The Amazing (Review) Race

For a final review in term two I decided to host an Amazing Race activity.  This review would use the TV show as inspiration to review concepts in the major content areas.

The students walked in to a dimmed room with the opening theme to The Amazing Race playing on repeat.  We watched a quick clip to help orient students that have never seen the show before and then I explained how it was going to work today.

• Students were on teams of three or four. 
• Each team was assigned a color and symbol.
• Clues for each team were in envelopes with their symbol. 

The Teams

Unlike the actual amazing race, the goal wasn't necessarily to be the first team to finish. Instead it was a point-based game where you can earn points for various tasks:

• Completing a route: 20 points
• Completing a road block: 15 points + points for creativity, quality, and originality
• Bonus points: 5 points each (given at the end of the match, similar to Mario Party)

Students were also told there were ways to lose points.  I really wanted to focus on them working together and using each other as a resource:

• Getting help from an adult or other team: -5 points
• Running or unexpected hallway behavior: -5 points
• If your group is split up / not together: -10 points
• Opening the wrong envelope: -10 points

We also talked about 'sabotage' and how it wasn't allowed (for instance, seeing someone else's envelope and moving or otherwise interfering with other teams.) 

That is a great haiku about China - but you didn't talk about the government... ROAD BLOCKED

After that I put them in their groups and said their first clue was in the commons.  They left the classroom, found their clue and the game began.  

We played a total of 4 route cards and one road block.  The route cards reviewed skills from all the major subjects that my partner teacher and I presented in term two.  To add to the game I bought some programmable padlocks from amazon.  Certain route cards led you to a locker number with a lock. The clue also had the combination to that lock embedded in the clue.  A few groups came up to me for clarification, but when I used the phrase, "is this an official asking for help question?" many of them chose to figure it out as a group rather than lose the five points. 

$10 on Amazon. Great purchase.

After the game was finished, students completed a reflection / feedback survey.  The results were very positive.  Students rated their partner's helpfulness at 3.2 out of 4, Fun rated a 3.3 out of 4 and 93% of students said they'd want to do this again.  It took quite some time to create this, so I'm glad that it went so well!

I really enjoyed this activity for a number of reasons. Students were encouraged to ask each other for help rather than asking a teacher. Only two groups asked a teacher for help throughout the entire game, and that was after they realized they all were stuck.  I got to incorporate a mix of topics - science, social studies, math, and language arts were all represented.  On top of academics, the social pieces - communication, team building, and all the skills that go with that were also emphasized.  I'll be excited to try this again in term three!

Escape the Math Classroom

This I made my first attempt at an 'escape room', but I decided to do it digital style.  Students came in and saw an on the front board with the message that said, "Escape the Math Classroom." 

We had a quick talk about "escape rooms" and I asked if anyone had experience with these. To my surprise a number of students have done these activities.  I asked what qualities escape rooms had.  Students answered with "puzzles, clues, a time limit, and teamwork."  I agreed with all of those.

I explained that today would be a little different than a traditional escape room.  Today's would be all digital.  Clues and answers would be solely on the computer.  Students would still have to figure out clues and work with a partner to solve the puzzles to move on, and they would only have until the end of class to finish the room. 

This escape room was designed around a math review for integers and the coordinate plane.  Each clue was designed on Google forms. Using the response validation option when I set it up, students had to correctly answer each question before being allowed to move on to the next response. 

Students were excited to get started and were engaged from the start.  It was fascinating to watch them work together to solve each review question - there were levels of frustration and perseverance, and absolute excitement when they finally moved on to the next clue. 

Some students finished before others and went on to other academic choices, but all groups ended up solving the room by the end of class.  For homework students had to complete a reflection survey to help me get some feedback as to how well they felt it went.  Overall they enjoyed it and were looking forward to doing it again (with more clues than just digital.)   Here is the survey they had to complete: Reflection Survey. (TTQA = turn the question around)

I plan on expanding this activity soon to include many more multi-sensory activities.  I purchased programmable combination locks and plan on storing some clues in lockers throughout the division.  Also, the next one will be multi-class and incorporate many clues from language arts as well as science and social studies.  I'm excited to team up with my teaching partner to create this game!

Here is the room for those of you that want to try it out! Escape the Math Room

Thanks for reading!

The Infection Spreads!

Last week an infection got introduced to my classroom. How to what it was, how to catch it, how it spreads - none of that was known. Throughout the week students completed problems to receive clues as to the nature of the infection. 

This past week it was revealed: the infection is a virus which affects the midichlorians. When infected, the virus turns the midichlorians to favor the dark side. By the time this was known, half of the class was on the light side and half was on the dark side. There is also a ‘secret agent’ on the light side: someone that is infected, but that does not show any signs. There is also one student in the class that is immune to the infection. 

