Valentine's Bingo
For the holiday’s I always try to have a fun game at hand to celebrate that is also educational. Bingo has always been my go to because I can make them very visual for my pre-readers but also more challenging for my readers. The visual bingo’s though ensure that anyone can play regardless of their level in the classroom which is a great accommodation!
Unfortunately I could not find these exact bingo cards. I thought that I had found them from teachers pay teachers but no such luck. I also googled it and could not find these exact ones (so sorry to the amazing creator of these). Instead I did find a website that offers a bunch of ideas for Valentine’s Bingo by The Spruce Crafts .
You can find a bingo sheet for almost anything from visuals, the alphabet, numbers, to even complex math, spelling word, etc. Wherever your classroom is you can find or create a bingo easily. I just found some cute math ones and for some reason had never thought of using numbers on my bingo cards (even though that’s how bingo works usually) for number recognition. That would be a great idea!
I also have bingo games from Amazon that are sight words and letters. These are great to have on hand for a fun Friday game or social skills even. When I am using it for social skills recently, my main focus is that everyone is taking turns, interacting appropriately, and having fun. I have one student who struggles talking with peers and so this is a great game that everyone can play and I can make sure they are all talking to each other during the game.
Bingo can be used for almost anything and make what they are learning seem easy by offering it in a game structure. Gamifying something that may be hard for your students can all of a sudden be super fun and easy.
I found that bingo can easily fit into our state standards for comprehension and collaboration because I have some really awesome conversations with my students when we play bingo. It’s a great time to introduce and expose students to some topics, pictures, words, math, etc. that they might not know. Then you can have a topic about what is Valentine’s Day and why do we use a heart for it and go into deeper level knowledge (if you’re doing a Valentine’s Bingo)
I have my main picture of a visual bingo which may be too easy or “babyish” for our 3rd-5th graders who want to feel cool when playing games so instead you can take it a step farther and have them create a bingo game for the topic that they are struggling with. Or even have them get into groups to create a bingo game on their topic (I know 5th grade is working on state projects right now) , make copies for everyone, and then play them as a class for the group to present on their topic.
As you can see Bingo can be as simple or complex as you want to make it and a great way to collaborate and check for comprehension of our students.
I also found standards that bingo can meet for the following grade levels:
Kindergarten:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.1Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
1st Grade: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
2nd Grade: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
3rd Grade: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
4th Grade: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
5th Grade: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Happy Teaching :)