Theater

WEBSITE ↬ Toy Theater

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

CONTENT ↬ any & all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I am very impressed with this website!  Not only does it provide some fun and educational games for students, there are tools for teachers to use in their classrooms, too! Check out my quick overview video below as I share just a couple of fun ways I could see teachers and students using Toy Theater in the classroom.

I'm a puzzle

WEBSITE ↬ I'm a puzzle

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ any/all - **Caution** It does have a decent number of ads on its site; some school filters might block it.

I have been looking for this kind of a resource for a SUPER long time and honestly didn't think it existed! I'm pretty pumped! You can use images they already have or you can import your own. There are multiple different kinds of designs for your pieces, as well being able to vary the level of difficulty and type of puzzle. So fun!

educandy

WEBSITE ↬ Educandy

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades preK - 4

Educandy is a cute little site that allows teachers to create review games and share them with their students. When you refresh the link, a new version appears, allowing for endless practice & fun. I do feel it is geared - visually - toward younger students, I do believe you could use it with older students but you'd have to prep them to know it will look more juvenile.

There are several different games to play and each has a demo you can try out - I had fun checking them out. (I struggled on the one with the French animal crossword puzzle!) I did create a word search with a student for a project of hers and it not only gave her a crossword, but after adding in her words, it created several puzzles based on those words. Excellent!

99math

WEBSITE ↬ 99math

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ math

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 1-8

I know timed tests aren't everyones favorite thing, and in no way am I saying they are always appropriate, but some students do like them and thrive with them (I can say this because I was one of those students - but I have 2 daughters who were utterly miserable when they had to take them.)

Gamification is a great element for any classroom to incorporate when done correctly. Healthy competition. This site allows teachers to quickly create games where students can practice and improve on their math skills. And it doesn't have to be all done IN class ... there is the ability to assign it and students can complete it in their own time. Teachers can get some pretty nice data from it.

Did I mention it's free? Yep!

There are so many topics to choose from - it's not just adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing. You can also choose from:

• percentages
• rounding
• number lines
• order of operations
• conversion
• comparing decimals
• conversion of fractions
• ... and more!

AND then you have options after you make your selection. WoW!

If you like this resource, be sure to check out the other resources like it tagged below.

Random name picker - Google Classroom

VIDEO ↬ How to Select Students Randomly on Google Classroom (Manage Participation Easy!)

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any & all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

A fellow educator I connected with over the summer, Mary, shared this video with me in December. She knows I'm a big fan of Google Classroom. This video, created by "Teach Smart With Fay" on YouTube, shows how to use the random name picker on the Google Classroom app.

What an incredibly easy way to randomly pick students ... and this can be done whether you are in-person, hybrid or remotely. LOVE it!

Thank you, Mary for sharing!

If you like this resource, be sure to check out the other resources like it tagged below.

"Mousing Around"

WEBSITE ↬ Mousercise!

AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ mouse/trackpad practice

GRADE LEVELS ↬ our youngest learners to grade 3-ish?

I am excited about this website! A fun way to practice and learn how to use a mouse or a trackpad.

This is a great site to share with your students for extra practice - and be sure to share it with parents for when they are at home, too!

If you like this resource, be sure to check out the other resources like it tagged below.

Dice Thrower (x2!)

WEBSITE ↬ Dice Thrower Extension ; 

Dice Thrower website

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers; possibly students

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

I saw a teacher share on Twitter how she had a die she could roll on a Google Slide & I was intrigued! How on earth?!?! Someone else beat me to the punch on asking how it was possible. And I discovered the "Dice Thrower Extension"! WOW!

Especially in the world of virtual learning, this can be a very useful extension to have at your finger tips. When I did a little more digging, I found that it is not only an extension, it also has a website you can go to and roll the die, too. Use it during a math lesson ... to play a game ... to chose activities ... whatever you can dream up. And make sure to let students get in on the fun, too!

Multiplication & Division Practice Digitally

WEBSITE ↬ Multiply and Divide Practice

AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ math

GRADE LEVELS ↬ grades 3 & up

I used Flippity.net a handful of years ago to create digital flashcards for my oldest daughter. I shared them out and had positive response. One day a 3rd grade girl asked if I had created anything for division, so I created the division one.