Both of those came out randomly based on the cards students drew from a deck last week.

 For the past week students have continued to push their cause's side by earning points to win mini-challenges. Students had probability challenges, number challenges, and other games. Light side students got a chance to retry, while dark side students were ‘tossed’ into the Pit of Sarlak. The most recent one was a kahoot battle. Students signed into kahoot as normal, but labeled their side: 

Sides have been set. 

Many of them wanted to name themselves “Darth”, but I told them there are only two sith lords, and they are currently held by the two teachers in the classroom. I also told them they were welcome to challenge us in a math competition to take the title. None have done so yet. 

During the game, students saw the top 5 but also knew EVERY point mattered so they focused on getting answers right.  They reminded each other that getting answers right is better than answering fast and incorrectly. 

Light side leads, but the force is strong with the dark forces. 

When the game was over I totaled the dark and light sides and averaged their scores. That became their points for “final” kahoot (just like final jeopardy.) The leader from each team (the one with most points) got to decide how many points to risk. Other students could help, ask, and beg, but ultimately that student decided the wager. 

From there, students were told one random person from each team would represent their answer. Collaboration during that question could not have been higher as teammates checked in with each other about both the process and the final answer. 

In the end, the light side won this battle, but the war is not over yet.

How will episode II end?

Explore Like A Pirate: Pandemic Based Game!

Last week a dangerous infection was let loose in math. Nobody knows the source or the cure (well except the teachers, of course), but class has been on edge trying to solve the mystery.

Students walked in on Monday and saw they had a 1 in 5 chance of being infected. They had no idea what this meant, but they were told that by completing problems in class they could start to find clues as to who is infected and how to cure it.

One of my favorites. Why not put it into class?

It was interesting to watch because even though they figured out the theoretical number of students currently infected (four), most chose to work alone because they didn’t want to risk sitting by someone that was infected. This led to a great social studies connection about how fear creates walls.

Students worked on problems related to simple and compound probability and were told that they could draw 2 cards for every 5 problems they got correct (which allowed them to connect ratios from a previous unit.)  If the student draws a heart card, they would get some information about the game.  This allowed students to complete work at their own pace while still being engaged.  Work could be done at home optionally for draws the next morning.  I have never had more students do optional homework than that night.

The right column is very filled with names now.

On Friday I conferenced with students one-on-one while they took a formative assessment. The meeting gave me an opportunity to do many things. I asked them how they felt about the learning targets, how comfortable they were, where they needed to improve. I also informed them whether they were infected or not.  Students that were infected had two choices: They could work for the light side and try to discover a cure to help the class, or they can play the role of antagonist and join the dark side to spread the infection.

Tomorrow they will come into class with a list of actions on the board, some for the light side and some for the dark side.  Actions include trying to cure the disease, spread the disease, mutate the disease to make it stronger, or protect someone from becoming infected.

The Game ends when one of these things occur:

• Everyone is cured (light side wins) 
• 80% of the class is infected (dark side wins) 
• Mr. Taylor or Mrs. Menker says “the game is over”

(that last option allows us to end the game should students lose sight of the objectives or forget rules about physical and emotional safety.)

Students will complete problems (this will be a general review of the term so far) and after each problem they will fill out a google form to choose one action. From there teachers will discern the outcome and let them know the result.

We’re right in the heart of the game and I have no idea how it will turn out. Will students unite to destroy the infection, or will darkness win? I’m excited to see what happens!

Who Killed Mr. Xavier Pression?

I just got back from AMLE 2016, and what an amazing experience.  I met some amazing people, including many that I've been talking to during #MSCHAT and #TLAP talks.  I know many of you want to hear all about it, but honestly this graphic kind of explains where I am currently at:

I think I need to install some new RAM.

So for now you'll have to read about my latest activity.  

This year my 7th grade math class has been immersed in a game world.  They are in guilds named after mathematicians (Kepler, Nother, Euler, and Brahmagupta), exploring a world, and helping to bring together two nations.  They were introduced to Mr. Xavier Pression, the main diplomat brokering the truce between the nations of Gunthar and Sancrist.  Last week they received a message that Mr. Pression has gone missing.  They completed a series of quests to find him, which all four guilds did successfully.  

Unfortunately at the end of the last quest they found this on the screen at the end of the period:

It took a minute, but they eventually got the pun.

There was shock on everyone's face.  He was dead? How could that be?  They did everything they could to find him.  The next morning they walked in determined to find his killer.  

I purchased this activity from Teachers Pay Teachers.  It is a clue-based activity to have students write algebraic sentences as expressions.  In fact the whole game is set up like the boardgame Clue.  Here is the link to the product - I highly recommend it: Who Killed Mr. X. Pression

Now here is where Dave Burgess would say it is time to kick it up a notch.  They could have just come in and done the activity. I could have had the worksheets with the clues out and they could have just completed them and discovered the person, place, and thing.  However, this was a murder mystery. This was drama.  This was a crime investigation.  So instead of coming in to a worksheet laden room, they came in to this:

SO much positive feedback about the atmosphere.

