A Spoon Full of Sugar

The song goes, "In every job that must be done there is an element of fun."  Well, sometimes a student's job can be so frustrating that you might want to try to make the fun a little more obvious.  This post was inspired by one of my students who needed some fun added to his daily dose of math word problems.

I needed a quick, simple, one-player game that would give him an immediate reward for answering a solving a word problem correctly.  It had to be fairly quick to play, because I planned to use it as part of our tutoring session.  I also needed to have the answers available from a neutral source (so it wouldn't be me telling him if he was wrong), and there needed to be some kind of variability in the score-- partly skill, partly chance, to add interest.  If he got the same score every time that would be kind of pointless.

Left to right: Orange-covered answer key with two game cards on top,
word problem side up; white game board with cards and game pieces;
bottom: extra cards and game pieces.

This particular game is done with a Pokémon theme, but can be translated into just about anything the student is interested in.  The basic idea is that the student must answer a question correctly to move a game piece from one circle to the other.  In this case, the game pieces are Pokémon, and the player rescues them as he moves each piece from the bad guys' side to the good guys' side.  Another child might respond better to a game that features puppies being moved from the animal shelter to a home, cookies moving from the cookie jar to a plate, or princesses moving from the dragon's lair to a castle.  The possibilities are endless.  My student likes Pokémon, so that's what I used.

My game pieces were made from a dozen milk carton caps I had saved, but anything will work-- coins, poker chips, rocks, plastic figurines, Sculpey clay creations.  The caps worked well for me because they were the perfect size to glue on small round Pokémon printables that I found online.  (I glued a Poké Ball picture to the top of each cap, and then a different Pokémon character inside each one.)

The game board is just a Pages (Mac word processor) creation that has the two circles, the rules, and some graphics inserted from online images.  Once I had it designed and printed out, I put it into a plastic page protector.  Not only does this keep the board clean, but it also allows the student to write his scores on the page using a dry erase marker.

This game board has a Pokémon theme, but it could be anything.

To make the game cards, I made a template using another word processing feature:  the table.  I inserted a table onto a new page and set it to have four columns and two rows, adjusting the height and width of the cells to approximate a card size.  Then all I had to do was find an appropriate image to go on the back of each card.  I inserted the image into every other cell, and then each of in the remaining spaces, I typed one of the student's word problems (from his textbook), replacing names and details with Pokémon characters and appropriate scenarios.

I made 16 cards, using a total of 4 pages.  After printing them out, I cut the cards out so that each blue Pokémon back could be folded over and have a word problem on the front.  A bit of glue holds the two sides together, and viola!  A stack of game cards.

The game card template after the back image is
inserted, before the word problem is added.

To create an answer key, I used another table insert-- but this time, the table included the question number, solution process and final answer.  Each card was labeled with a letter+number to correspond with its answer on the chart.  To keep the student from seeing all the answers as he's checking for one, I made a cover sleeve for the answer key with a narrow window that shows only one answer at a time.  To allow the answer key to slide up and down in the sleeve, I added a paper pull strip at the top of the key.

This is the answer key chart.  More problems
and answers can be added later just by adding
more rows to the table.

So, here's how the game is played:

1. The student places 5 random game pieces (Poké Balls) in the bad guys' (Team Rocket’s) circle.  
2. The student places 5 random cards face down in the "cards" rectangle.
3. The student draws a game card, reads the card and answers the question.  If writing out the problem helps, that is allowed. 
4. The student check his answer with the Solution Chart.
5. If he answered correctly, he chooses one game piece (Poké Ball) to move to the good guys' circle (Safety Zone).
6. When all the cards are gone, the student tallies his points:  in this case, 5 points for each regular Pokémon, 10 for Pikachu.

I specifically have the student choose only five game pieces and five cards per game, because solving five word problems are about the limit of "fun" as far as math goes-- even when Pokémon are at stake.  Any more than that and I think the student would lose the thrill of the game.

If the game is made using a different theme, there needs to be a way to vary the points.  This game is set up so that the student chooses look-alike Poké Balls without knowing what Pokémon are inside. Here are some other ideas:

• Hide colored beads under the caps, shell-game style, and have different point values depending on the colors of the beads.  (In this case you might have to start with all the game pieces on the board and slide off the ones not selected before play begins, so that the player does not know which ones are under his chosen pieces.)
• Use a dry-erase marker to number the bottom of each game piece before the player chooses his pieces.  This way, the point value for any piece can change with every game session.

It's hard to stay motivated to do your best when school days seem to bring nothing but more and more work.  This particular game brought joy to my student today, and that made me happy, too!

Overcoming struggles with writing

Many students have trouble with writing paragraphs, let alone essays.  For some, the difficulty lies in getting the ideas out of their heads and onto paper.  There are too many things to think about all at once-- the ideas themselves, the words, the spelling, even the act of physically writing the letters can be an obstacle for some children.  For others, the ideas are easy enough, but they tend to come out in a rambling, completely disorganized manner.  Happily, both of these problems can be addressed.

For the first problem, that of expressing the ideas on paper, I have been most impressed by the techniques of Andrew Pudewa's Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW).  (And no, I have no stock in his company nor am I being compensated for mentioning it.) While some people whose children are blessed with a natural talent for writing might cringe at his methods and call them "formulaic" (or worse), there is a definite population of students who benefit from his carefully incremental approach.   The child who sits and cries over his writing assignments, for whom writing three sentences is like pulling teeth, will find IEW a relief.

