I take my personal iPad to each classroom I go to. My iPad has a huge collection of educational apps and games on it that range from Kindergarten to Stage 3 levels, and some beyond. I find the iPad is a wonderful tool to have in a classroom, and this is just a small use for it.

If I’m in a classroom that is lucky enough to have a projector and/or a SMARTboard, I’ll project my iPad onto it. I do this regularly just for a change of scenary by running, for example, the MyReef 3D app. This, by itself, gives a relaxing atmosphere to an otherwise blank wall and pushes the students to learn more about the tropical fish that they put into the tank… but more on that another time.

During Fruit Break, I’ll run a game of Fruit Ninja for the Fruit Break session. Here’s how I run it:

* No more than six (6) players per session
* We all play in Zen Mode
* If only working on the class for one day, the six players are chosen randomly (I’ll regularly pull all of the students’ seats out in the morning before class, tape a small card under six random seats and have the students put the seats back themselves so the cards are distributed randomly)
* Scores are recorded on a basic table

This session then leads into other activities, like:

* Discussions on small and large numbers
* Organising scores in ranked order
* Differences between thirds and fourth’s scores
* Converting the scores from the table into a number of various graph types

After each round of Fruit Ninja, there is a Fruit Fact displayed. These can be recorded for a number of things, such as writing skills, research, or science activities – who doesn’t want to try and rub the inside of a banana skin on a mozzie bite to stop the itchiness? 😉

Fruit Break Ninjas.
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2 thoughts on “Fruit Break Ninjas.

  • October 22, 2012 at 2:50 am
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    Congrats on your first blog post. I liked it, a lot. We do similar with some times table apps on my tablet. The kids take turn challenging each other and we keep a class rank based on success or otherwise in the battle arena. The sts love working out how their result has changed their rank and they start doing all this mental maths with adding and subtracting that if I gave it to them on a piece of paper they would screw their faces up.

    Love the linking activities to other KLAs too. Nice work.

    Reply
  • October 26, 2012 at 9:16 pm
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    Thanks for sharing in detail. I’m looking for posts that explain the steps that teachers take in setting up their lessons. This is a great start to your blog and I’m sure there will be many people keen to learn more from you. Thanks.

    Reply

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