Thank you to one St. Dominic's C.E.S for a fabulous end of year game for staff members to play! With a little tweaking here and there, I introduced the "Wack-a-Noodle" survivor game to my most recent LTO school- what was once a friendly, team-filled environment.... became a ruthless, survival of the fittest game once the noodles were in hand! Look out staff!!!
Day 1: The Team Players
Day 2: Things Are Starting To Get Serious
End of Day 2: Alliances Are Now Being Made...
Day 3: Finding Out Who Your Friends Are...
The Team :)
Beat the clock and save the students!
With the help of my grade ones, twos and threes (along with MANY hours of laminating and ordering) my class and I created our own version of a room escape!
REMINDERS Focus on reminding students of teamwork, and ensuring everyone has a part in the game. I like to make a reminder of this when a group is NOT working well together by taking off X amount of time ( "freezing" the group in time but allowing the timer to continue going) They quickly learn from that and usually work better together.
GROUPS Allow them to create small groups (4-5, depending on grade and skill levels) and divvy up jobs (answer recorder, group monitor, clipboard recorders)
CURRICULUM SUBJECTS
Mathematics and Language: learning to read a roman numeral chart, the Morse code, patterning, mathematical algorithms, decoding, measurement and solving puzzles
Physical Education: If a large space is available, perhaps the gymnasium or hallway area (even outdoors) this makes for a great PE activity as students are often running from one end of the hall and back again (it helps if you put corresponding envelopes/clues at opposite ends as the game requires you to go through each clue in sequence.
Personal and Social Development: Students work cooperatively in small groups, allotting one person as the answer recorder, two or three students with clipboards to solve, this game requires excellent communication skills as the students move from clue to clue in order to beat the clock and find the missing key
GRADE LEVELS 1-6 I used this game for grades one through six, however it requires a lot more modifications if working with the younger grades. Allotting more time for younger grades with more assistance, and smaller groups with shorter time spans for the older grades.
OBJECTIVE The object of the game is to introduce to the class a problem. Borrow another classrooms key to their room and explain to your students that "Mr. Smith's Grade 4" class has been locked in their room and can't get out! (You can ask the other classroom to entertain this by crying for help inside their locked room). Explain to your class that they need to find the KEY to unlock the door but they only have X amount of time. Let them know you have provided them with clues to help them find their way, but that they must start with the first clue: Envelope #1, until they eventually get to clue #10 which will bring them to the key's location.