Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Jeopardy in the Math Class - Shift the rules for total engagement

I use Jeopardy frequently in my algebra and pre-algebra math classes.  Jeopardy Labs is a terrific and free source of jeopardy templates and pre-made games for a variety of subjects.  The interface is easy to access and search for very specific topics.  Above is an example of one of the games when I searched for "slope intercept form". The search results offer a clear list by relevance to your search criteria, and the list offers a "preview" option.  As you scroll down
the list, the answer previews display on the right so you can quickly choose the most accurate questioning for your students.  This makes it easy to fine tune your instruction class by class.
I have adapted the rules of play to keep all students engaged as follows:

The students are arranged in teams of three or four. Each student in the class has a whiteboard and marker.  Teams take turns choosing questions, which eliminates the wrangling over who had a hand up first, etc.  When a team chooses their question, ALL students in the room are doing the work.  I provide a time limit on the question.  To get it right, each person at the table must show the correct answer and the correct work on their white board.  If not, I offer an option to steal as follows:  I write a number between 1 and 20 on a notepad, and let all teams wanting to steal guess the number.  They guess in clockwise order starting with the team after the team that missed the question.  Closest to the number gets the steal opportunity.  When it is time to steal, the stealers must show their answers right away, maintaining the incentive for all students to work on all questions.  

 These rule adaptations keep all students engaged, eliminate the claims of "that's not fair", and prevent the game from being dominated by the advanced students in the class.

  I also use Jeopardy as a review tool.  In this case, each student gets a laptop.  I share a link to the Jeopardy game.  Students work individually, and need to answer 15 questions of their choice.  Again, they must show their work.  This is a great way to differentiate instruction.  I can circulate through the room and work with students who are struggling with some of the content.