Jumbo Magnetic Spin Wheel

A few weeks ago, I purchased a "Jumbo Magnetic Spin Wheel" on Amazon for about $40. I love it! So far, I have only used it for behavior rewards. I have a star chart in my classroom; the students earn a star each day the class behaves well, and ten stars means a treat day! Now that we only have five weeks of school left, classes that are pretty far from ten will not be able to earn ten stars before the year is over. So, I let them spin the wheel if they behave well, so they can possibly earn two or three stars. Spinning the wheel is so fun, that it is a good motivator in and of itself.

I really love this product. It has a very strong magnet on the back, so I just put it on the blackboard without fear of students knocking it off or breaking it. The pie wheel in the middle works as a dry erase board, and is interchangeable with other pie wheels with four, six, eight (pictured below), twelve, or thirty sections.

There are so many educational ways to use this great product! For a grade level teacher, multiplication (as pictured on the box below), rhyming words (write common endings like -ing, -ight, -ine on it), and many more learning activities could be done.

I'm still trying to think of great ways to use this wheel in art class. One idea I have is to do art criticism with it. I could write elements or principles of art on it, have the students spin it, and ask them to tell how the element or principle is used in the painting we're discussing. Or, it could be a fun intro to abstract art; I could write random things to include in a painting or drawing on the wheel, and as they spin it, they have to add what they get to their art.

If any of my blog readers have any ideas on how to use the spin wheel, please comment! I would love to hear any ideas. I am excited about the educational possibilities of this new learning tool, but haven't put much into practice yet.