Classroom Game for Values and Opinions - Say Whaaat?!

I created this updated classroom version of my party game, Say Whaaat?!, using Google Slides. It's "the game of What matters most?" It allows one student (or the teacher) to draw five random words and the class tries to guess how he or she would rank those things in order of importance.

I and other teachers have used it for a fun icebreaker or to kick off lessons about goals and decision making. We've used it in meetings with adults too. There are many ways to play, including using it in online teaching situations (live or otherwise).

First, click here to get your copy of the Google Slides presentation for the game. Full Disclosure:  Please enjoy this version for free, but be aware it is a bit of a promotional tool. I put a link on the second slide to Amazon where you can order copies of the actual game. I license the game to a publisher and will receive royalties from actual sales.

This video shows the basic idea, but read below for all details, including suggestions for use in online teaching.

I'll explain other ways to play below, but here's the general idea.

• Don't actually click the Present button when you display the game slide (Slide 1) to the class. You have to be able to drag words around, so it can't be in Presentation Mode.
• Choose one student to be the Judge. Or you can be the Judge the first time if you like. The rest of your class or group will be trying to guess the Judge's priorities.
• The Judge draws five words from behind the Say What?! logo on the first slide. You can choose a word by grabbing one of the red "tabs" on the right of the logo. Each tab has a word (or words) connected to it. 
• After drawing out a word, the Judge drags it to a blank card space. At this time, order doesn't matter. Just start with the A card and repeat until all five cards have a word. See the example below of how this might look. Note: The Judge should not say anything about the words during this time.
• Now the rest of the students in the class will try to predict how the Judge will rank those five items from most to least important. They can just write their guesses on paper. For example, use the five words shown below. If you thought the player would rank Water as most important, you'd write C first. If you thought the second most important item would be Mail, you'd write B next. And so on. You might choose to have the Judge write his or her rankings as well at this time.

• When everyone has made their guesses, have the Judge explain how he or she would rank the words. It's fun if the Judges explain a little of the thinking that went into his or her rankings. 
• Players can keep score if they want, but it's just for fun and it's on their honor. They can count one point for every item they had in the same position as the Judge.
• To play a new round, delete the five words from the card spaces and then pick someone else to be the next Judge. Play as many rounds as you like.

Other Ways to Play

• The game can be played all at once or one round per day or week, etc. You can even assign the ranking portion as an assignment outside of class. Just have the Judge draw the five random words near the end of class. Have everyone write their rankings or guesses outside of class, possibly with a written rationale. They can come to class the next day ready to turn them in or discuss them.
• You can duplicate the first slide as many times as you like and pre-select the words in advance. For some lessons, it might be best to actually just type the words that best raise the discussion you want for the lesson. To type your own words, just draw out any word, then double click on the text box portion. It should highlight the word and allow you to type a new word in its place.
• You could use an online polling tool to have students submit their rankings. For example, I've done this with Google Forms. Each tool uses slightly different ways to set it up or different ways to enter their answers.The advantage is these tools allow you to show everyone how the class guessed.
• If you're working in a distance learning situation, you can combine a few of these ideas. You will probably want to select the words ahead of time as described above. Set up a as many slides with five words as you think you'll need. You could play live in a Zoom or Google Meet. Or you could download the slide as a JPEG image and just post it in Google Classroom. Students could submit their votes to you in a variety of ways or (if playing live) just record them on paper for fun.

A Note About Drawing Out the Words

There are a lot of words under that logo! If you keep using an unedited version of the Google Slide that I made, you might find you're always getting the same words in the initial rounds. That's because the words are in layers and you're always just pulling the words from the top layer. To solve this problem, draw several words out before you play and just delete them. That will ensure you're getting to the lower words in the stack. If you play multiple rounds and delete the words as they're used, this won't be such an issue.

Interested in Learning More?

I wrote a Designer Diary a couple years ago about the long history of this game. You can find it here on the Boardgame Geek website. 

Holiday Classroom Game and Creativity Activity

Here's a free resource that can be used for a few fun, creative activities in the classroom. At its heart, it's just a way to generate a random pair of words that students use to write a holiday themed haiku.

I'll list a few ways I've used similar activities in class, along with a brief explanation of each. Some will link to previous posts with more details.

First, click here to get your copy of the Google Slides presentation. It will open in your Google Drive.

Generating a Prompt
No matter which way you choose to use the activity, you will be generating a random prompt and students will use it to write a haiku. To generate the prompt, open the presentation so the class can see slide 2. Don't present it. Just display it as shown below. Draw two random words from behind the gift. You can grab them and drag them by the circle at the far right of the screen.

In the above example, the two words drawn are "gift" and "peace".

Students will then create a haiku using the two random words. You can require them to use the exact words, any variation (such as singular or plural) or maybe they just have to use the general idea of the word in their haiku. Of course, if you're using it for the holidays, that will be an implied general theme for all haikus they write. How generally or specifically you want to make this is up to you, but be sure to explain your requirements before they start any of the activities explained below.

Note that you can change the words too if you want. Just drag the words off to the side of the slide, so you can see the word. Double click on the word and it should let you delete the text and replace it with whatever you want. If it's a long word, you might have to stretch the text box to make it fit. Then drag the word back under the present, so it can be randomly selected during the activity.

A Class Writing Prompt
This is the easiest way to use the activity. The teacher can draw two random words from behind the gift. Every student in the class uses those two words (and any other requirements the teacher provides) to write their own haikus.

