This unit is all about the kids learning their math facts to 10. What better way to teach them their addition facts than bowling?!
Decorating the classroom/props
For the bowling unit I set up a fully functional 2 lane bowling alley in the classroom. I am lucky enough to have some old street hockey boards which are very light and soft so that if a child falls onto one of them they are not harmed. If I did not have those boards I would probably use the largest PBC piping for the outer edges of the lanes. I then create a ball return down the middle of the alley by using thin pbc piping as a ramp for the ball return.
Outfits: For bowling shirts I used to use catholic school uniforms ($3 each) that I have dyed and put iron on stickers on however last year a parent bought us 20 clearance shirts from www.bowlingshirts.com. The kids do not get to keep these at the end of the unit. Each group is a different color.
Field trip:
Our bowling field trip is a Family Bowling Night in which the kids and families all meet at a bowling alley and we all bowl!
Bowling Morning Work:
Objective: Vocabulary building, copying
Rather than copy vocabulary we play a “Sound of the Day” game. When the kids come in the room they will see the “Sound of the Day” written up on the board. They have a piece of paper that lists all the consonants (with some blends at the end) and a line after the letter. They fill in the “Sound of the Day” (“ool” for example) on each line to make bool, cool, dool, fool... They then have to circle the word if it is a word or cross it out if it is not a word. I then go through the whole list before we start rotation.
Bowling!!!
Objective: Gross motor
The bowling station is a great opportunity for the kids to learn their math facts. They keep score with prewritten cards which all read “7 Up, 3 Down” for example and they adjust the score each time they roll. Setting up the pins is also a good gross motor skill for the kids.
Bowling Reading Game
Objective: Fine motor, word building, reading
The kids have to assemble bowling pins with initial consonants on the left side and the remainder of words on the right attempting to form words.
Bowling Vocabulary Sheet
Objective: Reading, copying
Student fill in a sheet with bowling vocabulary.
Bowling Word Search
Objective: Fine motor, reading, matching
Students complete a bowling word search.
Bowling ABC’s
Objective: Fine motor, listening, phonics
Students fill in the ABC’s of bowling.
Bowling Mystery Word
Objective: Brainstorming, copying
Students play mystery word with bowling vocabulary words.
Bowling Math
Objective: Addition
The bowling math sheets start out with all problems equaling 10 and get progressively harder.
Bowling Cutting
Objective: Fine motor cutting, puzzle solving
The kids reassemble the bowling picture.
Bowling Art
Objective: Fine motor, shading
During the bowling unit I teach the kids how to shade to make bowling pins appear 3-D. I teach them to first draw a sun in the upper left corner and then tell them to color the right side of the bowling pin as dark as they can, then the middle of the pin medium and the left side of the pin very light.
Bowling ABC’s
Objective: Fine motor, listening, phonics
These words can be dictated by an adult or at the listening center.
Bowling Sight Words
Objective: Fine motor coloring, reading
This is basically sight word bingo except the words are in circles instead of a grid. You tell the students “Find the word ‘the’ and color it in yellow...” This is another activity that can be done by an adult or at the listening center.
Skittles Bowling
Objective: Fine motor, counting, following rules
Skittles bowling is a good table game that a group of students could play and keep score.
Helpful/Interesting Web sites:
Here is our Family Bowling Night
The Bowling Unit