Recently, I've felt that they needed to come together and have better navigation, so I've embedded them on this website: 

https://sites.google.com/techyoucando.com/timesanddivide/home

Please share with your colleagues, students and their families. 

Digital Breakouts

WEBSITES ↬ Breakout EDU "Fun at Home" & CoffeyITRT Digital Breakouts
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers, students, & families

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ any/all

As we write & create lessons for our students, don't forget about adding in a little fun while stretching your students brains. (And the best part? Families can do this together!) And this isn't meant solely for time at home - playing them IN school can also be very rewarding!

I have long been a fan of digital breakouts in connection with content. But they require a bit of thinking to plan and create. (And WELL worth the time!) Today I have 2 excellent sites with ready-to-go digital breakouts that you can share with your students & their families. I know that these are games & have the goal of being "fun" ... and that's very true! But they also require a heavy dose of problem solving and critical thinking.

Breakout EDU Fun at Home has the site broken down by grade levels, making it easy for you to find age-appropriate games to gear your students and families toward.

Tonya Coffey has her site also easily organized into categories. Love them both!!!


*** BONUS ***

Want to make your own, but you feeling intimidated? Check out Flippity.net's "Flippity Scavenger Hunt" template. Make a copy, and replace the demo's questions & answers, publish to the web, and then share the link! It's a super fun way to review content or practice knowledge.

Semantris: A Word Association Game

WEBSITE ↬ https://research.google.com/semantris
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers & students

CONTENT ↬ ELA

GRADE LEVELS ↬ 2nd grade and up

Oooo boy! This one is GOOD! Remember the game Tetris? I loved that game when I was a kid ... my family didn't have one, but my cousin did and when I got to play it, I had such fun! Maybe because it was the only "video game" I was allowed to play? No ... it was FUN!

I heard about this game on the Shukes & Giff podcast, Season 2, Episode 11. Jen Giffin was sharing this and warned that it is addictive ... so of course I HAD to check it out ... and she wasn't wrong! Addictive and challenging and fun all wrapped into one!

Now, it's not just a game. It's a strategic word association game that challenges the player to come up with words related to the ones on the screen. The better you make your association, the easier it is for Google's AI (artificial intelligence) to match to the block. The more blocks you can remove the better your score.

Can/should students play this? Sure! I have shared this with numerous adults but also with a class of 4th graders. We played one round together - scored 2400 - and then they paired up or played on their own. It was awesome! They were working together and really working hard to beat our class score and some did! I think the highest score in the 30 minutes we played was 4000! Wow! Looking to build vocabulary? Spelling can also be practiced in a non-traditional way, too, if you think about it. If Google's AI doesn't understand what you type, it may not be able to identify a block to remove.

Don't hesitate ... try this out! How high can you score?

Digital Multiplication Facts

WEBSITE ↬ http://bit.ly/multiplicationfacttable

AUDIENCE ↬ students

CONTENT ↬ math

GRADE LEVELS ↬ 3rd & up

Do you teach math? Do you have a child of your own who is working on mastering multiplication facts? I have something for you!

I've got a 3rd grader myself as well as working in two elementary schools. Flashcards are great study tools, but not when you loose them! I made a digital option. Feel free to save the link as a bookmark, or share as a link in your LMS, and your students are never more than a click away from practicing their facts. No login or accounts required. Just share the link and let the multiplying begin!

*** Tip: send it out to your parents, too, so they can practice at home. 

It's built with using the FREE Google Sheets flashcard template I found on Flippity.net . I love this site!

And dare I say it might even be a little fun for them???

I wrote in more detail here ↬ Multiplication Your Students Can Do 

Gaming in the Classroom

HELP DOC → Gaming in the Classroom

The idea of games in the classroom isn't new. Games are great additions to any classroom. Games can introduce or support any content.

An Intro to Digital Breakouts

HELP DOC → An Intro to Digital Breakouts

Have you ever "broken out"? Learn how to turn this critical thinking game into a real classroom activity. You will be pleasantly surprised! I've written more details about digital breakouts on my other blog. Check it out HERE.  

I've written a more detailed blog HERE on "Tech You Can Do" as to how & why you'd utilize a digital breakout in your classroom.