Mike Williams

Common Core in a Can Mike Williams

The concept for BANG! and the other activities included in Common Core in a Can! Get More BANG! Out of the Standards have been around for many years. These highly motivational activities utilize an empty container, which would typically be discarded, filled with game cards that review a previously taught skill or concept. The object of the game is simply to draw out skill cards and avoid the "BANG!" cards which result in the player losing all of his or her game cards. If a student is unable to correctly respond to the skill card, the card is returned to the can. Over the past eighteen years, I have developed variations of this game that can be used in nearly every subject area. Because it is not technology-based, activities of this nature appeal to students and encourage actual student-to-student interaction. The hands-on, interactive components of these activities are also supported by current brain research and promote more efficient assimilation of concepts and effective retrieval of information from long- and short-term memory. These activities have been collected into grade level appropriate publications since most teachers are typically assigned only one grade level. Each volume contains six grade level skill activities that are specifically designed to address the Common Core State Standards. The 4th grade English Language Arts skills addressed within this book include: : verb tenses, syllabication, quotations & punctuation, using dictionary guide words, identifying sentence fragments, and idioms. Critical thinking is required for every activity.