Playing with Words

July 10, 2015 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday round up is at The Logonauts.

Have you ever played Apples to Apples? It’s a game my gifted students enjoy, especially the highly verbal ones. There are two sets of cards, green and red. The green cards are adjectives. The red ones, nouns. The players each hold 5 red cards. The judge for the round (rotates from player to player) places a green card in the middle. Everyone plays a red card. The judge chooses the best noun that fits with the adjective. Simple, right?

I like simple. I have been reading posts by the intelligent group of teachers participating in the CLMOOC, a collaborative learning community sponsored by the National Writing Project. I have associated with NWP for 20 years now, and I am constantly challenged to think beyond the borders. But with this make cycle, game design, much of the process and thinking has traveled well above my head. I’m hanging in, though. I decided to take what I know and just remake it to something I love.

I know Apples to Apples and I love poetry. There you go…a new game. I chose 3 sets of cards to play around with myself and then took pictures of 3 more sets for others to play with. I have added a few sets and invite you to play a little bit today. Follow the link to Google slides. Have fun!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MkeeS6tn1XSnBGSrWB8MHZzWmw0a4NllG74aOb1ayiw/edit?usp=sharing

Posted in clmooc, Poetry Friday, Writing | Tagged #clmooc, Apples to Apples, Word play | 12 Comments

12 Responses

on July 10, 2015 at 3:48 pm | Reply jarhartz

I love, love, love this! I was thinking about Apples to Apples too. Love this game.
on July 10, 2015 at 3:58 pm | Reply Linda Baie

I did one, Margaret. This was fun. I can see how much your students would love it!
- on July 11, 2015 at 1:40 am | Reply margaretsmn
  
  Love the scents of the waterpark. You went with food. I thought about stinky sweat.
on July 10, 2015 at 4:02 pm | Reply Katie Logonauts

So fun! My third graders would love this. Here’s mine.

Anticipation
Anxious watching
Low flame, no burning, the perfect campfire.
Turning, turning
Even browning
Smashed between a cracker and chocolate
Delicious.
- on July 11, 2015 at 1:37 am | Reply margaretsmn
  
  Ah, smores, of course. The best part of camping. Thanks for playing.
on July 10, 2015 at 7:01 pm | Reply Tara Smith

You clever one, you! My students will love this – and I will have you to thank!
- on July 11, 2015 at 1:38 am | Reply margaretsmn
  
  Thanks. I really thought I was getting away with doing something easy. I look forward to trying it out on my students.
on July 11, 2015 at 8:19 pm | Reply maryleehahn

What a great new twist on a familiar game! Katie has me drooling for some s’mores!
on July 11, 2015 at 9:11 pm | Reply Celebrate: Time for Summer Learning | To Read To Write To Be

[…] or should I say analyzing mentor text to figure out what might work for me. Yesterday, I saw Margaret Simon’s offering for week #3. It is a simple but beautiful word play game using game cards from Apples to Apples. It […]
on July 12, 2015 at 9:33 am | Reply readingtothecore

You are so clever, Margaret! I will share this with our new 4th/5th grade language arts teacher. I know she will love it.
on July 12, 2015 at 6:53 pm | Reply dorireads

What a fun game! So creative you are.
on July 13, 2015 at 2:29 am | Reply Matt Forrest Esenwine

Great idea! We have that game which, if anyone hasn’t played it, is a lot of fun. Will have to try this!