Calling Vanna White

Teaching Pre K-8, Jan 1995 by Allen, Denise

Calling Vanna White. When your students play Gamco's Word Problem Square Off, you'll feel like Vanna White has entered your classroom. Similar to the TV show "Wheel of Fortune," this program helps your students learn to solve word problems. I used it during a computer enrichment class with rising second and third graders, and it became a favorite. When parents arrived to pick up their kids, the kids wanted to stay and solve more problems!

Using Texas Instruments' Math Mate calculators, partners try to solve word problems. Answers are entered from left to right. The 16 squares around the gameboard flash when a correct answer is entered. Pressing the space bar uncovers a square, which can cause the player to lose a turn, win an extra guess, or obtain points. Opponents have 25 seconds to answer incorrect responses. After answering three word problems correctly, players can buy a vowel, pick a letter, or guess the phrase. The game ends when the "mystery phrase" is identified.

As students learn math, they also gain practice in other curriculum areas. Mystery phrase categories include food, sports, entertainment, U.S. Presidents, arts and crafts, math vocabulary, places in the U.S. and countries of the world. Math skills include one-and two-step addition and subtraction, whole numbers and money in decimal form, and multi-step problems with whole numbers and decimals.