Dark room, chilling music, the only thing out was the title.  By the way, students were actually working when I shot this video - that's the murmuring you hear in the background.  There was so much excitement and chatter.  They wanted to finish this assignment.  They learned that their sponsors were offering rewards including kingdom points, renown points, and new items to anyone that correctly completes the problems and solves the mystery.  They begged to get it started. 

How often can you say that has happened while teaching writing algebraic expressions?  

There is Nothing Worse Than Being John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt'ed

Finding the greatest common factor of two monomials... can you think of a more thrilling, exciting, topic in any subject?  I mean having a teacher give you 14x³ and 20x²y and finding 2x².  THRILLING, right?

About as thrilling as teaching commas in grammar I'd imagine.

This year I have taken Michael Matera's writings from Explore Like a Pirate to Gamify my classroom.  I have used games in my classroom before, but this is the first time I'm fully integrating gaming into the classroom.

During the week we have been working on factoring monomials. Students did this in small groups, individually, and in whole group games.  They included playing Clue, higher/lower, and hot seat.

It culminated with a game of Magic Card.  Here is how we played:

All 52 cards of one deck were laid out on a table:

Didn't take pictures, sorry...

From there I explained the rules:

I would post a problem and give 30 seconds to work it.  After 30 seconds I will use the random name generator (found here)  to pick a name. A new name would be picked every 10 seconds until a correct answer is given.

If you have a correct answer, you can go to the table and pick any playing card.

The more questions you get correct, the more playing cards your team will have at the end of the game.

Once the game is over, I will draw a card from a second deck.  That is the magic card.

Here is the scoring for this game:

Really should have taken some pictures. Sorry.

So that means if the winning card is the 3 of clubs, you get 2 points for each black card in your deck, 4 points for each club, 10 points for each '3', and 25 points if you have the 3 of clubs.  I gave them a moment to calculate how many points the winning card is worth.  At first they said 25 points, then a few realized the winning card would match the color, suit and value as well, so the winning card is actually worth 41 points.

As part of my gamification, students also have game cards available.  These are kept in their binder in a plastic card holder.  If you are curious, I made these cards on the Magic: The Gathering Cardsmith Website. It is an easy site to navigate and saves up to 1000 cards! Here are a few that were used during this game:

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmit: This card allows you to take a turn when it is someone else's turn.  Know the right answer, but were not selected?  Play this card! It's your turn now and not theirs!










Twinning: When someone is chosen, you may play this card and get full benefits of being called upon. Have the right answer? You get a playing card! Have the wrong answer? No card and you've used this card's power for the day.

Shield: Use this card when you are targeted.  You are protected and are not targeted anymore.  Great for countering Twinning and John Jacob.








It was so wonderful watching students collaborate in their teams, hope their name got called, and then strategize when to use cards.  One group realized that if a teammate got selected, they should twin their teammate so that they can get double (or triple) cards that round.

I gave multiple bonuses out for good team work, showing good processes, and good sportsmanship.  When it was said and done over 2 dozen of the 52 cards had been selected.  Later in the year I plan on expanding this part to have them write some probability examples from the game data.

When it was all done, Team Emmy Noether had 9 cards, Johann Kepler had 7 cards, Leonhard Euler had 6 cards, and Brahmagupta had 5 cards (my students are on teams named after mathematicians.)  Each team had their own strategies; Emmy went for a good variety of cards while Brahmagupta went for only cards with hearts on them.

Tension built as I was getting ready to reveal the winning card.  Of course it didn't happen right away - we had to get our homework copied,  get our work in our notebook, and close up a bit...

Then I went to the deck and pulled the 9 of clubs.  The girls immediately cheer as they realized they had the winning card and at least 41 points.  Brahmagupta's members groaned as they saw they had no clubs and no 9.  Zero game points.

Overall this was a crazy loud, fun, and fully engaging way of teaching what is otherwise a rather dull topic. Students were authentically excited to solve for the greatest common factor of monomials.  Emmy Noether was also excited because they had fallen to 2nd overall in the team points, but knew today's domination would put them back on top.

Best of all?  Students were leaving the classroom saying "Factoring monomials is fun!" Seriously.

Front Loading the Gaming Experience

I hope everyone is having a great first week back (or is getting ready for an amazing first week back!) We've had a great start to the school year here in Central Ohio.  The weather has been amazingly mild (which is fantastic since I'm training for my first marathon), student attendance has been near 100%, and the gamification of my classroom is well underway!

Are you building excitement in your classroom? Are students dying to be called on in your class? If you are having trouble with this, read on!

