Bingo Makes a Comback – Fraction Bingo

By Sunil Tanna

Bingo is an increasingly popular activity with teachers looking for interesting, challenging, and fun activities to use as teaching aids in their classrooms. There are many reasons why this is happening, but underlying all of them is the fact that teachers are recognizing the suitability of bingo to educational environments. For example, teachers know that bingo is not only easy for students to learn (and fun for them to play), but they also can see the game can be easily adapted to different subjects or lesson plans, and that it can be played using ordinary inexpensive materials.

Pretty much all educational variants of bingo are played using special custom bingo cards. These cards are printed with items specific to the subject of the lesson being taught, rather than the usual numbers, so for example, in an English class, the items might be words that students are learning to read, in a science class, the items might be names of chemicals or elements, and in a geography class, the items might be names of cities, states or countries.

Bingo is particularly suitable for use in math classes; this is because there are a variety of ways to play the game. For example, the bingo cards might be printed with math problems, and students must write in the (correct) answers rather than simply mark items from their cards. Or the cards might contain numbers, and when the teacher calls out a problem, the student must find the corresponding number. Or when teaching fractions, the same number might be presented in different ways (e.g. 3/6 versus 2/4 versus 1/2), and students might be required to solve this type of conversion problem in order to get an item marked off their card.

For all the different educational versions of bingo, the main thing that teachers need is suitable bingo cards. The best way to get them is to print them from your computer – get some bingo card generator software, and it becomes very easy to generate as many as you want. This is much better and cheaper than buying preprinted bingo cards, because you can use the software again and again, and you can also customize the cards’ content to your heart’s content.

By S. Tanna. To create your own custom bingo cards, please go to http://www.bingocardprinter.com/

The Month of Aquarius – 2008 (1)

Our Sun now moves into Aquarius, the last fixed air and masculine energy upon our Zodiac wheel.
This organized sign asks us to improve and refresh our lives as we settle further into winter.
Symbolized by the Water Bearer, Aquarian natives are the masters of invention that bring renewed life to wherever change is needed.

This tolerant sign has the guidance of the planet Uranus making its’ mark upon their intellectual innovations,
while being well-adept at dealing with the unexpected. The focus is typically the larger picture rather than
intimacy in relationships, as the deeper concern is to wield beneficial transformations for humanity.
Like all air signs, this element grants the Aquarian a friendly nature that seeks multitudes of liberal
and experimental alliances.

Our Water Bearers are constantly urged to express their innate originality.
Consciously aiming to seek the truth, Aquarians are driven by a deep sense of altruism.
They instinctively turn obstacles into welcomed challenges, fostering success in the areas of science,
technological advancements or anywhere they can apply their eccentric and insightful visions for the future.