Bazinga: Another Easy Review Game

We're coming upon the end of the school year, which means finals! I've had this game ever since I've started teaching and it's one of my favorites to use. It can be used for any type of class, not just math. The kids love it because it's not one of those games where the smartest group wins (though they have the best shot). I found this on Pinterest during my first year of teaching, but it didn't link to any instructions, so I kind of made this up based off of what I saw in the picture. I call it Bazinga (I've heard others call it ZAP, but I like Bazinga better).

To make the board, I bought a piece of foam board. I got the pockets from Mardel (they don't sell this particular pocket anymore, but they sell many others that are cute). I hot glued the pockets onto the board and printed out the pocket numbers, discards, and Bazinga onto lime green cardstock. I just hot cut that stuff out and hot glued it on the board also. Once the board is together, then you just create the cards. I have 31 cards, but you can have more or less. I wouldn't go less than 27 so you can have 3 in each pocket. On the cards, I wrote many different things that I thought would make the game interesting. Here are some ideas:

• Add 1 or more points to your score
• Take 1 or more points from your score
• Take points from the winning team's score and add to the losing team's score
• Winning team does 10 second dance
• Losing team does 10 second dance (they HATE these cards...if they don't do the dance, I take all of their points, and all group members must stand up and dance before I start timing)

Of course, the Bazinga card is in the mix. It doubles that team's score, so they are always trying to find the Bazinga card.

So this is how we play...students will get in groups and come up with some group name. I'll write the names on the board so the score is kept up there. They'll pick numbers and whoever is closest gets to go first. I'll write a question on the SMART Board and they get to answer. The other groups must work out the question at the same time. I sometimes give time limits, depending on what we're reviewing. If that group gets the question right, they get a point and get to draw a card and do whatever that card says. If they get it wrong, the question goes to the next group. If they get it right, they get the point and the card. If not, it keeps going until someone gets it right. (If I feel that no one will get it right, I'll go over that question with the class and no one gets the point. This doesn't happen too often.) After the correct answer is given, a new question will go to the next group and continue like that until we either run out of cards or the bell rings.

My students love this game and they get pretty competitive with it. It's another quick review game that I don't have to put much effort into, which is why I love it. I pull out the board and get some questions together from the text or worksheets and we get going. Easy as that! I hope that your students like this game as much as mine do. Happy reviewing!

Easy Review Games

We're wrapping up another week of learning at USHS and I thought today would be the perfect day to blog about review games (since we're playing one in almost every class). I love playing review games and my students do, too. I think they get much more out of it than just doing the review sheet and us going over it (which I also do, so I usually do 2 days of review).

The problem with doing review is that it can take a lot of time and effort for one class period. When I student taught, my cooperating teacher gave me a bunch of SMART templates for review games. I literally find a worksheet, cut it up, and use the template. This is how it usually happens:

1. I find a worksheet that has questions over what topics I want the students to review. In my Algebra I class today we're reviewing for Chapter 1 test. So I took used a test that came with my book materials.

2. I cut it up into little strips and put it in one of my question cans (pictured below)

 

 

3. I split the students into teams (I usually like 4 teams)

4. I have the students number their papers according to the number of questions in the cans (leave the numbers on the questions when you cut them up)

5. I pass out a question to each group
6. That group works out that question on their answer sheet -- if they got number 20 first, their answer would go next to number 20 on their answer sheet (this is why I leave the numbers on the questions)

7. I usually sit up front. Once they have their question answered, a member of that group will bring me their question and their answer sheet. I look at the answer and tell them if they got it right or not. If they did, they draw another question out of the question can. If they get it wrong, they have to go back and do it again until they get it right.
8. Once they get the question right, they get to do whatever is on the board. Most of my review games have spinners and they get to spin the spinner and add/subtract the number of objects from their board. The Apple Tree Game is pictured below.

I also have a soccer game, baseball game, Christmas presents game, flower game, Easter basket game, fall leaves game, Trick or Treat game, volleyball game, and a money game. They all are the same concept as the Apple Tree game.

I love these games and I'm so glad that I was introduced to them a while ago. Every time I think about reviewing a concept but don't want to put too much effort into making a game, I pull out a worksheet and one of these games and away we go. The kids love it, I love it, so it's a great way to spend a class period.

I believe these games came from the NCTM, but I'm not 100% sure. If you would like copies of these games, you can contact me using the contact form on the right of my blog and I will be more than happy to email these to you. You will need SMART Notebook to be able to use these.

Happy reviewing!

Spaghetti Triangles

In my Advanced Geometry class we had been learning about triangle centers. If you had ever taught triangle centers, you probably know that students are confused pretty much the entire time since there are so many different things to remember. I found this beauty on Teachers Pay Teachers from All Things Algebra (she is wonderful!) to help students organize their information and see the four different centers in one location. It has been a lifesaver and has helped the students out a lot.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Centers-of-Triangles-Graphic-Organizer-FREEBIE-1205019

Once we wrapped up triangle centers, we started the Triangle Inequality Theorem. For my advanced students, this would have been a pretty easy concept to say, "here it is, this is how it works, do it." At this point, however, we are tired of doing worksheets and taking notes. So I was searching Pinterest for some ideas on how students can discover the theorem, not just have it given to them. I came across several different posts that I liked and combined them a little. One post that I liked in particular was called Spaghetti Triangles (and I'm sorry that I didn't credit that person, but I can't really find the pin). In this activity, students are given 10 pieces of spaghetti noodles (I actually gave mine linguini because it's just a little bit thicker). They had to break one noodle into three different pieces, measure those pieces in centimeters, and try to make a triangle. They did this 10 times, all the while figuring out what they needed to do to break their noodle to make a triangle. They then had 3 questions they had to answer regarding their results and what conclusions they could make. They LOVED it! It's hard to get some advanced students into simple tasks like this, but this was one that everyone participated and was engaged in the entire time. Once we finished the activity, we came together as a class and talked about some examples of measurements that did and did not make triangles. This helped lead up to talking about the triangle inequality theorem and how it works with triangles. This is probably one of the most fun activities that I had ever done in a class. It was simple, yet very effective. Here is the paper I gave my students. Feel free to download it and use it for use in your own classroom.

Spaghetti Triangles

Here are some pics of my students doing this activity.

If you use this, you won't be disappointed. I'm sure your kids will love it. Enjoy!

Speed Dating Activity

This is a good  activity for students to practice something without you having to grade a bunch of papers.

Each student gets a card and they have to complete whatever task/problem you give them. Once they have it complete, they raise their hand to have it checked by the teacher. Once everyone has it right, they are the master of their card. You then start the activity.

I set my desks up so students are facing each other. You set students across from each other. They then switch cards and perform the problem. Once they are finished, they ask their partner if their answer is correct since they already have the correct answer. If it is, they switch back. If not, their partner is responsible for helping them arrive at the correct answer.

Once all partners are correct, you then choose which partner will rotate. One thing that I do to make this easier is select two different colors of cards to distribute. Then I just pick a color and that partner will be the rotating one. You continue to do this until you either run out of time or they get back to where they started. This is great for several reasons:

1. It promotes collaborative learning in your class
2. All students have experienced success
3. You don't have to continuously check answers and answer questions
4. Students are responsible for their own understanding

Here are some pictures of my class doing this.

I hope this is an activity that you try. I don't use it a whole lot, but it's  good one to use when you just need a little something more in your lesson plans. Enjoy!