Live Board Game
November 2, 2012
Melissa Berrisford
As a chapter review exercise on rational numbers, I decided
to have the students play a game -a live simulation of a board game. Prior to the day of the activity, I informed
the students that they would be playing a “live board game” and they would be
representing the game pieces (I suggested that they could come in a costume –
it was only 2 days after Halloween so I think they were “costumed-out”. Perhaps if I had a tickle-trunk like Naryn, I
would have had some takers!). I also
asked them to bring their small whiteboards and markers. I prepared all the questions prior to the
class as I planned to use the LCD projector to display the questions during the
game.
Game Day
Students played the game in pairs. The partners were selected randomly (students
drew numbers). Each team had a
designated starting point and separate path to reach the common finishing spot.
Teams moved around the classroom, jumping ahead one space for every correct
response however we definitely could have used more room. Only final answers were looked at so it was
very important for the students to double-check their steps. Students seemed shocked at how easily small
slips in their work would affect the final answer. No half marks were awarded in this game! I hope the game play reinforced the
importance of more practice before the chapter test next week! At the end of the game, I distributed a paper
copy of all the questions for the students to review at home to help them
further prepare for the chapter test.
Things I would do differently:
1. Plan
it on a day that I can get into the classroom prior to the class to set it up
(instead of asking students to help set up it up) OR use the library where
there would be more space.
2. Make
“fun” squares – similar to snakes and ladders.
3. Allocate
10 more minutes to the game or do one less question.
