Keyboarding Scattergories

Summary

This is a great lesson for when the students are burned out and you want to do something fun! One thing I love about it is it's not speed based--the fastest kids don't always win. It's based on the board game Scattergories. They are give 12 subjects and they must type up an answer to each subject, starting with the same letter.

Materials

You will need to download the Scattergories Power Point attached, as well as the Excel score sheet. You may also want to put them in groups prior to beginning the game, based on how many students you have that day. Though not necessary, this game works MUCH better if you have Visions or LanSchool to broadcast to all of their screens.

Student Prior Knowledge

Students need to know all the letters on the keyboard. Must have a pretty good command of English--not always a good activity for ESL students.

Instructional Procedures

First of all you will want to open up the Excel score sheet. It's pretty simple. I usually put the students into groups while they are doing their warmup, based on who is there. I like groups with three or four students, and there's usually 8-10 groups. Speed doesn't seem to matter much--I just put them in randomly.

Next, explain to the students that they will be playing Scattergories, a game in which they will be given a list of 12 subjects, and a letter of the alphabet. They need to come up with one thing for each subject that starts with that letter. I save the file Scattergories Answer Sheet onto a common drive so the kids have somewhere to type their answers.

RULES

Do not copy off of your neighbor. The student on each side of you will compare answers--if they are the same, none of you gets the points. (make sure they are not sitting next to someone in their group.)

If you choose something that has several words starting with the same letter, each word is worth a point. (ex: Letter, B, a store, Brackman Brothers Bagels will score three points.)

You cannot use the same word twice.

If someone writes an answer that you don't think should count, say so! Don't let them get points for stupid answers!

When the time is up, count your answers after comparing with your neighbors. Then add them to the rest of your group. The students will then give their score to the teacher who will enter them on the Excel score sheet.

The PowerPoint is set up to show all 12 subjects and the letter. It will automatically go to the "STOP" screen after 1 1/2 minutes. This game works much better if you have Visions or LanSchool.

I play several rounds of this. The students really like it, although it takes them a while to catch on. Then they love it! It's fun to see the kids who don't type so fast do really well!

Assessment Plan

In each group I assign a group leader to add up the points for their team. Then they come up and tell me their total score. On the Scattergories Score sheet, I type it in. There are several boxes for each round, and it will add up automatically. At the end, the team with the highest points gets a prize. I give out little candies, or sometimes a "free warm-up" pass where they don't have to do their warm up one day.