Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Teaching Opinion

18 Games to Play in the Classroom for Learning and Fun

By Larry Ferlazzo — October 29, 2023 2 min read
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I asked teachers on social media to share their favorite classroom learning games that are not online and received many responses. This post lists just a few of them.

If you’re not familiar with the names of some of the recommendations, a quick internet search will lead you to rules, descriptions, and resources.

Though the games listed in this post can be played in all kinds of classrooms, you might also be interested in The Best Ideas for Using Games in the ESL/EFL/ELL Classroom, as well as The Best Online Learning Games to Play During Distance Learning and The Best Online Games Students Can Play in Private Virtual “Rooms.”

Two Kagan strategies—Fan and Pick; Quiz-Quiz-Trade.
2 truths and a lie, Guess Who...
Word Wall Game! Pick a word from any set that SS can see and give 3 clues. They make a guess after each clue
Rowco integer card game, and greedy pig.
I like numbering Jenga pieces and having a corresponding sheet of questions/topic-related commands. If a student successfully pulls a piece, they get to choose anybody and ask the question/tell classmate what to do or solve
Brain spin
20 Questions- curiosity, nouns, community building, logic and reason. Let them figure out how to ask better and better questions.
24 For math fluency and strategy. Mancala for strategy and counting fluency, and a vintage Ring-a-Round for math fact fluency and strategy.

Thanks to everyone who contributed their suggestions!

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo.

Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It’s titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching.

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The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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