Math Madness Wednesday: Favorite Lesson of the Year

It is about that time of year!  Many of you have already finished the year and the rest of us will be soon to follow!  It is time to reflect on your favorite Math lesson of the year!  What lesson did you get REALLY excited about?  What are the kids STILL talking about!?  What lesson is DEFINITELY going to be repeated next year, in some fashion?

For me, it is definitely my WILD games.  I know…these are not just one lesson, but they are one idea and have been a game changer for my son!  As many of you know, I am not in the classroom any longer.  I have decided to focus on my family for now.  My son is autistic, and thus, struggles with social cues.  Games have been one of his biggest struggles!  He can’t stand to lose and is SOOOO hard on himself when he gets something incorrect.  So, we started with “easy” versions of this game and worked our way up.  After all, my goal was more for being a good sport and game player, not to spruce up his skills (that was just an added bonus!).  We are also fortunate to work with some wonderful students from Cal-Poly.  They are graduate students working towards their Special Ed degree.  Two of them come to see my son each week and work with him on what he needs help with.  This year, we focused on conversations and games.  Together, we created a plan filled with check ins, breaks, rewards, etc.  At times, I wasn’t sure how it was going to end, but today, he can play games WITHOUT needing any of those things!  Of course, they are still offered and there if he needs them, but in the past month or so, he has not needed them!  And, he actually enjoys playing the games.  I would call that a successful set of lessons that we will DEFINITELY continue to practice!

So, what are these WILD games?  They are played in a very similar fashion to the old classic, UNO.  In fact, we started with UNO since the directions were already known.  Many kids love the simplicity of the game and others love the “special” cards that allow them to skip a player or make their neighbor draw extra cards.  So, I kept those important pieces in my WILD games.  But, for the kids who are beyond just numbers and colors, I added some extra skills.  I have several versions available, from basic number skills all the way to fractions.  Although most of my versions are math based (my son’s favorite subject!), I do have some versions for ELA and Science as well.  

Educents is offering my WILD card games as BUNDLES!  This is the first time these have been offered this way and are a GREAT deal if you are looking at getting them for your classroom or homeschooling!  They normally sell for $3.00 per pack and each bundle has 6 packs, but these BUNDLES will be offered for only $6.99 per bundle (normally $18!!)  for a short time only!