5 kids with technology on grassy lawn

Smarty Games

Computational Thinker
cartoon

Overview​

Smarty Games is a fun interactive website that helps to develop creativity, visualization, problem-solving skills, math skills and the curiosity for knowledge. It is very easy to understand.  It can help students be more successful with their elementary school curriculum. It is kid-friendly, safe and FREE!

Students will:

  •  Be able to engage in interactive problem-solving games and puzzles.
  • Be able to develop their problem-solving skills and understand what they are working on is connected to what they are learning in the classroom.

Vocabulary Words:

  1. Category: A category is a class or division of people or things regarded as having particular shared characteristics.

To prepare for this lesson:

  • The teacher should preview the website Smarty Games and the games and puzzles to be sure they are appropriate for the grade level.

Note: 

  • Super easy to navigate and VERY kid-friendly.
  • Each game has a brief explanation of the activity.
  • No login or sign up needed.

See the Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4students website in the Teacher Resources. 

Directions for this activity:

  1. Log onto Smarty Games.

  2. From the Home tab select a topic. This can also be done on the categories tab.

  3. There are options to print out certain results.

Different options for assessing the students:

  • Observations
  • Check for understanding

  • Have students share on projector how they managed the app and what they learned.

MITECS: Michigan adopted the "ISTE Standards for Students" called MITECS (Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students) in 2018.

Computational Thinking
5a. Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as data analysis, abstract models and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.
5b. Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.
5c. Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
5d. Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.

Device: PC, Chromebook, Mac, iPad 

Browser: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, ALL

App, Extension, or Add-on:

Websites:
Smarty Pants

CONTENT AREA RESOURCES

The students will journal what was learned on the app.

Print out learning certificates and make a quilt for display.

Number talks and math talks.

Report a bad link, inappropriate content or out-of-date content. 

CREDITS
This task card was created by Julie Hoehing, Lake Shore Public Schools, February 2020. Updated November 2023. 


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