The writing can be done in class or as an assignment outside of class. Once the teacher has time to look at the submitted haikus, she can choose up to five of her favorites and type them on the A - E spaces  of that slide. At any time after that, the class can vote on their favorite using a poll/quiz application like Socrative or Kahoot, or they could just use a show of hands or submit a vote on a paper slip.

A "Game Show" With a Few Contestants
I used to do all my creativity games this way. It is a challenging exercise for the contestants, but if you have a creative group it can be fun. In this case, 3 - 5 contestants sit at the front of the class. The teacher draws two random words from behind the gift to form the prompt. The contestants each write a haiku using those words and the teacher's requirements. They should have 3 - 5 minutes to write it.

When they are finished, the haikus are read aloud and typed into the spaces A - E (or just summarized). The class votes on their favorite using a poll/quiz application or some other non-digital method. Each contestant gets points equal to the number of votes they receive. Points can be kept on the Score slide. Usually we have time for about three rounds when we do games like this.

If you don't want to give such a strict time limit, you could combine this format with the above activity. The contestants could write their haikus outside of class and turn them in the next day for the vote.

See this post for more details and tips for running these "game show" style creativity games.

A Game Played in Small Groups
More recently I started running these creativity games in small groups. In this case, you can do a sample round with the whole class, just so they see how to play. Then have them work in groups of 3 or 4 students. Each group will have one device to access their copy of the Holiday Haiku slide presentation.

They will play multiple rounds. Each round one student will be the judge. He or she will randomly draw out two words from behind the gift and show the other group members. Everyone other than the judge gets a limited amount of time to write a haiku that uses the two words and follows any other requirements the teacher has given.

When finished, the haikus are gathered and shuffled up. One student reads each of them to the judge. The judge chooses one as his or her favorite. The player who writes it gets a point.

Now the next player becomes the judge and another round is played. Rounds are repeated until each player has been the judge once. The player or players with the most points wins.

See this post for more details about playing creativity games in groups.

Reflection
No matter how I use these activities in class, I like to seal the learning by adding some reflection.  Here's the reflection sheet I used with one class after doing a similar small group version of a creativity game. Depending on how you presented the material and what the lesson content was, you will probably want to modify the questions somewhat.

Updated Creativity Game for 2019

This week I presented an updated version of what has been the most popular post on this blog for years. I used a different tech tool this time (Google Sheets) and I run the game part of it completely differently. (Click here for the original post and here for another recent way I've used it.)

I led this version of the activity for a class of about 30 students from grades 9 - 12. It was very well received and the teacher told me the students asked to play more the next day. 

Since I've written at length about these activities elsewhere, I will just link to the new resources below and explain this updated process.

The creativity exercise is based on a game system I designed with my friend, Kory Heath. The lesson follows this outline:

1. Talk to the class about the importance of creativity for success in today's world.
2. Lead into the creativity game Why Did the Chicken...?
3. Show them how the game works. Ideally this will include tips on how to make creative answers.
4. Run at least one round with a group of students from the class.
5. Show how students will use the spreadsheet when they play on their own.
6. Let them play the game in small groups of 3 - 5.
7. Have them complete a reflection sheet.

Resources:  (Most of these are Google files that will open as a copy in your Google Drive.)

• This is the presentation I used. Read the speaker notes for details, as I explain what I talk about for each slide.
• Here is the spreadsheet students will use to play the game. It's a sample way to generate random riddles without printing and cutting out tons of cards.
• This video shows how to use the spreadsheet to make riddles.
• Here is the reflection sheet students should complete at the end of the lesson.

Other Notes:

• I used to provide a lot more time to practice making good answers. The problem was we didn't have much time to play the game. After presenting it this last time, I plan to put a maybe five to ten minutes more practice and practical advice in the talk next time.
• There's no doubt students will find it difficult to come up with answers. Remind them that they're probably trying to get an answer that makes perfect sense. Sometimes the key is just coming up with the answer that makes the judge laugh!
• There are just over 50 words in the spreadsheet, but ideally it should be well over one hundred. Feel free to add to it. The best lists contain things from the students' school or community.
• Remind everyone to keep answers school appropriate and to be kind to each other! Everyone needs to feel safe writing down a dud response. This is an important lesson for working creatively with a group.
• Make sure students understand the role of judge passes from player to player each round. (See the detailed rules below for the flow of the game.)

Here are the steps to playing Why Did the Chicken...? this way:

• Each group of 3 - 5 students will need:
• One device to open the spreadsheet and make a copy. (I suggest sharing the link with them through Google Classroom.)
• Pencils
• Several slips of paper.
• Pick a judge for the first round. The judge will use the spreadsheet to generate a random riddle.
• The judge reads the riddle to the other members of the group.
• They get two minutes to write as many possible answers as they can think of. Each answer should go on a separate slip of paper. After writing an idea, they put it in the center of the table face down.
• After two minutes, no new answers can be started. Anyone can finish writing their current idea if still writing. Then all slips are gathered by the player to the left of the judge.
• That player reads each answer to the judge. We like to have the judge read the question aloud each time, then hear the answer. It adds to the fun of the riddles.
• After hearing all the possible answers, the judge must pick a favorite (or two favorites if they want).
• The player(s) whose ideas were selected get a point.
• The judge passes the device to the player on his or her left and the process continues.
• Play until everyone has been the judge at least twice.

