Hot Dots

I use Hot Dots in both Math Centers and during the Daily Five. I bought a whole bunch of the Hot Dots pens, which are battery operated. I have Hot Dots cards...loads of them! Academic Vocabulary cards for every subject, basic operations, Word Problems, Main Idea, Predicting, Context Clues, Determining Importance, etc. Seriously, I have so many Hot Dots cards I could go on and on and on!

So, here's how they work. Grab a deck of cards and a pen. For ELA, there is usually a passage on one side and questions on the reverse. When it comes time to answer the questions, they are multiple choice with a black dot next to each answer. Press the pen down on the dot next to the correct answer. If you're right, the top of the pen glows green. If you're wrong, it glows red. Yes, these pens can talk too..."Great job!" "You got it!" "Correct!" "Try again!" Personally, I tell my kiddos that we don't want to hear the pens, just see them. There are buttons on the pen to change the settings.

Anyway, I love how the Hot Dots are very independent. They are self-checking and fun!