Triangles

Set up the triangle game by making a game board similar to the one below. In the first game (maybe the first few games) the academic therapist should play first. She starts the play by announcing that she is going to draw a line from (for example) "blank" to "flank." She then draws the line. Then it's the student's turn. He decides where he wants to draw his line, reads the words at the endpoints, and draws it. Play continues in that fashion, with each player reading the words at the endpoints before drawing the line.

The object of the game is to complete as many triangles as possible; so a competitive player tries to avoid drawing a line on the second side of a triangle. Whenever a player completes a triangle, he puts his initials inside it; and he gets another turn. If it is your turn, you must draw a line even if doing so will give the other player one or more triangles -- you may not "pass." (If you are familiar with an old paper-and-pencil game called Penning the Pig, you will see that this one is based on it.)

Be careful! As you approach the endgame, an injudicious choice of where to draw the line can allow your opponent to complete many triangles. From another point of view: the incautious academic therapist can easily trap herself into winning the game.

Each player should have a different colored pen to draw his lines.

As you (the AT) read your words, point at each one. Make sure your student does the same.

Note that words in the interior of the game board are at endpoints of six lines, so that they must be read six times in the course of the game. Words at the the outside corners will be read only twice. So put words that you want your student to read many times near the center of the board.

The game board on this web page is constructed with underscore characters (_), backslash characters (\), and pipe characters (|). The one I actually use in therapy sessions is constructed using the drawing features of Microsoft Word. The lines are continuous, and printed in light blue. The words are in a large font, and printed in black. It takes a while to make the game board; but you need do it only once. It's easy to change the words for new games.

 math               thick             think             that
  _______________________________________________________
  |\                |\                |\                |
  |  \              |  \              |  \              |
  |    \            |    \            |    \            |
  |      \          |      \          |      \          |
  |        \        |        \        |        \        |
  |          \      |          \      |          \      |
  |            \    |            \    |            \    |
  |              \  |              \  |              \  |
  |                \|                \|                \|
  sloth_____________dank______________blank_____________black
  |\                |\                |\                |
  |  \              |  \              |  \              |
  |    \            |    \            |    \            |
  |      \          |      \          |      \          |
  |        \        |        \        |        \        |
  |          \      |          \      |          \      |
  |            \    |            \    |            \    |
  |              \  |              \  |              \  |
  |                \|                \|                \|
  thrill____________bath______________snack_____________flank

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Everything on this web site is the personal opinion of S. W. Davison. Any of it might be incorrect or out-of-date.

Copyright 1998, 1999 Stowell W. Davison