Create An "I SPY" Interactive Bulletin Board Game {Video Tutorial}

I should probably give you a little background here, in case you don't know.  I am the coordinator for the Sunday School kiddos at my church.  I work specifically with grades 2-6.  We are known as the S.P.Y. Agents (Spirit Powered Youth).  We picked this name because out of the 10 kids in my Sunday School class, 8 of them are boys. {yikes!}  We definitely needed to come up with a cooler name than "Sunday School."  So, instead, on Sunday mornings, we have S.P.Y. Academy.  Fun, right?  Here's a peak at our SPY HEADQUARTERS, complete with "Scan-In" technology :)  We're very high-tech!

A couple weeks ago we had our big kick off to the school year and our theme was "Mission Possible" where students learned that our mission as SPY Agents is serving others, so they became members of the "Secret SERVICE" for the day.  It was a lot of fun, complete with fake mustaches and SPY glasses for our disguise.  After our first "Mission Briefing," our SPY Agents had several tasks, one of them was using their SPY skills to use picture clues to help them "spy" the Bible story.  I created this bulletin board:

I chose 8 kid-familiar Bible stories (Noah's Ark, the birth of Jesus, David and Goliath...etc).  These were our SPY top secret "cases."  Each case had a magnifying glass and a top secret folder (I cut real file folders down to size so that 8 of them would fit on my bulletin board.)  Inside the magnifying glass was a close-up snippet of the full picture.

For example, this magnifying glass is a close-up of the Adam and Eve Bible story:

Here's the full picture:

I asked students to use the clues shown in the magnifying glass to guess the story.  

Inside the file folder for each story, I will eventually put the full picture so that students can see if their guesses were correct.  For now I just have the question mark slip shown above.  I'm giving students a couple weeks to submit their "Mission Slips."

Once they've made their final guesses, they will place their "Mission Slips" in the "Confidential" file that I stapled to the bulletin board.

To say that the students enjoyed this activity would be an understatement.  They took their mission VERY seriously.

I think I might keep this type of bulletin board game going all year, just switching up the Bible stories.  And the more I thought about this game, the more I thought about how fun it would be to use this idea in a regular classroom!  Think "Can You SPY the Character" (doing close-ups of characters from books you may be reading in your class)  or "Can you SPY the Story Plot" (doing close-ups of major events in a book you are reading)  or "Can you SPY the Animal" (for your science animal unit.)...and so on!

I decided to do a quick little tutorial video to help you make your own SPY magnifying glasses!  Check it out!

I got the magnifying clip art here.

And, if you want to use the "Top Secret" and "Confidential" pieces that I put on the folders and the "Mission Slips" that students filled out,  you can download it for free here.

What could you use this bulletin board game idea for in your classroom?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Fall Themed Games and Resources

Yes. Yes I did already have a pumpkin spice latte from Dunkin Donuts.  Twice.  Don't judge.  I know it's only mid-September, but it had to happen.

I'm in full fall mode now, too, and I know I'm not the only one.  I was looking at some my games and centers and I realized just how many fall-themed resources I have created over the past few years. Many of them are free, and available exclusively here on the blog, so I wanted to feature them all in one spot so that you don't have to go searching.

Take a peek at this slideshow and click on any of the games/centers that you'd like to see more details of.

These link are also always available in my "Holiday Games" tab (see top of the blog) under the "fall themed" category.

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

National Talk Like a Pirate Day {Freebies and Ideas}

September 19 (this Saturday), is "National Talk Like a Pirate" Day {ARRRRGH!}.  My friend Michele has a pirate-themed classroom and has always has a special day in her classroom to help celebrate it with her students.  I have gone in to help her several times and the kids get such a kick out of all the activities we do with them.  I wanted to share with your some of the games we do with her kids in case you'd like to add a little fun into your classroom this Friday (even if you don't have a pirate themed classroom)!  I've shared these activities before, but we have a lot of new readers here on CGN that I want to bring everyone up to speed!

In this file folder game, students use context clues skills to help them figure out pirate words.  Students loved learning new pirate words like "avast!" and "me hearty" and then using them with their friends for the rest of the day. Click here to get the game for free!

I love how this activity combines several skills.  Students first have to add or subtract and then use the answer to measure inches on their treasure map to find the correct pirate coin.  Each math problem tells them whether the student is to measure going north, south, east, or west from the their starting coin.  They use the letter from each coin to solve a riddle.  Click here for your free copy.

I've also created a pinterest board with an on-going collection of ideas to help spice up your Pirate celebration!

Snag an idea or two!

Have a great start to your week!

Ten on Ten {September}

Hey all!  It's that time of the month again where I am sharing 10 pictures on the 10th of the month.  These pics reflect my life as of current.  I'd love for you to link up as well and share 10 on 10 over on your blogs as well!

Here are mine:

Your turn!

Here are the rules to participate:

1)  Choose ten pictures that show your readers what's been going on in your life lately (back to school, a peek into your classrom, Labor Day festivities...etc...).  The pictures can be both teacher and non-teacher related.
2)  Place the pictures in post on the tenth of each month. You can include a small caption with each picture if you'd like.  You must include my blog button (found on my side bar) somewhere in your post)
3)  Come to the Classroom Game Nook and link up your post to the linky party.  Check out other bloggers who have linked up and leave a comment or two on their blogs to share the love!

Go ahead - link up :)