Small Groups
Break an elementary school class into groups of 2-4 students each and have each group play Think Links™ with their own set of cards. This increases the number of cards per student and allows for peer assistance. Make the first student in a group to run out of cards the first winner, the second the second winner, and so on. Since the order in which students run out of cards is determined by luck—the cards they’re dealt—the activity reinforces cooperative learning, not competitiveness.
Variations:
• Have groups of 2-4 play Think Links™ Math BINGO. Provide each group with a set of Think Links™ and a copy of the masters for the cards. The pages of the masters become the bingo cards. To play, players take turns drawing a Think Links™ card and reading the question on it. The player with the response then gets to put the card on his or her “bingo card” on top of the response. The first player to get three in a row horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins.
• Have an entire class play Think Links™ Math BINGO. Make enough Think Links™ “bingo cards” to account for each player by copying different 3 x 3 arrays of Think Links™ cards (different from the arrays given by the masters). Then read (or show with an overhead projector) a question from a Think Links™ card and have players put markers on their cards to indicate having the response to the question. Extend by combining different sets of Think Links™.
Activity Centers
Put sets of Think Links™ in activity centers and have individuals or small groups of students use them to make chains or play a modified version of dominoes by matching questions to responses. If they fail to use all 27 cards, have them check for “weak links”—incorrect answers.
Review Projects
Turn Think Links™ into review projects by having students make Think Links™ (using the blank ones in the back of the book) that match facts and ideas from most any subject: math, science, history—whatever. Chapter reviews and “quick checks” make good source material for the Think Links™.