The problem for these students is that converting their thoughts into words feels like a Herculean task. They can speak just fine, but somehow slowing their brain down enough to translate thoughts into written sentences is near impossible.  So IEW takes a step back, and has students first translate someone else's ideas into sentences.  They begin by reading short paragraphs and making a "key word outline," choosing two or three of the most important words from each sentence. The student then creates a new sentence for each set of words.  (In effect, he is also learning to take notes without plagiarizing!) Here is an example, using the paragraph I wrote above as the original text:
 

Of course, the vocabulary in my original paragraph is not suited to a young reader or writer, but I hope you get the idea.  Once the student has had practice with writing key word outlines and turning them into new paragraphs, he is introduced to the idea of writing key word outlines from the information in his own head.  The student is then not overwhelmed, because he is able to get all of his ideas down, a few words at a time, before going back to construct complete sentences.  When this process has become easy, the student begins to add complexity to his sentences by adding "dress-ups," such as introductory phrases, precise nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives, and various sentence constructions.

Some students have no trouble at all writing complete sentences, but need help organizing them into a coherent paragraph.  They may be used to typing away on a computer, and think creating an outline is an unnecessary step.  The result is a disorganized mess.  The concept of paragraph structure doesn't register at all.

There are many graphic organizers that are helpful for this.  One very effective system was developed by J.S. and E.J. Gould, called the Four-Square Writing method.  (No compensation here, either.) In this method, the paragraph is visualized as a block divided into sections, so that the topic sentence, supporting ideas and conclusion are presented as a unit.  This not only helps the students to remember to include each element, but also helps them understand that all of the pieces work together.

Here is one example of a Four Square graphic organizer. Note that the topic sentence bar touches each of the other sections, and all of the sections together form a single square.

While the graphic organizer may be helpful on its own, the Goulds have developed a program of sequential lessons for various ages of students that help the students understand what makes a good topic sentence, how to write good supporting sentences, and how to conclude a paragraph without simply restating the topic sentence.

Here's an example of the organizer filled out with supporting details, topic and concluding sentences.

For the record, there is "mind-mapping" software such as FreeMind or SimpleMind that will guide a student through placing sentences in a graphic organizer, and then turn these words into an outline; these may be helpful for certain students.  In my experience, however, I have not seen any such programs that get across the idea of paragraph cohesion to the same degree as the simple Four Square box.  Once the student understands paragraph structure, the mind-mapping may be great, but until then it's just another tool to make his ramblings more complex.

Whether your student needs help getting the words on paper or just getting the words organized, the best approach is to start where he is and proceed at a comfortable pace. Slow and steady wins the race!

A quick and effective spelling activity

This is a fun, quick and effective activity that my tutoring students enjoy as they study their weekly mutlti-syllable spelling lists. All it takes is paper, something to write with, and scissors.

First, rewrite the spelling words correctly or type them up in a fairly large font.  Cut each word into a separate strip of paper.  Keep the original list handy.

Spelling words are cut into strips.

Now have the student use the scissors to divide the words into syllables.  Help him if needed; if you're  not sure where the separation should be, a dictionary with pronunciation guides will be helpful.

Each word is cut into syllables.

If a mistake is made, no problem--- a bit of tape can be used, or the word can be re-written, and then cut correctly.  Don't worry too much over words that could possibly be divided more than one way. For example, it is not the end of the world if the child cuts 'particle' into part i cle instread of par ti cle. A true mistake would be "pa rti cle."


This is a good time to take notice of the various spelling patterns found in the syllables.  For example, when looking at "anemone," I might remark to the student, "That last e is unusual. When I first saw that word, I thought it was a silent e, like "an-e-mone."  We usually spell final e sounds with a y or ey, like "funny money."  This word comes from the Greek language, though, and they don't use silent e.  It's the same e we see with the spelling of Harry Potter's friend Hermione."

 When the words are all cut up, scramble the syllables

Syllables are mixed up.

and then have the student reconstruct the words as you read out the list. 

Words are reassembled.

With this activity, the student does not have to write the words himself, but is still using his hands and eyes to put the words together. Most importantly, however, he is focused on seeing the words in small, memorable pieces, and matching the sounds of the words to the spelling of the syllables.  As I've mentioned before in other posts, this is a critical step that students often miss when they are just seeing the whole word as a string of letters.

An added benefit of this activity is that it is less likely to result in a meltdown from a tired or frustrated student, whereas  a written or oral spelling practice session might be too much.  Completing this "game" can be done with the student completely silent and not using a pen or pencil at all.  Plus, if the pieces are kept in an envelope for future use, the student has a quick spelling review for as long as he needs. 

If you allow the student to use the word pieces for independent study, be sure to include the spelling list so he can check his work.  If he is likely to miss details, make the pieces self-checking by labeling the pieces of each word with a matching number or symbol.  For example, "plank" and "ton" might each have a 2 on the back, so the student can check for a match by turning them over.  (In case of repeated syllables, such as the "gen" in hydrogen and oxygen, you might put two symbols on both "gen" pieces.)

This activity will not solve every child's spelling problems-- and it's no help at all for beginners' one-syllable lists-- but it should be a helpful addition to word study methods.