Mrs. Christoff's Clues
September-October Enrichment Happenings
Grades 1-2 Language Arts
In the lower grade reading groups, we are focusing on creating words using word families, reviewing sight words for older students, and reading to comprehend what we read.
Some games that we play to incorporate these skills include:
- Kloo Catch the Bug Reading Game
- Scrabble Alphabet Soup
- Scrabble Slam
- Sight Word Splat
- Word Family Snap It Up
We will also be completing Word Ladders where the students change one letter to create a new word using the given clue.
Snap It Up Word Families
- This exciting, fast-paced card game provides kids with hard-hitting practice in reading skills
- Players pick and pass cards as fast as they can to spell words
Sight Word Splat
Scrabble Alphabet Scoop
- Fun twist on the classic word game features a pot for scooping out your letters to form words
Grades 3-8 Language Arts/Logic
In the upper grades Language Arts/Logic groups, we have been focusing on developing logic and problem solving skills using logic matrices, solving One-Hour Mysteries (Prufrock Press) using logic matrices and deductive reasoning.
Also new this year, we have been solving problems called Perplexors (logic problems without grids from Mindware).
And last but not least, we have been using analogies to expand our vocabulary and finish complex crossword puzzles.
Perplexors
One-Hour Mysteries
What better way to motivate critical thinking than with a whodunit? Skills include deductive reasoning, inferring, taking notes, organizing data, and analyzing evidence.
Analogy Crosswords
Grades 3-8 Math
In Math, we have been solving Math Perplexors (logic problems without grids from Mindware) utilizing math solutions to help solve the given problem.
We have learned to play Rummikub which incorporates putting numbers in a series and classifying them in groups. It involves higher level deductive and problem solving skills using Mathematics.
We have also been learning how to play Tracktic which incorporates geometry skills, deductive thinking and problem solving strategies.
Math Perplexors
Tracktic
We present Tracktic, a thrilling game where, thanks to your puzzle pieces and your best tactics, you must create the longest colored line to win! During the game, block your adversaries’ paths, or flip their pieces to integrate them to your own line. But be careful because these new white pieces can benefit all players!
Rummikub
The game is based on the traditional middle-eastern game of Okey. First created in the 1930s and sold in hand-produced versions until the late 1970s.
Similar to the Rummy that you play with cards - you try to get rid of all your tiles by forming numbers into runs of 3 tiles or more, or 3 to 4 of a kind. The colors of the numbers on the tiles are like card suits. This game may start rather uneventfully, but when the players start putting more and more tiles in play, the options for your upcoming turns can become more complex, challenging, and exciting.