Spike It!

For this game, the students will compete in doing short review problems and try to work their way around The Gallery in the direction of the higher numbered boards.

Here’s how it works:

1. The teacher designates A or B neighbors. Students will compete against this neighbor (one-on-one.) All students will be competing simultaneously.

2. The teacher then reads a problem aloud as students record the problem on their boards, solving it as fast as possible. For example, a fourth grade teacher might give the students a double-digit multiplication problem to solve (34 X 72.)

3. All students simultaneously solve the problem on their own boards as fast as possible. Upon completing the problem, a student quickly puts the cap back on her/his marker and then SPIKES IT on the floor near their neighbor’s feet. (This is wild and crazy and the kids LOVE it!) The first person between the two competing neighbors to spike his/her marker wins that round.

4. Students must wait silently after throwing the marker down. Any student who breaks this rule should be moved down one spot as a penalty. (This allows all students a quiet working environment to complete the problem.)

5. After most students have had sufficient time to solve the problem, the teacher yells out, “Talk!” which signals the students that they are allowed to speak to their neighbors. (Many of the kids will be dying to talk at this point to settle any arguments or celebrate their victory.)

6. The winning partner moves to the higher board of the two neighbors. If the winning partner is already at the higher board number, they just stay where they are. For example, the teacher might say that students will compete against their A neighbors. After solving the problem, the partner standing at board #12 beats the partner at board #13, so the two partners exchange places. If #13 beats #12, the two students remain where they are located.

7. Any student who spikes her/his marker and the cap falls off automatically loses that round.

8. For the next round, all students compete against their B neighbors. The process is repeated. Each round is played alternating A neighbors and B neighbors. So theoretically, a student who is much stronger at the math problems will continue moving to higher and higher numbered boards. The exception to this would be when the person at the highest numbered board beats the next board up which would be board number one.

 

Play continues until you run out of time. You can have each kid write her name where she starts and then see how far she went around the race track.

 

The game only works with an even number of students in The Gallery, otherwise one student will have no competition and will be the end of the line. If you have an odd number of students, choose one student, perhaps an academic superstar, and make her/him a referee. The referee role can change throughout the game.

A SPIKE IT twist is to run two simultaneous SPIKE IT games. Split the room into two sides based on student proficiency levels. This allows the teacher to give appropriately leveled questions to each student. It also creates a situation where more students feel competitive in the game. The teacher can ask the same question to the entire Gallery or give a different question to each side of the room simultaneously.

 

Shoot!

Place a large container or a hoola hoop in the center of the room. Give the students a question to answer on their boards. When a student answers the question, he/she replaces the marker cap and shoots it into the container/hoola hoop in the center of the room. The student only gets one shot. After sufficient time as decided by the teacher, no more shots are allowed and the teacher grabs the markers from the container/hoola hoop. The teacher chooses one or more markers randomly, which should be labeled with the student’s name or number, and checks to see if the owner has the correct answer. If so, the student wins a point, prize, or the pride of accomplishment. All markers are returned and play continues with another question.

 

Try playing the game using the odd and even concept where every other student is answering a different question.