Fun Classroom Games for Students: Games & Activities for the ESL/EFL Classroom Game 1
Engaging Classroom Games for All Grades: Great activities for classroom teaching
Teams collect points by answering questions and then use their points in a race to spin bolts along a rod.
Age Range: 9 to 12
Skills Used: factual knowledge, strategic thinking
Number of Players: 5 to 13
Noise Level: moderate to high
Activity Level: moderate
Materials: question-and-answer cards,
stopwatch, threaded metal rods (2 feet each), thirty bolts, paint
Setup
The starting end of the threaded metal rods should be painted in a distinctive color to distinguish it from the finishing end, and the bolts should be checked to make sure they fit the rods and spin freely.
Question-and-answer cards should be prepared and given to the game director. Any single subject area or a combination of factual information can be used for the questions. For example: What is 7 multiplied by 8? (56); What is the capital of Wisconsin? (Madison); Who invented the light bulb? (Thomas Edison); Spell the word research; What is the English translation for the Spanish word gato? (cat)
How to Play
This game is played in three parts. While all three parts can be played in one session, the final two parts would be fun to save for a culminating activity to a larger unit or enjoyed on a Friday afternoon. The event is something players will look forward to doing.
“Bolt to the End” is best played in teams of at least two players with an additional per-son designated as a game director. There can be as few as two teams or as many as four, if desired. For Part One of the game, each team determines an order of play within their group, similar to a batting order. Using a set of question-and-answer cards, the game director poses a question to the first player of the first team, then moves to the first player of the second team, and so on. Whenever a player answers correctly, that team keeps the card and scores one point. If the answer is incorrect, the card is placed back in the stack. Teams continue to answer questions until all the cards have been used or each team has had at least 10 turns. This part of the game ends with each team having a certain number of points.In Part Two of the game, the team members decide how to “spend” their points. Points are exchanged for bolts and time limits. Each point can be exchanged for one bolt or 15 seconds of time. All teams must buy at least 15 seconds in order to participate in Part Three, but the final decision about exactly how many seconds and how many bolts to choose is a strategic decision. Exchange decisions should be done secretly. Teams will not know what their opponents have chosen until Part Three of the game. Part Three uses a two-foot-long threaded rod and nuts that spin easily on it. The challenge is to move the metal nuts the entire length of the rod as quickly as possible. The team with the fewest bolts begins by placing all their bolts onto the rod. The bolts should be tight together and even with the starting end, which has been painted a distinctive color. The game director controls the stopwatch saying “Go” and “Stop” for whatever amount of time the team “bought” with their points from Part One. The teams work to move their bolts from the starting end of the rod all the way off the other end in the amount of time chosen. The final score is one point for each bolt all the way off the rod, with a five-point bonus for getting all the bolts off within the time limit.The team with the next most bolts then takes up the challenge and so on. The team with the highest number of points from the bolt race is the ultimate winner.
Variation
This game can be exciting and fun when all teams are spinning their bolts at the same time. This variation can be done by staggering the starts and having all teams finish at the same time. More supplies are needed, but the excitement of the finish can be worth it.
A contest like this can be a bit noisy and is fun to watch, so it should be scheduled for a time when others nearby can take a break to watch.
Tips
Placing a towel under the rod is advisable to stop the bolts from bouncing out of sight on the floor after they are sent down the rod.This game begs to be played more than once. Simple practice with the rods should be restricted in order to keep the game fresh and to keep teams from having too much experience with how many bolts can be removed in a given time. Different positions of the rod and hand positions for spinning nuts can be decisive and add an interesting factor of chance and strategy to the game. These variables are best discovered in a real play of the game so that the question-and-answer portion remains motivating.
source
Alexis Ludewig and Amy Swan, 101 Great Classroom Games New York, 2007.
Teams collect points by answering questions and then use their points in a race to spin bolts along a rod.
Age Range: 9 to 12
Skills Used: factual knowledge, strategic thinking
Number of Players: 5 to 13
Noise Level: moderate to high
Activity Level: moderate
Materials: question-and-answer cards,
stopwatch, threaded metal rods (2 feet each), thirty bolts, paint
Setup
The starting end of the threaded metal rods should be painted in a distinctive color to distinguish it from the finishing end, and the bolts should be checked to make sure they fit the rods and spin freely.
Question-and-answer cards should be prepared and given to the game director. Any single subject area or a combination of factual information can be used for the questions. For example: What is 7 multiplied by 8? (56); What is the capital of Wisconsin? (Madison); Who invented the light bulb? (Thomas Edison); Spell the word research; What is the English translation for the Spanish word gato? (cat)
How to Play
This game is played in three parts. While all three parts can be played in one session, the final two parts would be fun to save for a culminating activity to a larger unit or enjoyed on a Friday afternoon. The event is something players will look forward to doing.
“Bolt to the End” is best played in teams of at least two players with an additional per-son designated as a game director. There can be as few as two teams or as many as four, if desired. For Part One of the game, each team determines an order of play within their group, similar to a batting order. Using a set of question-and-answer cards, the game director poses a question to the first player of the first team, then moves to the first player of the second team, and so on. Whenever a player answers correctly, that team keeps the card and scores one point. If the answer is incorrect, the card is placed back in the stack. Teams continue to answer questions until all the cards have been used or each team has had at least 10 turns. This part of the game ends with each team having a certain number of points.In Part Two of the game, the team members decide how to “spend” their points. Points are exchanged for bolts and time limits. Each point can be exchanged for one bolt or 15 seconds of time. All teams must buy at least 15 seconds in order to participate in Part Three, but the final decision about exactly how many seconds and how many bolts to choose is a strategic decision. Exchange decisions should be done secretly. Teams will not know what their opponents have chosen until Part Three of the game. Part Three uses a two-foot-long threaded rod and nuts that spin easily on it. The challenge is to move the metal nuts the entire length of the rod as quickly as possible. The team with the fewest bolts begins by placing all their bolts onto the rod. The bolts should be tight together and even with the starting end, which has been painted a distinctive color. The game director controls the stopwatch saying “Go” and “Stop” for whatever amount of time the team “bought” with their points from Part One. The teams work to move their bolts from the starting end of the rod all the way off the other end in the amount of time chosen. The final score is one point for each bolt all the way off the rod, with a five-point bonus for getting all the bolts off within the time limit.The team with the next most bolts then takes up the challenge and so on. The team with the highest number of points from the bolt race is the ultimate winner.
Variation
This game can be exciting and fun when all teams are spinning their bolts at the same time. This variation can be done by staggering the starts and having all teams finish at the same time. More supplies are needed, but the excitement of the finish can be worth it.
A contest like this can be a bit noisy and is fun to watch, so it should be scheduled for a time when others nearby can take a break to watch.
Tips
Placing a towel under the rod is advisable to stop the bolts from bouncing out of sight on the floor after they are sent down the rod.This game begs to be played more than once. Simple practice with the rods should be restricted in order to keep the game fresh and to keep teams from having too much experience with how many bolts can be removed in a given time. Different positions of the rod and hand positions for spinning nuts can be decisive and add an interesting factor of chance and strategy to the game. These variables are best discovered in a real play of the game so that the question-and-answer portion remains motivating.
Alexis Ludewig and Amy Swan, 101 Great Classroom Games New York, 2007.
Comments
Post a Comment