I Have... Who has.... {Freebie + Giveaway!}

Hi!  It's Deb from Crafting Connections with you again this Friday!  I am guessing that there are few among us who have not played a version of "I have... Who has..." in our classrooms.  When I walk into an upper elementary classroom and students spot me carrying "I have... Who has...", cheers erupt!  (I'd be curious to know...does the same thing happen in your classroom?)

For those who have not played this game in your classroom, I encourage you to give it a try!  In fact, to provide further encouragement, this Greek and Latin Roots game is a FREEBIE at my TpT store through the weekend.

Little prep is required.  Simply cut the cards apart prior to class, and then pass them out when you are ready to play the game.  The person with "I have the first card.  Who has..." reads first.  At the end of each card, a question is posed.  Whoever has the answer to that card written at the top of THEIR card reads next.

These cards are part of my Beginning Prefixes game.

Students love this activity because it's fun!  They see it as a game.

As a teacher, I see it as so much more than that!  These are a few of the benefits of playing this game.

1. Students are exposed to the target content in an engaging way.  There are literally hundreds of these games available.  One can find an "I have... Who has...." game for almost any upper elementary math, reading, or language topic!
2. Students work cooperatively as a team.  When I play this game with students, we almost always play at least three rounds.  (And if we don't have time to play multiple times, boy, do I hear about it!)  Each round, I time how long it takes to advance through all of the cards, and the first round always takes awhile.  In the subsequent rounds, the students try to break their record, which they usually succeed in doing.  They not only help each other, but also encourage one another to pay attention!
3. Students have an opportunity to improve fluency and voice volume.  When playing this game, it is very important to speak slowly, loudly, and clearly.  If you read too fast or too quietly, time is wasted because the class has to ask you to repeat yourself.  Therefore, students quickly learn to read as fluently as possible.
4. Students have to pay attention and listen critically.  If they are caught not paying attention, they are letting their classmates down.  (I find that students pay attention quite well, though.)

I have learned a few tricks over my years of playing this game with students.  I make an answer key by cutting the pages in half, and then taping the strips together so that I have a very long strip of cards that are in order.  I put this strip under the document camera.  This is helpful in a couple of ways.  This is very helpful for those students who have a hearing disability or who just need to see the words written.  This is also helpful for me because I can easily catch any errors, especially when playing with cards that are very closely related.  

Strips are taped together.

This game is also wonderful to play with small groups of students.  The advantage of playing it with small groups is that each student holds (and is accountable for) multiple cards.  They have to pay attention the ENTIRE game.  I have them begin by laying their cards face-up on the table.  After they read a card, they turn it over.  By doing this, it is easier to keep track of which cards have been "played".

A small group of third graders play the prefixes game.

This BUNDLE will be discounted to $21 this weekend; that's less than $0.50 per game!

The above list shows all of the "I have... Who has..." games that I have created to use with my students. Enter the raffle below for a chance to win this "I have... Who has..." BUNDLE!  I will draw one winner on Monday morning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A followup:  Lisa D. is the winner of the BUNDLE!