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Enjoyable Assessments

Summary

These two place value games can be used as formative assessment or as review.


Materials

Attachments

  • Eggspert®
  • Round 1 cards
  • Round 2 cards
  • Category cards
  • Pocket chart

Eggspert®

  • Eggspert®
  • Game questions
  • 20 Round 1 cards
  • 20 Round 2 cards
  • Four category cards
  • Pocket Chart

Triple Circle Dingy Bell Game


Background for Teachers

These activities can be used as a formative assessment midway through a unit, a review before the test or as an alternative to a paper and pencil test. For this activity the questions will all focus on place value but in your own class you can use these activities in any content area.

Before participating in these competitive type activities, classbuilding activities need to have taken place. Students need to understand that even though the games are competitive the goal is not to win in the sense that winning makes you better. The goal of each game is to show what you know and have fun.


Intended Learning Outcomes

5. Understand and use basic concepts and skills.


Instructional Procedures

Invitation to Learn
When students enter the room the game Eggspert® will already be set up. Give each student a Starbursts that matches one of the Eggspert® buzzer colors. Explain that today students are going to play a game and the color of Starburst tells what team they will be on. Remind students that the rules of the game are to show what you know and to have fun.

Instructional Procedures

Eggspert®

  1. Put the game cards for round 1 in the pocket chart. Four categories, five questions for each category, each question worth one point. Top cards are category cards: Tens, Tens and Ones, Expanded Form, Standard Form
  2. Organize the class into six teams based on Starburst color and have each team sit behind an egg buzzer that is the same color as their Starburst.
  3. The first person in each line moves up to hold an egg buzzer.
  4. One student is chosen to pick a category and the teacher picks a card and reads the question.
  5. When a student holding an egg buzzer knows the answer they squeeze the egg.
  6. A light will go off to show to show who pushed their buzzer first.
  7. The student who pushed the buzzer first gets to answer the question. If the answer is correct their team gets the point card. If they get the answer wrong the teacher pushes the white egg to clear the board and another player can squeeze their egg.
  8. Once the question is answered the students who held the buzzer go to the back of the line and the next row moves up.
  9. Play continues until one team gets ten points.
  10. When a team gets to ten points or you run out of questions move to round 2.
  11. For round 2, the team that gets the right answer gets ten points. The first team to 100 points wins.
  12. Follow the same steps as you did for round 1. The questions are worth more points so the questions should be more difficult.

Triple Circle Dingy Bell Game

  1. Divide the class into three circles sitting on the floor.
  2. Each circle gets a beanbag to pass hot potato style.
  3. When the teacher instructs the students to go, each circle begins to pass their beanbag.
  4. The beanbags are passed until the teacher rings the bell.
  5. The student that has the beanbag when the bell rings stands up. One student from each group should stand up for a total of three.
  6. The teacher asks a question.
  7. As soon as one of the students standing up knows the answer they call it out.
  8. The first person to provide the correct answer gets to sit back down. The other two are out for this round and they go back to their seat.
  9. If nobody gets the correct answer all three are out.
  10. If there is a tie, those who were involved in the tie get to sit down in their circle.
  11. The round is over when only one circle has any players left. That circle gets a point.
  12. When a round ends all players come back to their circle for another round.


Extensions

Curriculum Extensions/Adaptations/ Integration

  • For both activities teams can work together to answer questions rather than working independently.
  • For the Eggspert® activity kids can be grouped by ability, sitting next to students of similar level, so the question can be differentiated.
  • Questions for both activities can focus on any content area.
  • Eggspert® can be set so a student is randomly selected.


Assessment Plan

Both activities are assessments. Make a checklist with each students name and keep record of students that answer incorrectly.


Bibliography

Research Basis

Bjorkland, D.F. & Brown, R.D. (1998). Physical play and cognitive development: Integrating activity, cognition and education. Child Development, pg 604-606.

This section of the book explains how the mechanisms involved when students are playing a game are just as cognitive as when students are doing math seatwork.

Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics & Eisenhower Network, (2002). Edthoughts: What We Know About Mathematics and Learning, pg. 33-41.Aurora, CO. McRel

This section of the book discussed how assessment should provide evidence about students' knowledge, be congruent with state and local standards, and be a good fit with curriculum and instructional methods being used by the teacher. The book also states how multiple methods of assessment allows student to diversify thinking and response patterns.


Created: 06/25/2006
Updated: 02/04/2018
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