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.
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Author Bio
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.
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.