I cannot take credit for this, I saw a picture and blurb on Facebook and decided to run with it. Why I hadn’t thought of this before, I’ll never know! :o)
The game is simply, get 5 post-its in a row (vertical, horizontal, or diagonally,) while also trying to block the other teams from achieving this.
I used a 9×9 grid I created through SmartBoard, and just unplugged the USB cord from my computer so students couldn’t accidentally draw on the grid or move it.
The post it notes were the small size (1 3/8 x 1 7/8). I gave each group their 5 and had them color them the team colors (I used orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink.)
I gave each group a problem from our review test OR exit tickets/task cards that we hadn’t gotten to for the unit. We are working on place value and really big vs decimal numbers, so they had to all do with the position of the number, writing in standard/expanded/word form, addition/subtraction of, etc.
Students solved it in a group and then one of them came to check in with me that the answer was correct. If so, they placed a post-it note OR got to move one of their post-its to another spot on the board. If not, they went back to try and fix it. The kicker, students needed to rotate who came up to report to me, and often explain to me, how they solved the problem. So, every student needed to be aware of what was going on and participate. When they solved correctly, I also gave them the next problem to bring back to their group.
What I learned from doing the activity:
Have the cards/problems cut and arranged before hand….I was doing this activity on the fly, so while I had the items ready, I didn’t have them organized clearly or labeled with team colors. Next time, I will use a small bin like a recipe box (Lord knows how many of those I have!) and put dividers in for the different color groups….I will put 15+problems/cards in the order I want groups to work through (what needs more practice, better for group work, etc.) for each group so when students come up, it is easy to distribute the next problem to them.
Make sure students know that only one student can come up to the board from their group AND touch/move post-its. I had whole groups up at the beginning, so I had to stop and redirect. I explained that I wanted it to be a lot like The Price Is Right (yes, I got some blank stares) where they get input from the audience, but ultimately it is the front person’s decision as to what to do with the post-it.
The noise level got a bit rowdy, but students were having fun WHILE learning, so I still call it a win! The walls at my school are paper thin too, so you can hear everything! But, I will discuss how we need to not only be respectful of the classrooms around us, but also groups don’t want others hearing their answers and/or strategies, so whisper voices are best.
Here’s hoping that Monday’s test goes well!
This is the original screen shot I took off FB FYI–I would give credit, but the name is cut-off, sorry!!!
