Lunar Eclipse Photo

The lunar eclipse on Tuesday, August 28 was impressive and well worth the sleepless night! Of nearly 50 pictures taken that evening, this one happened to turn out okay. You can see that the moon takes on a coppery glow during an eclipse. I cannot wait for the next lunar eclipse in February 2008. I hope the weather cooperates too! Until then would anybody like to join me in Antarctica for the September 11 Partial Solar Eclipse?

Trouble

Trouble is very similar to Sorry! and Parcheesi. Save for the fabulous invention of the “Pop-o-matic” die bubble. Give this plastic bubble a pop and watch the die hop. I like that the die is numbered instead of dotted. We play “Double Trouble” (double the amount of the die) often. Trouble is plastic and the markers fit snugly in little tubes. The game travels pretty well and we’ve played outdoors many times.

Lunar Eclipse

August 28th promises an astronomical event you won't forget! Tuesday morning, very early, the moon will be eclipsed by the Earth's shadow. Just about 3:00 in the morning (Yes, when "normal" people are sleeping!) the moon will begin entering the penumbra, also known as the faint, outer part of the Earth's shadow. Nearly 50 minutes later, the moon will then begin entering the umbra, or darkest part of the Earth's shadow. The moon will be totally eclipsed around 5:00 that morning and totality will last for about 90 minutes. The sun will begin rising just before 6:00. With this in mind, we will not be able to view the moon as it exits umbra and penumbra.

This event needs no special instructions or equipment for viewing. Just take a walk outside and look up! If you plan to spend some time watching the changes, bring a lawn chair, a beverage, and some insect repellent. Have fun! Let me know what you see!

Parcheesi

Hey, this is the royal game of India. Tree, that’s my sister, and I had a very old copy of this game. We didn’t have the instructions or all of the pieces. This didn’t stop us from enjoying the game. Parcheesi is very much like Sorry! in that you have to move several pawns around the board from start to home. Orion just recently acquired the version pictured above. He loves it because the markers are animals (The elephants are his favorite!). Try the modifications mentioned for Sorry! to alter Parcheesi.

Ludo is a simplified version of this game and is available at the Dollar Tree! Yes, that’s right, for a dollar!

It's Alive!

The Galactic Apple started as a class assignment some years ago. It later turned into a place to host a few materials from some of my workshops and presentations (e.g. PowerPoint slides). Over the past year, it fell into disuse and eventually succumbed to "web rot." Well, after a little bit of work-cleaning and rearranging, finding a new home, and adding a great deal of content, the Galactic Apple is ALIVE!

Click on the Galactic Apple graphic to your right to go directly to the website! There you will find math games, literacy activities, and more! Check it out! I'll see you there!

Sorry!

This has got to be one of my all time favorite games. I remember spending hours (I mean hours!) on snow days playing this game with my sister. Now I have the pleasure of sharing this game with my son, Orion. We’ve been playing this game since Orion was about four or five years old. Of course we’ve had to modify it for MY short attention span, not his.

As you may recall, a player must draw a 1 or a 2 Sorry! card in order to start a pawn around the board. This can take an eternity. These are some of the modifications that Orion and I have made over the past several years. We still love Sorry! and we have a great time playing.

1. Use only two pawns instead of four. Yes, another ploy to shorten the game!

2. Use dice instead of cards. Allow a player to move on any roll of the dice. Start with one die.

3. When your child has the hang of one to one correspondence and an understanding of the numbers one through six, try “Double Sorry!” Double the number on the die! Watch the game go by quickly!

4. Use several dice. Use the sum of the dice to indicate the number of spaces the player may move.

5. “Product Sorry!” Dare we try this? Use the product of two (or three) dice to indicate the number of spaces the player may move. We’ve not yet made it this far, but I bet the game zooms!

Board Game Savers

Okay, I love plastic. Especially in the classroom. It's durable, recyclable, and best of all washable (Warm soapy water with a dash of bleach will save us all from certain, viral death!). I also love board games!

With that said, how many times have I found myself taping together game boxes that have given up the fight? As a child I remember spiriting away coveted (but useless in this case) Scotch tape to try and fix the boxes of games like Payday, Battleship, and Life. Now I tape the boxes (focusing on corners!) with shipping tape as soon as we get them! Well, I was reading in my Real Simple magazine about these awesome game containers and I had to check them out for myself!

These game containers can be found at The Container Store (Were they thinking of me when they created this store?). Search for "game saver" to view the specs on these nifty, plastic boxes. They run between $13 and $15! Expensive, to be sure! But priceless if they're protecting your favorite and most treasured board game!

Perseid Meteor Shower

This is one of my favorite meteor pictures, available at the NASA website. I believe it was taken during the Perseid Meteor Shower of 1999 by Wally Pacholka.

It's not to late to view the Perseid Meteor Shower! While the peak (50 -60 an hour) was Sunday Evening/Monday Morning (August 12/13) we will be able to see meteors for the next several days, although the frequency will diminish as the week progresses. The moon sets early, leaving us with dark skies. Despite the darkness, I was disappointed on Sunday/Monday as it was very hazy over the 'Burg. Now if the temperatures and haze would just cooperate, we might be able to catch a few before next year! Good luck viewing. Let me know what you see! The Orionids will be coming up in October!

The Ultimate Book on Math Games

If you want to play games you have to have this book.

I first "discovered" Constance Kamii when I was taking a class on Jean Piaget and Constructivism.

Kamii, a student of Piaget, had written several articles on teaching mathematics to young children. These articles led me to her books. My child, a kindergartener at the time, was struggling with subtraction (!) worksheets in the classroom. My university class was a perfect time for me to learn more about how children gain an understanding of numbers.

This book has not only changed the way I teach, it has changed the way I parent.

The first few chapters of Kamii's Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic describe the constructivist approach to education (with an emphasis on mathematics) and the importance of a child's autonomy. The last few chapters give very practical ways to implement a constructivist friendly approach to teaching math- including two chapters on math games and another on managing a classroom during game time!

While this book describes the games played by a classroom of first graders, the approach is ageless and the games can be used for levels spanning kindergarten through third grades.

Treasury of Family Games

I had to take a minute or two to tell you about a wonderful book I found while visiting the Angus Glen Library in Markham, Ontario. I adore games: board games, card games, dice games, you name it! I especially love games that can be played in the classroom.

This book has it all! Forgot how to play Monopoly? Wish you could remember how to play Slap Jack? Are you arguing over the rules for Hearts with your best friend? This book has over 250 pages of games, games, and more games! I was excited to discover directions for old favorites: Gin Rummy, Checkers, and Concentration. I was intrigued to find new games that would be great additions to any math classroom: Go, Hex, and Alquerque.

Check out the Reader's Digest Treasury of Family Games by Jim Glenn and Carey Denton (ISBN 0-7621-0431-7) at your local library and see what games you can add to your classroom repertoire.