Description
Games books abound, but this one is different! It came from teachers and students when we asked for the activities they love best, the ones they use over and over because they are no-fail fun-providers, even on grey Monday mornings or when standardized tests are looming. They work in community-building meetings, as transitions and closures, and throughout the day to refresh and refocus.
Instruction cards are bound with a spiral that allows for easy selection, reference, and additions, and the book willingly lies open to the page you want. The instructions are clear—even student leaders can easily follow them. Hand the book to students who are planning a class meeting—they can choose the game, greeting, and sharing method. You and they are confident that the tried and tested contents of the book are sure to please. There are blank pages to add additional games, greetings, sharing, and tribute ideas that you or your students find or create.
Tried and True Classroom Games and Greetings is comprised of the “Best of the best” as shared by
Developmental Designs teachers and their students. You will find:
- 30 games: some active, some quiet. Many help build trust, and all help meet young people’s need to have fun.
- 20 varied greetings: fast, funny, creative, mobile or stationary, all community-builders. All allow students to show each other that everyone belongs.
- 5 sharing ideas: getting-to-know-you activities that are fun ways to practice conversation, interviewing, or speaking to the group, and meet students’ need for relationship and competence.
- 3 acknowledgments and 6 cheers: affirmations that are interactive, fun, and encourage mutual respect
If you’ve been hesitant to play games with your students, the activities in
Tried and True Classroom Games and Greetings will give you a way to begin. The power of play is part of the bedrock of a successful middle grades community!
2018, The Origins Program, 95 pages, paper (Spiral bound)
