Hi, Teaching Friends!
Have you thought about how you can help your students learn through planned repetition of words and concepts? Read on to see how even a math game graphic can add to their learning!
When you integrate information across the curriculum and repeat it in a variety of ways, you can help your students learn more easily and retain what they learn. Yes, even something as small as the graphics on a game board can make a difference!
Here’s how!
- Repetition in a variety of formats encourages memory. If you read a book about Johnny Appleseed to your class once, some of your students will get basic information. They might even remember some of it. But when they see Johnny again on their math game, it encourages their brain to go back to what they’ve already been exposed to. Granted, in K-1, that might just be, “Oh, the guy with the pot on his head and the apple seeds.” But, hey, habits of building connections have to begin somewhere, right? 🙂
- Repetition helps grow vocabulary. When your students hear a word in a read aloud or discussion, see it in print, and use it in conversation, the word is well on the way to becoming part of his or her usable “word collection”. When he asks a friend to play “that Johnny Appleseed game”, he is moving that word or concept along the route to his long term memory.
- Repetition helps your students identify connections. How can integrate this in your teaching?* Choose read alouds that build supports for connected learning, both before and after you teach a topic.* Have discussions that encourage your students to make it a habit to build connections. Think about using questions like…
“What else have we learned that’s like this?”
“How did knowing _________ help you understand ________?”
“Does this connect with something else you know?”
Here’s Johnny Appleseed’s Subtract From Ten Sweep game. It’s a great way for partners to practice composing and decomposing ten as well as subtraction. But you might also find that it’s an easy way to use repetition effectively in your teaching! Just click here to download your copy!
Happy Teaching!
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