Game On as Southdown Class Earns Board Game Day

Teacher Valerie Murray’s second grade class at Southdown Primary School recently earned a special Board Game Day celebration after demonstrating exceptional focus and dedication to their iReady minutes.

Students achieved this well-deserved reward by earning 100s on their independent assignments in both reading and math, completing their classroom positive rewards chart and showing tremendous commitment to their learning goals.

Why Do Board Games Matter? Board games are a great way to reinforce important social-emotional skills such as taking turns, cooperating, handling winning and losing gracefully, problem solving, and managing frustration. The celebration gave students a fun chance to practice those skills in the classroom setting while reinforcing the positive behaviors they've been building all year. Through this experience, students are developing essential life skills and building a positive culture around determination, resilience, and growth and qualities that will serve them well both in and out of the classroom.

The students played a variety of games including Candy Land, Oh No Volcano, Uno, Sorry, Headbanz, and Guess Who with each game offering unique opportunities to develop collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills.

To strengthen the home-school connection, Ms. Murray reached out to families asking them to send in their favorite family games played at home. This meaningful partnership brought even more joy and personal connection to the celebration!

“I was so proud to see all the hard work our students put into their iReady practice pay off,"  Ms. Murray said. “It was truly amazing to see them fully engaged in the games, collaborating with their classmates, and supporting one another. Watching every student shine was the highlight of my week.”

“It was amazing to see the students using the vocabulary and speaking to their peers while problem solving together,” Southdown ENL teacher Lorna Herbert said. “The games played today covered so many important skills, and seeing our learners build confidence and friendships through play was truly special.”

Students left the classroom buzzing with excitement, already motivated to continue crushing their iReady practice goals. Many expressed that it was their “best day ever” and are eager to earn another game day celebration in the future!

“We’re celebrating student success, one game at a time,” Ms. Murray said.