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Around the world, around the world… are you singing it with me?)

Did you play Around the World when you were young?

We sure did, and to be completely honest, I remember it being all sorts of COMPETITIVE in those early days. It may have had something to do with multiplication facts, but I've also sort of blocked the whole thing out!

Around the World was a HUGE hit with my students, but I made sure there were a few guidelines so we could all enjoy the learning experience and gain valuable learning.

Choose Review Skills – this is a fast-moving game that lends itself to more knowledge-recall questions and answers. This is a great time for spiral review instead of fresh content.
Form a line to play the game instead of a circle or around seated chairs. I found this trick out by surprise, and boy I'm glad I did! We especially enjoyed playing this game during transitions when we were lined up to exit the classroom. This was so much easier than trying to walk in and around tables and chairs.
Visuals – Choose cards that are at least 3 x 5″ or half-page so that everyone can clearly see. The cards should be free of extra “clutter” that may distract or make it hard to visually read.
Differentiate – I've been known to “mix and match” the Around the World cards as the game goes on so students are receiving the practice they need.

Around the World is a wonderful game for to use during transitions, AND a quick check for understanding (performance assessment!).

I use these cards, but ANY cards will work to play a quick round…math facts, vocabulary, or any recall facts:

The cards include the following skills for my small reading intervention groups:

Alphabet – uppercase/lowercase

Phonics “Chunks” – those phonics sound-spellings with two or more letters, like the digraph “ch” and initial blend “br”

Sight Words – “Tricky Words” aligned with CKLA Kindergarten and 1st grade list

Please note: the sight word set (48 words) is already included in my CKLA BUNDLE for 1st grade.

Around the World Game Directions

Simply line up your students to face the cards (I'm holding the set).

Select two students standing next to each other and display one card.

The first student to correctly identify the card “travels” to the next student in line.

The game repeats until all students have had one opportunity to have a turn.

“Around the World” refers to traveling down the line if a student “wins” multiple turns!

That's it! Quick and simple, but SO fun!

Looking for more classroom movement games?

Click HERE to check out more favorites!

Hi there.

I'm Jennifer!

I’m Jennifer and I was a special educator in the elementary school setting over the past decade. I entered the classroom every day dedicated to making learning inclusive AND engaging.

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