Using Say Whaaat!? in the Classroom

Images from DrawLab Entertainment
and used with permission

My party game Say Whaaat!? will be released this month from DrawLab Entertainment*, but I made the original version long ago. I have had years of experience playing it in different ways with students and as a classroom activity. It has proven to be a fun icebreaker or an engaging warm-up for lessons about opinions, priorities or leadership.

At the heart, this is a game about ranking random things order of importance. Words like Underwear, Justice and Coffee might turn up, for example. There are ways to do that in class that look a lot like what’s described in the rules. Others suggestions below are more innovative, like having the class imagine how Abraham Lincoln or Hester Prynne might rank the items.

Most of the ideas below are based on my experience, but some come from other educators who have enjoyed the game with their students. Instead of explaining all the rules of how to play here, I will just describe the changes to what’s written in the game rules.

Using one copy of the game for multiple groups

This could allow a class of 25 - 35 students to play in small groups using one copy of the game. Be sure they understand the ranking process before breaking into groups.

• Divide them into groups of 6 or 8 students. 
• Shuffle the 100 Word cards and divide that roughly evenly between the groups. 
• There won’t be enough Ranking cards for all the students, so you could make additional sets on colored notecards. Alternatively, the students could just secretly write their rankings on paper. 
• When playing this way, they could use the standard rules (with one Judge ranking the items and the others guessing) or the partnership variation (as long as groups have an even number of players). If playing with a Judge, the Judge should use Ranking cards from the game even if all the Guessers are just writing the words down. This makes it easier for everyone to see his or her rankings.
• After a few rounds, groups should exchange their decks of Word cards so everyone can play with as many as possible.
• If scoring is important, students or partnerships can just keep their points on paper. 

Everyone ranking the same Words

Sometimes it will work best for the lesson to have the class rank the same five Word cards. Here are different ways for them to do the actual ranking. Ways to select the five cards are also listed below.

Same Words, Many Groups
All students play in groups of 6 - 8 exactly like above. Any of the options and changes can be used. The only difference is the students rank the same 5 word cards that you display to the class. My friend John Golden has his students play this way as an icebreaker. He gives the judges time to explain their rankings to the others in their groups.

One Judge, Many Guessers
This is how I used the game before starting a lesson on priorities and goal setting.

• Choose one student (or the teacher) to be the Judge.
• The five Words are presented and all other students try to guess how the Judge will rank them. They record their guesses by listing the Words in order on paper.
• If a score is important, the students (on their honor) can record it on paper. They get a point for each Word they had in the same place as the Judge.

Getting the Class Rankings With Digital Tools
I have used tools like Google Forms or class response systems (clickers) to let students send their rankings digitally. This is a fun way to see how the group thinks.

Different tools allow for different ways to do this. Most simply, you can just have five “questions”, each being one of the Words. A student’s answer for each question would be a number, 1 - 5. For example, if they wanted to rate Coffee as least important, they would pick 5 for that Word. Students would just have to remember not to use a number twice when choosing the numbers.

After all rankings are submitted, these tools usually display a graph that shows how each Word was ranked. After looking at the class’ responses, students can give themselves a point if they matched the majority for a Word’s ranking. For example, if “Justice” was ranked in the first (most important) position by most of the class, every student who had it as most important would get a point.

If two or more Words all tie for a position, all of those Words would count for a point, even if they also end up most in another position. That can happen, so don’t get too caught up in the details of scoring!
One fun idea for this method is to have everyone predict how some other person would rank the words. But this person doesn’t have to be in the class! They could be a historical figure or a character in a book...or maybe not even a person.

With carefully selected Words central to the lesson theme, this can result in a short reflective writing assignment. Students would have to explain their ranking and what they thought of the class’ overall ranking.

John Golden sometimes has his class rank by criteria other than importance. For example, he will have five concepts for discussion and ask them to rank them by how much they understand them. Another option is to rank them by personal preference.

Ways to Choose the Word Cards

Regardless of which of those methods you use, here are some different ways you can choose the five Word cards for each round. Most will help you more or less focus the type of thinking and discussion you want to encourage.

For any of these, you can actually draw those cards in the moment and display them under a document camera or write them on the board or screen. Or you might want to save class time by forming the lists in advance.

• Random - Just shuffle the deck and draw five, randomly choosing one side or the other on each card.
• Random from Subset - Choose several cards from the deck ahead of time that fit your lesson theme to form a smaller drw deck. Then when you play, draw completely randomly from that deck.
• Semi-Random - Draw 7 - 10 cards at random, then choose which 5 you will use for the round from those.

Of course, you can also just make Pre-Arranged Lists ahead of time by selecting the exact Words you want to use. Feel free to add in words that aren’t in the game, if they’d be beneficial for your lesson or discussion.

Conversation Starters

As one last suggestion, a college professor told me he just kept the Word cards on his desk in his office. When students stopped in to talk, he would draw cards (or have a few pre-selected) to generate some conversation.

Creativity Game with Google Slides - Abe & Einstein

This post contains a link to the template you need to play this game, but you'll also want to see this post  which explains how to run these creativity games with your class using Google Apps.

My most popular posts on this blog are the creativity games and exercises. Over the past year I have been translating some of those ideas into a Google Slides format.

When played as a classroom game, this one allows 3 - 5 creative students to compete to make up what two random well known people would say if they met. For example, what would you overhear in a chance meeting between Spider-man and Santa Claus? How about Harry Potter and Justin Bieber?

The whole class participates by voting on their favorite response. The creative thinking required for this game can be a challenge, but I've seen middle school and high school students have a lot of fun with these games.

