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Most days during my math block, I have math centers and use my monthly math centers that have a spiral review of skills. Now that we are nearing the end of 3rd Quarter, my kiddos have perfected the math center routine and some have started breezing through their math center activity. Well...I don't want them just sitting and waiting to come to Math with Teacher and they don't need more screen time - so they can quietly play Tic Tac Toe with a friend.
Each Tic Tac Toe board contains directions at the top so they can grab any of the boards, a set of X and O cards, find a spot to play, and get started! I think my favorite thing about these games is that I was able to include most all of my 2nd Grade CCSS as well as a handful of 1st Grade CCSS so my firstie friends could use this game in their classrooms as well.
A couple Fridays ago we had an Early Release, and a little extra time after creating our Valentine bags, so I introduced the new game. I was so scared they wouldn't want to play because they had to do math - but as kiddos finished their bags, they rushed to find a partner and get to playing.
I keep the X and O cards in snack-sized Ziplock bags to be easy cleanup and storage.
These boys picked one of the harder games for their first Tic Tac Toe game - but I know they can handle the challenge! They are adding 3 and 4 2-digit numbers - so they needed scrap paper to solve their problems. In the game set, I have "work pages" included that you can copy for your students to use to show their work, but I always have a basket of scrap paper and that worked just as good!
Lots of gaming (and math discussions) going on!
Before a student can place their X or O on the square they have chosen, their partner has to agree to their answer. So my boys above who were adding 3 & 4 2-digit numbers, both boys were solving them problems so they could check their partner's work! I definitely believe that when playing games, in particular educational games, there doesn't need to be "down time" for one or more of the players - they both need to be working their brains the entire time. So having both players agree on the answers is the way to remedy that problem of down time.
When it came time to prep these games, I was so ever thankful for my HP Instant Ink subscription...
because I wanted to print the games in full color!! With HP Instant Ink, I didn't worry about how much color it would take because I pay each month based on how many pages I print and they send me more ink when I need it. It's the most economical way to print and super easy! You can sign up here for a free month!
I did print on cardstock for durability and laminated the games as well so they'd last me many years.
If you don't want the full color games or don't have easy access to a color printer and color ink, I've got you covered! I made a black/white version as well. Now, some of the boards that include full color clipart, such as some of the geometry and money games will only contain the full color clipart. But, they look great printed in Black/White on color cardstock!
My favorite colored cardstock!
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