It all started with Hanging With Friends. When I got my iPad, my friend downloaded a bunch of apps for me, and this was in the batch. A fun game, but you kinda get tired of Hangman. It's really hard to predict what the other person is thinking.
Next, I went to Words With Friends. Hanging With Friends is no longer on my iPad. I'm still addicted to it and love crushing my opponents. There are still a few friends that I struggle to beat and cheered with glee when I destroyed one by over 100 points recently.
WordsWorth is an app that I found via the blogs. Fun and addicting but ultimately not challenging. I feel that it's more a measure of how fast your fingers move than how fast you think. That went by the wayside when I found the next one.
7 Little Words is a great app for building vocabulary. My wife and I blew through the Sunrise free games and we bought our first in-app purchase: Coffee! I love the game, but my wife is addicted. Once a night, she takes the iPad and plays a few rounds. Thankfully, they have a free daily game; otherwise, we'd be buying a lot more in-app purchases.
I recently discovered my new addiction: Word Jigsaw. It combines word knowledge and jigsaw puzzles. Sometimes I put the puzzle together using my massive jigsaw skills. Other times I use my vast vocabulary to win. Then, there are times I need a hint because I'm not as good as I thought I was.
Every other Friday, we have what I call Station Day. The kids move around the room to 5 or 6 stations where they do various activities: some on technology and some without. We have a massive checkers station and a hink pink station. We do board games and coloring. I usually try to have at least one iPad station. I'll sometimes use these apps (not the "With Friends" apps) at the iPad stations. WordsWorth is a big winner. I'm finding kids getting into 7 Little Words when I let them play what they want, which I'm happy about. They haven't hit Word Jigsaw yet, so I'm waiting to see how they react to it.
What is your word game addiction? How do you use it in school?
Great to see other teacher's rock hink pinks. I totally learned that these are ink pinks but the premise is exactly the same. I use them a lot for studying vocab words and reviewing their meanings. It gets really dynamic when students can make their own! http://eslcarissa.blogspot.mx/2012/07/rhyming-word-game.html Glad to see other people love them too! Such a great way to keep reluctant students involved in critical thinking, vocabulary practice and inferring.
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