I also have suggestions at the end of this post for other ways to use the activity, possibly with less time or allowing more students to create the fun answers.

First, here's the flow of the game when used with the whole class. There is a video that shows this process below.

1. Choose 3 to 5 students to be the contestants in the game. They should sit at the front of the room. They'll need either paper or a computer, depending on how you want them to share their riddle answers with you.
2. The slideshow for the game (at a link below) is displayed so the class can see it. It will usually be on the game slide, slide 2.
3. The teacher draws two random names from the group and displays them for the contestants to see.
4. The contestants get two minutes to write a few lines of what those people might say if they met. Each student sends his or her lines to the teacher.
5. The teacher reads them to the class and they are entered in the game slide so the students can see them.
6. The students in the class now have the chance vote on the their favorite haiku (using a classroom response system or possibly Google Forms).
7. Points are awarded to the contestants based on the number of votes they received.
8. Steps 2 - 6 are repeated three or four times, then scores are totaled to determine a winner.

Here is the Google Slides presentation that you'll need to play this game or to do any of the activities listed below.

Click to have a copy of the Google Slides presentation added to your Google Drive. 

Video Overview

This 4 minute video shows how to play these creativity games with a class. It contains a different game about answering a riddle instead of writing dialogue, but the process is the same. (If you're interested, here's the post about that game.)

Tips and suggestions for other ways to use the activity

• Obviously this chance conversation should be brief. Students should try for 2 - 4 short lines.
• To indicate who is talking, students can use initials. So using the Spider-Man and Santa Claus example, a student could write:
• SC:  Hey Spider-man, can you teach me to crawl walls like that?
• SM:  Sorry Santa, lay off the milk and cookies then check back when you look this good in tights.
• You might not be able to fit the whole dialogue in the boxes on the game slide. Read the full submissions from students, but for voting, t's usually sufficient to just sum up it up a few short words to help students remember each one.
• Usually the students make funny conversations in this game, but you could require different criteria for the "best" one.
• Have some things to show the rest of the class or to talk about while the contestants write their dialogue. See my post about creativity exercises to get some ideas that will involve everyone.
• It's easy to change any of the names that I made for the game. Just draw one out and double click on the text. Use names of people related to what you're studying in class. Or pick names of people at your school, like your principal or the custodian. This gives the students a chance to practice being funny while still being respectful. Note that I did put "Your Teacher" in the mix!
• You can have the rest of the class write their own ideas for dialogue too. After the vote, have some of them share what they wrote if they want.
• If you don't want to devote much class time to the game, just draw two words at the end of class and have all students make a haiku for homework. You can select your top 5 and have them vote on the best one as a warm-up in a later class.

Classroom Creativity Game - The Haiku Game

This post contains a link to the template you need to play this game, but you'll also want to see this post  which explains how to run these types of games with your class using Google Apps.

Many of my most popular posts on this blog are the creativity games and exercises I created and shared about four years ago. I am translating some of those into a Google Slides format, which I hope will allow more people to enjoy it.

When played as a classroom game, this game allows 3 - 5 creative students to compete to make the best haiku based on random words. The class participates by voting on their favorite. I've seen middle school and high school students have a lot of fun with these games.

I also will list a few suggestions at the end of this post about other ways to use the activity, possibly with less time or allowing more students to create the fun answers.

First, here's the flow of the game when used with the whole class.

1. Choose 3 to 5 students to be the contestants in the game. They should sit at the front of the room. They'll need either paper or a computer, depending on how you want them to share their riddle answers with you.
2. The teacher draws two random words.
3. The contestants get two minutes to write their best haiku that contains those two words. Each student shares his or her haiku with the teacher.
4. The teacher reads them and they are entered in the game slide so the students can see them.
5. The students in the class vote on the their favorite haiku (using a classroom response system or possibly Google Forms).
6. Points are awarded to the contestants based on the number of votes they received.
7. Steps 2 - 6 are repeated three or four times, then scores are totaled to determine a winner.

Here is the Google Slides presentation that you'll need to play this game or to do any of the activities listed below.

Click to have a copy of the Google Slides presentation added to your Google Drive. 

Video Overview

This 4 minute video shows how to play a similar game. It's about answering a riddle instead of making a haiku, but the way you carry it out in class is the same. (If you're interested, here's the post about that game.)

Tips and suggestions for other ways to use the activity

• Usually the students make funny poems, but you could require different criteria for the "best" poem.
• Have some things to show the rest of the class while the contestants write their poems. 
• It's easy to change some of the words that I have in the game, or you can just add a few. Pick things from your school, like your football team or the cafeteria. If you're feeling brave, put your name in the mix! This gives students a chance to practice being funny while still being respectful.
• Have the other students write their haiku too. After the vote, have some of them share what they wrote if they want.
• If you don't want to devote much class time to the game, just draw two words at the end of class and have all students make a haiku for homework. You can select your top 5 and have them vote on the best one as a warm-up in a later class.
• Be sure to read my post about creativity exercises that can be used before playing this game.

Game Design Exploration Part 4 - Reflection

This is the fourth part of a series for a classroom game design project that can be used in many classes and subjects. The whole project is based on a very simple game I created. Students will modify that game so it's about the topic they are studying in class.

Here's the flow of the overall project. Each of these stages has its own post, which you can access by clicking the link.