We started our year with many of the team building activities I outlined in my past few blogs.  It really helped students and teachers learn names, set up a classroom culture of focused fun, and allowed students to get back into the routines of school after a summer off.  It was so nice to not even touch academics until the fourth day of school!

I also show my math class this video.  It is an amazing four minutes during which so many students, especially female students,  make incredible connections to the speaker.  It also destroys various stereotypes about 'math people.'

• "She's a math major? She looks like she'd be in fashion."  
• "That's so true - I always compare myself to everyone else!"
• "I never thought of it as being at different places." 

For math class at Marburn, we start with pre-assessments which have students check out on basic facts for all four major operations, as well as whole number, fraction, and decimal computations.  As a class we have decided to do an operation a day and follow it up with a mini game.

objective: don't die!

We talked about how math is like a video game.  Students had to face 'speed boss levels' for their 2 minute timed fact test and then take on 'mini-boss challenge' for their operations.  You'll get a challenge, and sometimes you'll beat the boss level.  When that happens you get to go on to more challenging levels where you use the skills you've learned to take down stronger boss levels.

If you don't defeat the boss, you get new items and techniques to be better prepared the next time you reach that end level!  Most of the students attached to this quite well.

Many have enjoyed the paradigm switch from "I didn't do well on the assessment" to "I need more power ups before I'm ready to beat that boss level."

I've also enjoyed impressing my new math teaching partner with my ability to turn any game into a classroom activity.

"Hey, Erika, we're going to play Clue today in math."
"Clue... in math? Can't wait to see it!"

Students came into class while some mystery music is playing.  They saw their names on the board in groups of two with the instruction of 'sit next to your partner.'

But what if my partner is the killer?

From there I went through the procedure that is outlined below, making sure to keep the drama going strong throughout.

Game: Clue
Materials needed: Clue (cards and suspect sheets), white boards and markers (or notebooks)
Prep: Powerpoint of various math problems

Procedure: Put students into groups of two or three.  One person is the first 'writer'.  Each group receives a clue card of suspects, weapons, and location, a mini whiteboard, a marker, and a high tech white board eraser (a tissue.)

Each group also gets a set of 'clue' cards based on how many groups.  The game has 21 cards, 3 of which are removed as the confidential 'answer.'  The other 18 cards are divided up among the groups.  This may mean that some groups get more initial clues than others, for example 6 groups would have 3 cards for each group, whereas 7 groups would have 2 or 3 cards per group.

Students should take a moment to mark off the clues they have been given.  After that, they should leave their clues face down where anyone in the room would be able to access them.  I generally have them 'fan' out their cards on their desk.

Put the first math problem on the board.  Students work as a team to get the correct answer, but ONLY THE WRITER may write on the whiteboard.  Other students can help, guide, and suggest, but the writer is in control.  This also means if there is a disagreement about an answer or procedure, the writer gets the final say.

After an appropriate amount of time, have the students hold up their white boards. Any students that have a correct answer will have a chance to gain more information.  The writer passes the white board to their partner (or the next student if there is more than two in a group) and stands up.  They take one of their clue cards and can walk to any other group and trade.  They put their card face down and take any of the other group's face down cards. I have a specific procedure for this to minimize arguments and issues:

     a) trading round all happens at the same time
     b) once you touch a card, that is the card you take
     c) you have 15 seconds to trade

During the trade period, writers that had correct answers may trade with ANY other group, whether or not that group got a correct answer.

We do this is 'slow motion' the first couple of times to get used to the movement.

From there the new writer takes over for the group, a new question is posted and the procedure is repeated.

As the game continues, some groups may get close to solving the mystery.  If a group thinks they have the correct answer I have them circle their guess, but the game continues without them announcing their accusation.  If time runs out, groups circle their accusaton on their answer card.

I generally then give out the homework and announcements, and really build the anticipation of the contents of the confidential envelope.

I also give any correct investigators this certificate with all of their names on it.  I generally wait until all classes have played and list all the winners on one certificate.  I also post the certificate outside of the classrooms.

As they get used to the game, I change the cards to ones that have a bit more personality - I'll use teachers from the school as suspects, rooms from the school, and school items (staplers, scissors) as weapons.  This really gets them even further immersed into the gaming experience.

I love the engagement that this game naturally builds.  Students start to develop strategies such as trying to track who might have the cards they need to see, convincing other groups that they want to trade with them, and discussing answers to ensure they can gain new information.  The anticipation and excitement builds as more clues get revealed.  I've also added variations to this game so that if a group can explain their reasoning they get a 'double trade' (trade two cards instead of one.)  You will NEVER see students SO EXCITED to WANT to get called on as when you say "this question can earn a double trade."

I hope some of you try out this game in your room.  If you do PLEASE let me know how it goes and what variations you use! I love hearing different 'mods' in the game world!