Well Played, Grades K-2 - Softcover

Dacey, Linda; Gartland, Karen; Bamford Lynch, Jayne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 162531034X ISBN 13: 9781625310347

Publisher: Routledge, 2015

Synopsis

Students love math games and puzzles, but how much are they really learning from the experience? Too often, math games are thought of as just a fun activity or enrichment opportunity. Well Played shows you how to make games and puzzles an integral learning component that provides teachers with unique access to student thinking.
 
The twenty-five games and puzzles in Well Played, which have all been field-tested in diverse classrooms, contain:
·         explanations of the mathematical importance of each game or puzzle and how it supports student learning;
·         variations for each game or puzzle to address a range of learning levels and styles;
·         clear step-by-step directions; and
·         classroom vignettes that model how best to introduce the featured game or puzzle.  
 
The book also includes a separate chapter with suggestions for how to effectively manage games and puzzles in diverse classrooms; reproducibles that provide directions, game boards, game cards, and puzzles; assessment ideas; and suggestions for online games, puzzles, and apps.
 
Well Played will help you tap the power of games and puzzles to engage students in sustained and productive mathematical thinking.  

About this title

About the Author:

Linda Dacey, professor of mathematics and education at Lesley University, began her career teaching at the elementary level and early in her career, received an NSF grant to develop a model program for preparing middle school teachers. She works with pre-service and in-service teachers, helping them to develop both their content knowledge and their practice. Her commitment to the quality of mathematics education was noted when she was inducted into the Massachusetts Mathematics Educators Hall of Fame. She is a reviewer for NCTM's Teaching Children Mathematics, was guest editor for the recent issue of the New England Mathematics Journal's issue on equity, and a prolific writer of books and resource materials for both teachers and writers. Her research focuses on problem solving, number sense, and strategies for differentiation.

Karen Gartland is a mathematics coordinator and classroom teacher at Groton-Dunstable Middle School. She enjoys working with students of all ages with a focus on conceptual understanding of mathematics through critical thinking and application as well as best practices for integrating technology. Karen is also an adjunct faculty member at Lesley University.

Jayne Bamford Lynch is a district math instructional coach in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she spends most of her days in elementary classrooms supporting coaches, teachers, and students. Jayne presents workshops for teachers, administrators, and parents on a multitude of topics and is also a National Faculty member of the School of Education at Lesley University.

Review:

“This is a book full of thoughtful and well-chosen games and puzzles, but it is also a book that offers a lens into how we might include this kind of play in our own classrooms in ways that are deeply meaningful and engaging for our students. It is a book truly rooted in the realities and possibilities of the classroom, which is what makes it such a valuable resource for teachers.” – Kassia Omohundro Wedekind, from the foreword


Are you looking for a way to add mathematically rich games to your students’ problem solving? Dacey, Gartland, and Lynch provide a valuable resource for K–grade 2 educators to plan and implement puzzles and games. The authors begin by offering principles and guidance for implementation of games and puzzles in the classroom, based on their classroom experiences, field testing, and on research. The remaining chapters each present games, some familiar, some less common, on topics including counting and ordering, base-ten numeration, addition, and subtraction.
                For use as a curriculum component or supplement, the book includes good attention to implementation and assessment as well as offering good examples, sample exit questions, suggestions for differentiation of games, options for directions and game variations, and consideration of students’ reading levels. A unique asset is guidance on students’ “manners,” norms for interaction, keeping the focus on the mathematics rather than secondary to superficial aspects or winning. A few minor modifications would have made the book an even stronger resource: additional guidance on assessment, such as a few example rubrics, clarifications to a few transcripts, and additional direction on creating cards or game boards to extend, differentiate, and vary the games. Consider teaming up with colleagues to analyze a game; then pilot it with a group of students before building a lesson or center around it.
                Educators planning K–grade 2 mathematics learning will find Well Played to be conceptually, developmentally, and pedagogically strong—as well as fun and engaging—for their schools.
—Lucia M. Flevares, independent mathematics education consultant, Columbus, Ohio.
 

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 162531034X
• ISBN 13: 9781625310347
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 222