• Learn and play Roll-n-Flip - Students need to learn to play the basic game of Roll-n-Flip first. It should take one class period or less to learn the game and to play it a couple times. 
• Redesign Roll-n-Flip - Next, students will modify the game by adding a theme (based on your lesson) and possibly other rules. This can take more or less than one class period, depending on how much you want them to develop their version of the game.
• Play and improve their game - In this step students test the game their group made and then at least one game created by another group. You could also give them time to improve their game based on feedback. This process can be a class period or more, depending how much you want to focus on game design.
• Reflection - For the last part of the activity, students will reflect on what they learned about your course content and about game design. This reflection "seals the deal" for the learning, making this possibly the most important of step of the project.

_________________

This final stage of the project can be the most important, as it requires students to reflect upon what they learned about the lesson topic for your course as well as game design. In it each student Students will complete the document at the link below. 

Do not give students the document until they worked through Parts 1 - 3 of the activity (each easily accessible at the links above). That means they should have created a game based on Roll-n-Flip, tested it and played at least one game created by another group before they try to answer the questions. 

If you modified the activity in Parts 1 - 3 of the project, you might have to change the questions in the document to fit what your students experienced.

Through reflection, students should gain deeper insights from the activity. Their responses also provide you with a look at what they've learned about the lesson topic. That can be used to guide followup instruction or class discussion.

The reflection questions in the document come in three parts:

• The activity itself
• The game design process
• The lesson topic and how they connected elements of it to their game theme

You can find the Game Design Exploration Reflection Sheet here.

Game Design Exploration - Part 3 - Testing the Games

This is the third part of a series for a classroom game design project that can be used in many classes and subjects. The whole project is based on a very simple game I created. Students will modify that game so it's about the topic they are studying in class.

Here's the flow of the overall project. Each of these stages has its own post, which you can access by clicking the link.

• Learn and play Roll-n-Flip - Students need to learn to play the basic game of Roll-n-Flip first. It should take one class period or less to learn the game and to play it a couple times. 
• Redesign Roll-n-Flip - Next, students will modify the game by adding a theme (based on your lesson) and possibly other rules. This can take more or less than one class period, depending on how much you want them to develop their version of the game.
• Play and improve their game - In this step students test the game their group made and then at least one game created by another group. You could also give them time to improve their game based on feedback. This process can be a class period or more, depending how much you want to focus on game design.
• Reflection - For the last part of the activity, students will reflect on what they learned about your course content and about game design. This reflection "seals the deal" for the learning, making this possibly the most important of step of the project.

_________________

The importance of playtesting and revision - the iterative process in game design

This testing and revision stage of the game design process is essential. It can be fun and rewarding or sometimes very frustrating! It's often the heart of the creation process and it will probably take more time than all other parts combined.

Being so important, students need to see it. With limited class time, though, it is likely you will use it in this activity only provide some exposure to the concepts and a chance to have fun with the designs. Tell students it is important when making any type of game, but remind them to really test and improve their game they'd need to work on it a lot outside of class.

Keeping that in mind, tweak the following outline and resources to fit your needs.

Is everyone ready to proceed?

If a class is working through this design activity, at this point each group of students should have redesigned the simple Roll-n-Flip game. At the very least they should have done the following. (All of this is explained in the second post in this series.)

• Chosen a theme for their game based on the topic studied in class
• Created a title for their game
• Written a short introduction about the game
• Redesigned the 11 cards and changed them on the template found in Part 2 of this series

Optionally, the groups might have designed additional rules and components for their game.

Make the games.

When all the parts above are complete, groups should print and cut out any cards or components they need to play their games. It's best to print the cards on cardstock or at least the thickest paper possible.

Each group also needs at least one die. They need tokens for a pawn and chips too, but a template in Part 2 provided components they could cut from paper if those tokens were not available. 

If the groups added rules for additional cards or components, all of those pieces need to be printed and cut out or gathered as well.

Depending on how much time you want the class to devote to this playtesting experience, groups could make two or more copies of their game so multiple groups could play them at once.

Groups test their own games

Game designers often play their own games first, just to see if the creations even work at all. At this stage, each group should play their game at least once.

After playing, students should discuss these questions:

• Did the game work as we intended?
• Did we find anything (good or bad) that we didn't expect?
• How much do we think other groups will enjoy our game?
• What changes could we make to improve the game?

Depending on how much time you have for this design exploration, students could rework their cards. Simple changes might be handwritten right on the cards. Significant changes might require students to actually alter the cards in the original Google Drawings they made in Part 2 of this activity.Of course, that would require them to print and cut out more components.

If time doesn't allow a students to make all the changes they want to, remind them that they can improve the game as much as they want on their own.

Groups test a game designed by another group

For this part of the activity, each group will play at least one other group's game. Ideally this will be "blind playtesting", meaning the groups will play the games without additional assistance from the game designers.

The game components should already be created by now. Game introductions and possibly new rules need to be printed (or shared through Google Drive) so groups have everything they need to learn and play the games.

Along with these materials, give each group a copy of this Game Playtesting Sheet. It provides questions for before and after playing the game. 

Additional considerations

• Give the groups time in class to read and discuss the Game Playtesting Sheets that test groups filled out for their game.
• Groups could test games from more than one group if possible.
• Students could take their games home and have other people play them to get more opinions.
• Have a class discussion (possibly virtually) at the end of this stage so you and the students can look for patterns on what worked best in the games.
• It would be ideal to get test groups from a class that did not go through the design process themselves. In other words, they would likely be unfamiliar even with Roll-n-Flip, so the whole experience would be new to them. This requires the designers to put a lot more work into their rules.

In the next post (and final stage of the activity) students will reflect on their game designs and the design process.

