Candyland Fun!

STAAR is right around the corner and I don't know about you but my kids are in need of a good dose of MOTIVATION with a sprinkle of ENGAGEMENT! Nothing gets my 3rd graders ready and rearing like some good ole competition... enter CANDYLAND GIANT WALL GAME BOARD!! 

Completed Game Board!

Several weeks ago I stumbled upon task cards on teacherspayteachers.com and have been swept up in them completely. I bought, laminated, cut out, put on rings and ect. over 30 different task cards. They are seriously the best way to review those difficult reading STAAR concepts in small groups and for independent practice without shoving full passages in their sweet little third grade faces. After doing all this work, and spending an ungodly amount of money I introduced them to my students and seriously a week later the "newness" was all gone and they were fizzing out quickly -- BUT -- I knew these tasks cards would work for review if the kids would just take them seriously and actually DO them.

At my school we have been talking a lot about motivation and what we can do to actively engage our students. We talked about what they naturally want to do (games, tv, sports...) and how we can incorporate that into lessons and activities we do that aren't as fun, especially around STAAR time!!

Keeping this in mind, one day while I was wondering what I could do to make my kids engaged and as excited as I was about these task cards, it came to me to turn my completely abandoned word wall into a game board that the kids could roll and move their little game piece each time they completed and passed a set of task cards!! I told my WONDERFUL student teacher this and she, like an angel, took on the project and added her own great ideas and turned my terrible, naked word wall into a work of art!!

My word wall before the transformation at the beginning of school.  (it did have SOME stuff on it...)

Some of the squares the kids can land on!! 

What the kids do during workshop time (when I am with my small groups and they are working independently on different things) are task cards (along with other daily five things.. see my daily five post). They choose a set of task cards, answer the questions on the recording sheet, turn it in when completed and check off that set by their name.

Bucket I keep all task cards organized in and the check list for the kids.

Example of a task card set. Each set is in a plastic sheet protector with copies of the recording sheet and the task cards on a ring. 

On the back is a poster to remind the kids what they are working on in this task card set. 

As I grade them the kids get to roll and move their little game piece face and get STAAR beads.
My kids are now super motivated and are getting these task cards done! Some even want to do them during recess!! Ahh, what sweet competition can do... and one outstanding, all-star student teacher can create!!

Happy Teaching Friends !!