Interactive SMART Board Vocabulary Games Fifth Grade Science Teachers Can Use

Interactive SMART Board Vocabulary Games Fifth Grade Science Teachers Can Use
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Giant Crossword

Create your very own giant crossword puzzle using the technical terms currently used in your lessons. Turning learning to play ensures that your students will assimilate the information you’ve been teaching.

Use this crossword puzzle generator. Project the crossword puzzle on the SMART board for everyone to see. Then, with the incentive of additional points, call out volunteers to answer the puzzle items. For every answered row or column, use the SMART board highlighters to color the unlocked words. Use different colors for words that sit beside each other to avoid confusion and visual disorientation.

Pat It to Form It

In this game, each student goes up to the SMART board projecting a set of colorful rectangles. The student chooses a rectangle and

Jigsaw from Wikimedia Commons originator unknown

taps on it, revealing a clue/synonym/definition about the word s/he is to guess. Once the student guesses the word right, points are awarded and s/he taps on the rectangle again to reveal part of a big image. Once the part is shown, the student has the option to attempt at a guess on what the big picture is. If s/he guesses the correct image, the student gains additional points for his/her team. If s/he says the wrong answer, the turn is passed on the opposing team who will then send a representative to do the game.

Number Game

Projected on the SMART board are numbers 1 to 20, each written on a square. Call on a student to tap a number on the board. The

Numbers

number will then reveal a word which s/he has to define. Once the word is unveiled, the student only has 20 seconds to give the meaning of the word. If s/he utters the right definition, she has the option to choose the next classmate who will select another number. If s/he is unable to answer after 20 seconds, s/he has the option to pass on his/her chance to another classmate.

What’s in My Head?

This game is adapted from the very popular game Pinoy Henyo (The Filipino Genius). Divide your class into two groups. For the first

Brain

round, the first group sends a representative who then “sits” on a chair projected by the SMART board. Once the student is seated, the SMART board projects a thought bubble designed to appear right beside the head of someone sitting in front of the SMART board. The job of the seated student is to try to guess what the projected word written inside the thought bubble is. However, s/he is only allowed to ask questions answerable by a yes or no. For two minutes, s/he directs the questions to her group mates who will do the answering of the yes/no questions.

Example:

Word: Photosynthesis

Questions:

- Is this a person? (No) A thing? (No) A place? (No) An event? (No) A phenomenon? (No) A process? (Yes!) Body process? (Yes!) An animal body? (No) A plant body? (Yes!)…You get the idea!

Only two minutes is allotted per turn, after which the representative from the other team will then take his/her place at the “Thinking Chair” to guess another word. Points will be awarded to the group that gathers the most number of correct guesses.

You can modify or adapt these interactive SMART board vocabulary games fifth grade students will surely love to finish. In designing games for the students, what is basic should be our goal of addressing how they learn best–their learning styles and the most effective media with which they respond the fastest. For more ideas on how to use SMART board in science lessons, click here.