Classroom Game Design Exploration - Part 2

Recent Update:  There's now a link at the end of the post to some sample student games and tips I learned from playing with them.

This is the second part of a series for a classroom game design project that can be used in many classes and subjects. The whole project is based on a very simple game I created. Students will modify that game so it's about the topic they are studying in class.

Here's the flow of the overall project. Each of these stages has its own post, which you can access by clicking the link.

• Learn and play Roll-n-Flip - Students need to learn to play the basic game of Roll-n-Flip first. It should take one class period or less to learn the game and to play it a couple times. 
• Redesign Roll-n-Flip - Next, students will modify the game by adding a theme (based on your lesson) and possibly other rules. This can take more or less than one class period, depending on how much you want them to develop their version of the game.
• Play and improve their game - In this step students test the game their group made and then at least one game created by another group. You could also give them time to improve their game based on feedback. This process can be a class period or more, depending how much you want to focus on game design.
• Reflection - For the last part of the activity, students will reflect on what they learned about your course content and about game design. This reflection "seals the deal" for the learning, making this possibly the most important of step of the project.

__________

Photo by Mark Strozler

Considering Theme in Game Design

For students to understand this part of the game design exploration, they need to think about the concept of theme. If working with an entire class, you could lead a discussion using these ideas here. Students could provide other examples from game they are familiar with. 

The basic game of Roll-n-Flip (which you should have played in part 1 of this series) has no theme. It's not about anything other than getting chips.

Many other very popular games do not have a theme. Think of Checkers or many card games like Bridge or Hearts. Players are just playing with the components within the game's rules, hoping to win. We sometimes call these abstract games.

Photo by Jon Ross

But in other games like Monopoly or Risk have a theme. It's like a story, in a way. More or less, players are pretending to be doing something other than playing with cards and plastic. The themes are selling property and fighting battles to take over the world. In games with strong themes, the card text and the artwork all serve to remind players of that theme.

It's also important to notice that the rules also should support the theme. The rules of Monopoly are not exactly like buying and selling property in real life, but there are obvious similarities. For example, when you put some new buildings on a property it increases in value. In Risk, a bigger army has a better chance of taking over a smaller army. We expect the rules to support the theme.

For this stage of the game design project, students will design the cards of Roll-n-Flip so it has a theme.

Examples of Themes for the Roll-n-Flip Game

I have already created two other games based on the Roll-n-Flip game. Those games have themes and they are: 

• The Game of Christmas Cheer
• All Around Mackinac Island

The themes of those games are apparent from their titles, their boxes and the text on all of the cards. As you might guess, the first one is about Christmas. The second is based on a popular tourist spot in my home state of Michigan.

To make sure players remember the theme on every roll of the die, we don't refer to the chips as "chips". In the Christmas game, they are called "cheer" and we call them "fun" in our Mackinac game. 

Likewise, the cards don't have generic names like the ones I used in Roll-n-Flip. Instead, the Christmas game has "Stressed Out" in place of the Mix-Up card. The graphic on that one shows a person who obviously is overwhelmed with the holidays.

In the Mackinac game, I made that card "Tourist Rush", since a busy day on the island can be a hectic experience.

Really good things also are found in the cards' names. One card is "The True Meaning of Christmas", for example, and it can bring in a lot of chips (cheer) for a player. And in my other game, the best card is Fudge. That's because everyone who visits Mackinac Island knows about the popular fudge shops.

__________________________

Adding a Theme to Roll-n-Flip

After discussing themes in games and looking at the examples above, it's time for students to add a theme to Roll-n-Flip. The theme will be based on the lesson topic they've studied in class. 

The special Game Design Planning Sheet linked below will guide them through the process. Here are some things to keep in mind before assigning the planning sheet:

• The students will choose a theme that's related to your topic. The lesson might be about a book they just read, like The Outsiders, or maybe it will be about a historical event like the U.S. Civil War. While they could use those entire topics as the theme, they also could choose a specific part of those topics. For example, they might focus on a climatic scene of the book or a particularly interesting battle of the war.
• The planning sheet will require them to name each card as something from their theme and to rename the chips. 
• The document has a link to the components for Roll-n-Flip in a Google Drawing. If students click it, they will get a copy of that Drawing. They can type their changes onto the cards and print a copy of the game.
• There are optional ideas listed on the second page of the planning sheet for a more advanced re-design of the Roll-n-Flip game. Use them as appropriate for the age of your students and the needs of this project.

Click here to access the Game Design Planning Sheet.

And click here to see my post that includes some samples from games the students made.

Simple Game for the Classroom and Explorations in Game Design

This is the first part of a series for a classroom game design project that can be used in many classes and subjects. The whole project is based on a very simple game I created. Students will modify that game so it's about the topic they are studying in class.

Here's the flow of the overall project. Each of these stages has its own post, which you can access by clicking the link.

• Learn and play Roll-n-Flip - Students need to learn to play the basic game of Roll-n-Flip first. It should take one class period or less to learn the game and to play it a couple times. 
• Redesign Roll-n-Flip - Next, students will modify the game by adding a theme (based on your lesson) and possibly other rules. This can take more or less than one class period, depending on how much you want them to develop their version of the game.
• Play and improve their game - In this step students test the game their group made and then at least one game created by another group. You could also give them time to improve their game based on feedback. This process can be a class period or more, depending how much you want to focus on game design.
• Reflection - For the last part of the activity, students will reflect on what they learned about your course content and about game design. This reflection "seals the deal" for the learning, making this possibly the most important of step of the project.

