Grades 1–2

Maggies's Earth Adventure activities are meant to be a supplement to your curriculum. Teachers can give specific activities to do as a way to get extra practice in a skill set or as an educational reward. For grades 1–2, the following activities are appropriate:

Grammar

Super Match

Goals: This matching/memory game gives children a greater awareness of homophones. Children click on a square, and a word is revealed. They then look for the matching homophone. When all words have been matched, a picture is revealed

Classroom Use: Awareness is the first step to using homophones correctly. By seeing the different words in this game, children will realize there are two ways to use many words. After enjoying the game, you may want to have your students make their own Super Match game with paper and pencil. Have them write a homophone such as scene on a card. They should write its definition on another card. Do the same for its homophone, seen. One child could do a complete set of these cards or each child in the class could do a pair of homophones for a classroom set of homophones. Put the cards together and you have a child-created center game!

Extension: Do your students ever confuse it's and its? If so, they are not alone. Many times these homophones are written incorrectly even in professional publications. The cartoon, "You Must Be Choking" contains a game designed to help your students learn when to use it's and when its is the correct choice. Just go to www.missmaggie.org and click on the big red button. Find the Cartoon section. When you see the video camera, click to launch the animation. Not only will your students learn about its and it's, but they will be learn more about air pollution.

Maggie's Earth Adventures offers an archive of past Weekly Activity Packets. Many of these classroom-ready activities feature a language theme, including homophones. Click on the blue Weekly Activity bar on the homepage for information on how to sign up for these activities and learn how to get our extensive archive of past packets.

Clean Up Your Grammar

Goals: Your students can practice with noun / verb identification by "cleaning up the trash on the beach!" Level One contains easier words and Level Two is made up of more challenging vocabulary. This game is also good for reading and vocabulary development.

Classroom Use: After playing this game, motivate your students to practice their grammar skills by using their interests. They can make posters showing nouns and verbs in different ways. For example, a child who loves basketball might draw a basketball court. He could draw several balls all containing nouns by one basket and more balls containing verbs by the other basket.

Extension: For more language activities, visit www.missmaggie.org. Click on the blue Weekly Activity bar on the homepage for information on how to sign up for our weekly activities and learn how to get our extensive archive of past packets. Many of these classroom-ready activities feature language themes.

Fish 'Em Up!

Goals: This version of Fish 'Em Up is great for fun spelling practice. When playing this game students will spot when it is necessary to add es to a word and when adding s is the acceptable spelling choice.

Fish "Em Up 2: Now I'm Hooked gives needed practice with another inflectional ending objective — when to double a consonant or drop a y before adding the ending. These games give children needed practice in making these syllable juncture decisions.

Classroom Use: After presenting the appropriate rules and completing pencil and paper activities, send your children to the classroom computer to practice these skills. You can even encourage students to make their own data bank of words for these games. Have them design other possible interactive games based on new spelling principles you may be studying.

Math

Dude's Dilemma

Goals: This game gives your students practice in the four calculation areas, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, along with mixed practice. They will love rescuing Maggie's dog, Dude, from a rooftop. Even older children love to watch the helicopter come closer and closer to Dude as they correctly answer the math problems. Within each area of play there are 3 levels: Easier, Harder, and Extreme.

Classroom Use: As with many of Maggie's games, the several levels offered allow you to differentiate for instruction. Students needing review can be assigned to practice at one level, while those needing a challenge can be assigned a higher level. Because all students are playing the same game, they can still share the experience of rescuing Dude!

Extension: Looking for ways your children can extend their thinking about numbers? Send them to www.missmaggie.org. Click on the Games area, click on Target Math. This game helps students understand there are many names for one number (8 + 4, 20 - 8, one ten and 2 ones are all names for 12).

Around the World in 80 Seconds

Goals: This game allows for practice in the four calculation areas, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, along with mixed practice. Within each area of play there are 2 levels: Easier and Harder. In this game, speed is emphasized. Your children will get essential calculation practice while building speed. The bonus is that children also develop a greater understanding of geography!

Classroom Use: A good way to use this game is to have children keep a Progress Chart (PDF) of each game's time. This way, children are working toward their personal best. They have a visual record of progress which is motivating. You also have a chart to share with parents detailing a child's abilities.

Extension: There are many more interactive math games found embedded in the cartoon section at www.missmaggie.org. Your primary children may enjoy counting fish and then stating the third of the total number of fish. This interactive activity can be found in the cartoon, "A Great Catch." For problem solving activities involving pencil and paper, visit the Teachers' Lounge at Maggie's Earth Adventures.

Spanish

El Dilema de Dude — See Dude's Dilemma under Grammar

Alredor del Mundo en 80 Segundos — See Around the World in 80 Seconds under Grammar

Spanish English Cycle Race

Goals: Your budding Spanish speakers will have a chance to practice new vocabulary on 2 levels. The Easy Level features many color and number words, the Advanced Level reinforces other vocabulary needed by the beginning Spanish speaker.

Classroom Use: This game is helpful in foreign language classrooms to help children practice basic Spanish vocabulary. It is also helpful for ESL students as they can practice English vocabulary. Follow up by giving your students a long piece of bulletin board paper. Have them create their own bike race by writing Spanish (or English) words on a bike path. Draw a bike with a basket and duplicate. Children can cut these out and write the meanings of the words in the bike basket. Glue them next to the correct word on the bike path. Hang in a long hallway!

Extension: Most of Maggie's Earth Adventures is available in both English and Spanish. Spanish and ESL teachers can have children change the language toggler to Spanish. Maggie and her friends will speak in Spanish in the cartoons, activities will appear in Spanish, and you can even receive our Weekly Activity Packets in Spanish. Be sure to check out this exciting feature!

Limpia tu gramática — See Clean Up Your Grammar under Grammar

Puzzle de Contarseña

Goals: This game offers two levels of vocabulary for the Spanish learner. Unlike the Spanish/English Bike game students need to guess consonants and vowels to create a Spanish word.

Classroom Use: This game is helpful in foreign language classrooms to help children practice and learn new Spanish vocabulary words. The design of the game allows students to quickly recognize many of the frequently used consonants and vowels of the Spanish language as they unlock each lock. They will quickly learning spelling patterns too. Two levels are offered providing a range of Spanish words for the new and advanced Spanish speaker. Have your students design their own password puzzler using index cards. Encourage them to "trick" their opponent with some of the new words they learned playing Password Puzzler in Spanish.

Extension: The sister game of Password Puzzler in Spanish is Password Puzzler in English. Use this in your English learning classroom for new vocabulary and in elementary classrooms for practice in spelling. You will find these words likely correlate as follows: Level One — second and third grade, Level Two — fourth grade and above. Children also love this game as they enjoy spotting letter patterns in words (s at the beginning may be followed by h, etc.) and discovering which letters are used most often in English.

All of Maggie's Earth Adventures Cartoons are available in Spanish. Log on and have your students listen to the Cartoons. It's a great way to introduce the ear to the Spanish language and if they don't understand it all that's okay, just switch the language toggle and view in English.

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