Host a Game Show on the First Day of School
Middle School Educational Game for Subject Matter Review
Aug 15, 2008
Games are a great first day of school activity as they are engaging, fun and social. As the students are playing the game, the teacher is able to assess their academic knowledge and social skills.
Student Feud
Teacher will prepare questions before the first day of school to review subject matter from the previous year. Each question will be assigned a specific number of points. The more difficult questions will be given a higher point value.
It is best to write the question on one side of a cue card and the answers on the flip side. The value of the question can be printed on the question side of the card. As well, the teacher may color code the questions into categories such as geography, math, history, English and art. Color coding makes it easy. If the teacher only wants to review math, he can quickly pick out all the blue colors to assess the students.
Sample Questions
Questions need to have a minimum of 3 answers. It is best to use the most popular answers. Here are some examples.
Top 3 answers for Parts of a Sentence:
- Capital for the First Letter
- Punctuation( Period, Exclamation Mark, Question Mark)
- Verb
Top 4 Answers for Characteristics of a Habitat:
- Food
- Shelter
- Space
- Water
Top 4 Answers for a Multiplication Equation equalling 36:
- 6x6
- 9x4
- 18x2
- 36x1
How to Play Student Feud
- Teacher assigns each student to a group of five. After the students are placed in their groups, give them a few minutes to think of a name for their team. After all teams are named, place them in a hat and randomly choose the first two teams to compete against each other. The other students will be the audience for the game and the teacher is the host. After the game is played a few times, she may choose a student to be the host.
- To begin the game, one student from each team will come to the front of the classroom. Each student will have a bell or buzzer in front of him. Students will place their hands behind their back and after the question is read, the first one to sound the bell answers first. They have 3 seconds to answer the question, otherwise the opponent answers.
- Student who answers first and gets it correct has the option of having his team play or pass it to the other team. If they choose to play, they must get all answers correct to win the points. The playing team is able to get three incorrect answers before the other team has the chance of stealing the points. The stealing team must get one of the hidden answers correct to steal the points.
- First team to acquire 200 points win the round and goes to speed round. Each question is worth a specific amount of points, that is predetermined by the teacher. The more difficult questions are worth more points. It is best to play the game by starting with the easier questions.
- Speed Round requires two members of the winning team to answer 5 questions in 20 seconds. Each of the questions are different and jointly they must answer 7 correct to win the prize for their team. All prizes can be redeemed at a later date in the school year.
- After the game is complete, take a break or have the two remaining teams play the game to win a prize.
Student Feud is an engaging and fun activity for the first day of school. As well, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and 1 to 100 are just a few of the TV game shows that may be altered to be used in the classroom as a learning tool.
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