____________

How to Play Roll-n-Flip

This is a simple game of chance and pressing your luck. Played with these simple rules, it could entertain students in ages 8 - 12. Remember that the goal of the project is to entertain your students, but to redesign this game. Older students would play it so they can fully understand the basic game first. They'll see it can easily be modified to be more enjoyable by older players.

This video (just under three minutes) is probably the best way to see how the game works. 

After watching the video, read the full rules.

In order to play, you will need these components for each set (which works for 2 - 5 players):

• This Google Drawing contains the cards for the game. Ideally you'd print this on card stock, but paper will work if necessary. Cut those 11 cards out.
• 10 chips per player - These can be poker chips, bingo chips, plastic coins or any small tokens.
• 1 Six-sided die
• 1 Pawn - This can be any small piece as long as players won't confuse it with their chips.

If you can't find chips and a pawn, this Google Drawing has some squares you can cut out for these purposes. (Ignore the additional cards on that template for now.)

Coming soon: Tips for redesigning the game for use in many subjects

Two Great Party Games for the Classroom

Here are two great party games that never made it to the shelves of Walmart, but that have entertained us for years. I enjoyed them with friends and with students when I ran the game club.

Both can be played with homemade cards, so with some work you could tie them into your content area.

First is Thingamajig.

Because of its elegance, it is by far my favorite of the "guess the word" variety of party games. The boxed version comes with the Thingamajig--a small electronic device that reveals a single word when the button is pressed.

The active player must give a "definition" of that word to the other players. They all write down what they think the word is. If a player guesses right, he or she gets a point. The player who gave the definition gets a point for everyone who scores it, except if everyone guesses it. That's the twist that makes this game so amazing! If everyone guesses it, that player gets 0 points.

I've found this game to be an excellent study in communication. It quickly reveals how good or bad a person is at thinking from the perspective of others. By seeing the word yourself, it feels like every clue you give is too obvious. Then when you hear the answers, it's often clear you overlooked a variety of interpretations. Good stuff for further exploration.

One time I used this game with a small class of around 15 students. We played as a class, so it had an interesting dynamic. There was the possibility of getting a big score, but there were some other issues with playing this way that made it less than ideal. In general I'd recommend it for groups of five or six students.

Full rules for the game (which are still very brief) can be found here. As a bonus, if you have the Thingmajig device or you have your own set of words, here's a list of variations or other games you can play using it.

Next is What Were You Thinking?

I had almost forgotten about this fun game (which was created by the designer of Magic: The Gathering, if that means anything to you), but recently I dug it out to try with my two teenagers at home. They loved it and I was again reminded of the fun we'd had with it in class.

There are several types of questions in this game, but the general idea is that you don't necessarily score for getting right answers. You score if you match answers of other players. So, it's not great for review in class. On some questions, the winning answer might be the most popular wrong one!

For certain topics, especially pop culture or opinions, it works very well. My favorite type of questions are the ones where you are required to list four or five things in a category. For example, we had one that asked us to list celebrities who go by only one name.

After a minute or so, each player reads off his or her list. For each item, the players who had that item (including the reader) raise their hands. Each item is worth the number of hands raised. So every item is worth at least one point since you can count yourself!

This game lends itself to some interesting discussion as you'll often have to decide if two people have the same item, though they worded them differently. The rules indicate that a general answer (like "super hero movies") does not match a specific answer (such as "The Amazing Spider-Man 2").

I don't recall ever using this game with a whole class, but I think it might work with a relatively small one. Small groups of four to six students will have a lot of fun with it. Official rules are here, but I'd suggest ignoring the spinner. Just make interesting questions and write one per note card.

Note that some questions in the boxed version of this game (which is probably hard to find anyway) might not be appropriate for the classroom. Also, there are penalty cards that the lowest score player has to read aloud each round. Some of those refer to drinking.

If you're new to this site and you want some games designed for the whole class to play, here are a few links to start with:

• Many ways to use my party game What's It to Ya? in the classroom
• A ton of resources on creativity style party games
• I made some activities for North Star Games' great hit Wits & Wagers. One is for U.S. History and the other is for Life Science.

Games, Tips, Insights and Music in the Classroom - My top 10 posts from 2013

Crystal Owen and me introducing our math music video project

2014 will mark three years since I started this blog. My early posts focused mostly on some games I created for Promethean boards and response systems.

Three more years of putting the theories of my studies into practice have led to a much wider spectrum of topics. Most recently they highlight the creative work and insights that have made this year the best of my career.

I now can write about better games, tech tips for many applications and deeper insights into what's really going on in school. Most exciting for me personally has been the increase in work with music.

My role in education is like oil in the machine. Most of what I do isn't the main point, but it's vital to keep things running. 

I was happy to find my list of top 10 posts (in terms of views) written this year reveals this. It includes a good mix of all of these topics and many came from the past four months. Here they are in order, starting with the most popular.

6 Ways to Teach Like an Artist - I'm so grateful to find this was my most viewed new post. The thoughts behind this one sum up not just a year, but my career of 20 years in education (and maybe 40 years of going to school). I like this original post, but the ideas that emerged from it have led to a theme and series of posts that reveal my journey. It has been my gift and message this school year.

Coming Soon - The Creativity Game of Movie Trailers - This final creativity game marked a turn in my attention from classroom games. It stems from a dream project, far more significant than just a game, and I'm glad to see it got attention over the months since I created it.

