Board Game Lunch Breaks Hosted by SPED for All Students!

Funded Sep 26, 2023

I have 11 students with a wide variety of special education needs. By bringing a variety of multiplayer board games into my classroom I have been able to help the students pre-teach themselves the rules of the games. Many of the games have been learned by giving the rule book to the student with the lowest reading comprehension skills and having them teach how to play the game to their peers.

Once the students became proficient at the game, we have invited other hand selected students to join us. We now have a group of 3-5 Gen Ed students who come into the intensive "common" room and play games during lunch.

In addition to the feelings of inclusivity, my students also have the pride of being the "judges" and making the rules calls because they are the most familiar with the rules. This is a very empowering feeling as evidenced by the fact that over half of the intensive students are choosing to eat their lunch in the main school cafeteria with their Gen Ed peers (and friends that they have made).

My students are learning and refining their communication skills, making inroads in beginning to handle their impulsivities, increasing their critical reading skills, and improving their cognitive, strategic, and critical thinking skills.

The General education population are developing empathy and an appreciation for diversity as evidenced by the amount of chairs that are offered during lunch to my students (whereas in the beginning of the school they never noticed my special education students getting lunch, and my students never even considered sitting in the main lunch room).

Moving forward, I plan to open up the game room and times to the entire school (so that the Gen Ed population can see what the intensive classrooms are like), or even set up tables and bring the games out into the main lunch room.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Wood