Toothy is a fun way to review different skills across all subjects. It is especially fun to use Toothy as a whole group activity. With just a click of a button, students will be engaged and excited about practicing their math facts, digraphs, nouns, and more! Once you are familiar with how the whole group Toothy routine works, be sure to scroll down and grab a Toothy activity to try in your classroom!
How to Play Toothy Whole Group
Set Up
Choose a skill that the class needs to review. Then pull up the link on the SmartBoard to display for the class. If you need more help setting up Digital Toothy, this post may help.
Solve
Click the slideshow button to start. Students will solve the problem and select the answer from the choices displayed.
Check
Once the answer is clicked, the game automatically decides whether or not the answer was correct. If the answer was incorrect, a “try again” message will appear. The student can click the back arrow to try again if incorrect.
Add Teeth
When the students get the correct answer, a tooth magically appears in Toothy's mouth. This is very exciting for the class! When the student taps the tooth in the top right corner, the next problem will appear.
Repeat
Students continue solving problems and adding teeth to Toothy's mouth.
Game Over
The game is over once all the problems have been answered and Toothy's mouth is full of teeth.
Why Does Toothy Work So Well for Whole Group Lessons?
1. Practice Any Skill
Toothy games are designed to practice and review any skill. Lucky Little Learners has made these games specifically for grades K-3 in the subject areas of math, reading, phonics, grammar, social studies, science, and social emotional learning.
Pick a Toothy Activity to Try Today!
2. Increase Engagement and Accountability
Students are more likely to master concepts if they are engaged and held accountable. Give students a whiteboard and their own Toothy mat. Display a problem for the students to solve. Students will solve the problem on the whiteboard and give the teacher a thumbs up when they have the answer. The teacher then tells the class, “1, 2, 3…show me!” At that time, the students hold up their answers and the teacher chooses a student with the correct answer to choose it on the Smartboard to receive the tooth on the game.
3. Brings Excitement to Learning!
Another way to play Toothy whole group is to form two lines with the class. The students at the front of each line are in a race to solve the problem correctly first. The student to solve the problem correctly first gets to select the answer on the Smartboard and prompt the tooth to fly into Toothy's mouth.
A Calmer (yet still exciting!) Option
To bring the excitement and noise level down a notch, Toothy can be played similar to the idea shared above except with just one line of students. Watch the video below to see it in action!
Toothy as a Small Group Activity
Toothy can also be played as a small group activity. Make a Toothy game as a center or station activity. Bonus: students will get more turns and be encouraged to work together to achieve the common goal of filling Toothy's mouth.
I love the toothy cards. I haven’t used them digitally or whole class. I used them for independent work during guided reading and math groups. I wonder how well they work with so made academic levels in one lesson.