Yahtzee – Math
Scrabble -Vocabulary, Math, and Spelling
Sorry – Counting, Colors, and Strategy
Clue – Memory, Deductive Reasoning, Counting, and Record Keeping
Chutes and Ladders – Counting and Consequences, Before and After
Monopoly – Problem Solving, Strategy and Money Skills
Jenga – Eye Hand Coordination, Observation and Concentration
Gold Fish – Number Recognition and Matching
Payday – Math and Money Management       
Don’t Spill the Beans – Before and After, Balance, Cause-Effect, Making Predictions, Logical and Visual Reasoning, Fine Motor Skills   
Lucky Ducks – More or Less Than, Fine Motor Skills, One to One Correspondence, Part-Whole Concepts, Matching, Memory
CandyLand – More or Less Than
Spaghetti Game – Balance, Cause-Effect, Making Predictions, Logical and Visual Reasoning, Fine Motor Skills             
Don’t Break the Ice – Balance, Cause-Effect, Making Predictions, Logical and Visual Reasoning, Fine Motor Skills      
Potato Head – Fine Motor Skills, One to One Correspondence, Part-Whole Concepts, Matching, Memory
Bingo – Memory, Concentration, Attention, Identifying Sets, Number Identification, Recognition of Dot Patterns of Numbers
The Memory Game – Memory, Concentration, Attention, Identifying Sets, Number Identification, Recognition of Dot Patterns of Numbers
Cootie – Memory, Concentration, Attention, Identifying Sets, Number Identification, Recognition of Dot Patterns of Numbers

If you would like to visit my wikiblog, please go to:

http://themillermessageboard.pbwiki.com/The%20Miller%20Message%20Board

I posted my own idea for classroom behavior and management.  You can add your ideas too! I think it would be interesting to update my pbwiki from time to time with new topics and see how many teachers I could get to share ideas.  For example, this time the topic was “Classroom Behavior and Management”; next time it might be “Songs You Use to Teach Concepts”. Teachers could share songs they have made up or come across throughout the years to teach addition, letter sounds, etc. 

MUD refers to computer gaming.  It usually involves fantasy role playing.  For example, if you visit a MUD, the fantasy world may be made up of elves, dwarves, or goblins.  As a player visiting a MUD, you may be able to take on the role of a warrior, thieve, or priest.  As the game progresses your goal would be to acquire more skills or powers for the role you are playing in the game and to slay monsters, complete a quest, go on an adventure, etc.  Players interact with other players during the game.  The game is text driven, meaning that if you want to know what a room looks like, you have to read a description of it; there is no picture. 

A MOO is similar to a MUD.  In fact, I couldn’t find much difference in them.  A very popular MOO is LambdaMoo. Basically, LambadaMoo is setup like a house.  When you first enter the house, you can choose to access the Coat Closet or the Linen Closet.  From there you can enter the Living Room where many people hangout and talk to each other.  While in the Living Room, you can roast things in the fireplace. If you sit on the couch, some of your objects may get lost and fall underneath of the couch.  There is also a pet Cockatoo that repeats phrases he hears the players say.  It’s not hard to see why at times people use cloth to bandage the Cockatoo’s mouth!  During holidays, the Cockatoo is exchanged for other birds (a turkey at Thanksgiving, a Raven at Halloween, etc.)  There is also a hottub, a pooldeck, open fields, fishing holes, library of online resources, etc.

MUSH also sounds very similar to MUD and MOO……..it basically refers to computer gaming that can be conducted online; it also uses role playing and allows players to communicate between each other. One difference I discovered though was that players can create their own rooms, so it allows for a little more creativity.  It seems like of the three, MUSH has the most capabilities.

Also, I don’t believe many people learn much from lecture.  When PowerPoint is used in this way, I feel it is useless.  It is a waste for a teacher to just simply type up notes in PowerPoint and read them from the screen.  BORING!  I only see PowerPoint as being useful if it is used in a way that is interactive — either in the form of a game or if the students are creating products.

What about families that aren’t “Bible People” … Do you think it’s ok to force Buddhist kids to follow the moral teachings of the Christian Bible? How would you feel if the school district adopted the teachings of the Bhagvad Gita as the “program of choice for teaching morals, values, and respect?”

I don’t think it is any more unfair to subject Buddist children to the teachings of christianity than it is for MY own child to be subjected to lessons at school on homosexuality and transgender issues (which is happening at many schools already).  At many schools, children are being taught that it is okay to be gay and that some children are born in the wrong body and have an identify crises.  This goes against my daughter’s religious beliefs, however if she were at one of these schools she would be forced to hear these lessons anyway.   Why is it that we can talk about EVERYTHING else in the world at school except God? I read an article this past summer about a senior valedictorian that wanted to simply say in her graduation speech that “her faith in God had led her down the right path throughout her school career”.  The school district wouldn’t even let her make this statement.  It was “controversial”.  But discussing homosexuality is not controversial? 

This really disturbs me………….I understand having policies in school and this school has a dresscode policy that says that students cannot wear t-shirts with writing on them.  The obvious reason for this is because students wear shirts advertising inappropriate logos and sayings, such as for Beer Companies.  That makes sense to me.  However, I think the school should have made an exception in this case.  Some students wanted to express their patriotism on 9/11 and wore shirts reflecting that.  I know they broke the rules…..but it seems a little over the top for them to be suspended for demonstrating patriotism.  I think the administration made too big of a deal over this……..now ACLU is involved. Don’t we have bigger things to worry about in school?  Like kids bullying each other?  Just my thoughts………

It is clear that the child that wrote the description of the castle used his/her imagination.  This is why MooseCrossing is a neat way to encourage children to develop their creative writing skills. 

Not only can students create their own room/city, but they can also visit other people’s rooms and interact with them.   They can talk to each other as they are actively engaged in this imaginary world. 

I was very impressed when I examined Moose Crossing.  I discovered that teacher’s can sign up their entire class to participate in this virtual world.  All that is required is a parent signature stating that their child is allowed to go online to this site.  I downloaded Moose Crossing to my computer so that I could play around with it, however after accessing the program, I was very disappointed to learn that they are no longer accepting new users.  Only people that are already enrolled can participate. 

I think that a Mud like Moose Crossing would encourage children to increase their creative writing skills.  It is a different approach than traditional pencil and paper format.  Students could even draft some of their ideas and develop them on paper, before writing them online.  I would have never predicted that a game could be created to ehance students’ writing skills.  This is very innovative.

http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/fac/Amy.Bruckman/papers/convergence.html - article
http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/elc/moose-crossing/index.html - MooseCrossing Website