In order to review their topic on decimals, students in Mrs. Hall and Ms. O’Donnell’s class at Coal City Intermediate School played a version of The Game of Life. Each student was assigned an occupation and salary, and students were required to purchase various items such as a house, car, and vacation. They used subtraction for each purchase made and used addition every time they had a pay day. This simulation not only allowed students to practice adding and subtracting decimals, but it also forced them to budget their “money.”
Mrs. Hall and Ms. O’Donnell further reported the students are currently in their American Revolution unit in social studies. After learning about the Stamp Act, students participated in a Skittles simulation. Students were either a colonist, tax collector, member of parliament, or King George. The ‘colonists’ received Skittles for currency, and King George imposed new laws in our classroom. The tax collectors went around the classroom and collected Skittles from each student for the new laws. The simulation put students in a situation that was similar to the colonists’ experience. The colonists were upset about the taxes and their lack of representation in parliament. They also became angry with the tax collectors and tried to boycott paying their taxes, which caused King George to impose more taxes on them.