10 Tips for Recording Video in the Classroom - A lifetime of loving video creation came together in this list of practical tips I repeat constantly whenever we do such projects in class.

What's It to Ya? Randomizer for Class Presentation Games - I don't know why it took me so long to think of this, but it's probably the best way to play the game that I have written about the most. This Flash app selects five cards from my game of values and opinions. Free and very accessible, it allows groups or a class to take advantage of all the critical thinking games and activities based on the simple game.

My Attempt to Encourage Creativity - I'm a little hesitant to include this one, but I am glad people found it useful. When a group of students were afraid to make their own music video, I decided I better take the plunge first. I'm not a vocalist and my video is one of the few I made that has a thumbs-down on YouTube, but it made my point and kicked off my favorite project of my career.

Creativity Exercise for Creative Writing - This is the low tech, party game version of the movie trailer game from the number two slot. Cards can be printed and the game played in small groups.

8 Things I Emphasize When Teaching About Game Design - I love making games and I get excited when I can teach about the process. Here's how I address it in class, and most of this has nothing to do with the how-to of making a game.

How to Inspire Creativity and Teach Content - This is a very practical post about a process I use to create music videos in under 3 hours. I have had a lot more practice with it since I wrote this in April, so my regularly updated page about Music Creation in the Classroom is the go-to place for updates.

6 Reasons Your Students Need to See Your Mediocre Art - Back to my artist theme, this one comes from my personal experience of sharing my less than amazing talents. It meant a lot to me that Kevin Honeycutt tweeted about this one. He is directly responsible for the thoughts behind it and his attention to it helped it make this list.

Middle School Music Video Project - At the end of March I finally completed my first music video project with a class. Everything else was in theory, but this first attempt brought it altogether and the results made my year the best yet as a teacher. Two things worth mentioning:  

• I showed this video to Kevin Honeycutt and it led to our grant funded project on my Music Creation page.  
• The story I tell in this post was the bridge from music video projects to the Teaching Like an Artist theme that wrapped up the year.

Free Halloween Game for the Classroom or Family Fun

Freaky Forest is a game I created with the help of my wife and children a few years ago.  It is a very simple push your luck game about trying to find your lost trick-or-treat candy in a scary forest.

You can play the game with chips, but it's a lot more fun to play with candy like M&M's or Skittles.  It would be good for three to six children per group in a classroom or as a fun family game.  

We sold some copies through Fair Play Games and then I put it online for free as a print-and-play game.

I just compiled the rules and sheet of cards into one PDF.  The page of cards should be printed on heavy paper or cardstock.  You also need two regular dice and 10 chips or pieces of candy per player.

Click here to view or download the rules and cards in PDF form.

(I was thrilled to find this gamer from Hungary made his own Simpsons Treehouse of Horror edition!)

And if you're interested in another free Halloween game with versions for the classroom and for a group of friends, check out my creativity game Halloween Haiku.

Back to School Deal from Fair Play Games - What's It to Ya? x4

My friends at Fair Play Games are selling bundles of four copies of my party game What's It to Ya? for only $7.99 plus shipping.

What's It to Ya? is the basis of many of the critical thinking game activities I have on this site.  It's great for several subject areas and works well for Sunday school and youth groups too. (Here's a review from a youth leader.)

The bundle of four copies is enough for 32 students in a class to play, so it's great for group games after doing the other activities with the entire class.

For this price, it's also a great option to give the game as gifts or prizes in a classroom, especially if the students are familiar with the game from the classroom activities.

Be sure to check out my many fun, free games based on What's It to Ya? (a.k.a. Oh, Really!).  

Note:  I made the game What's It to Ya?, but I no longer am receiving royalties on this edition.  I mention it on my blog to help my friends at Fair Play Games and to make it available as a fun learning activity for as many students as possible.

Games and thoughts for the start of the school year

We still have a good amount of summer to enjoy, but with all the back-to-school stuff showing up I figured I'd compile some of my own resources appropriate for this time of the year.

First, here are the presentation games I made for ActivInspire that are great for those first days back:

• Oh, Really* - Students rank items in order from most important to least important.  This is based on my published party game What's It to Ya?*.  Another related way to play online, not requiring ActivInspire, is here.
• Say Anything - This is a very simple creativity game where some students compete to come up with the most popular answer.
• This or That? - Here's another game based on a party game I made.  This one gets attention year round, but it's great for introducing students on the first days.

*Update 8/7/2013:  My friends at Fair Play Games have one edition of my party game What's It To Ya?game on sale for $7.99 for four copies.  That's enough for the whole class to play if you're using the physical party game!  Check this post out for more information.

A new school year means a great time for some fundamental changes to how we run our classes.  Here are some thoughts I shared earlier for engaging students with meaningful work.

• Do something big NOW - I added our music video to this recently too. Why I'm not big on career planning lessons anymore
• Lifelong Learner Challenge - A philosophy for ongoing learning and meaningful contributions
• Learning for Doing - Is it bad that I finally gave up on making everyone love to learn?
• The 4 C's of Success - One way I presented the importance of making commitments and doing what it takes to follow through
• The 3 P's of Success - What I learned about success from working with high school seniors
• Advice to a New Teacher - Some overall lessons I learned that I'd tell myself 20 years ago when I started teaching.  I think every teacher could benefit from writing similar advice to themselves.  Also, this post ends with the "Key to Success" that I always told students on the first day of school.

And here's a favor if you've got any interest.  Let me know if this pet project of mine looks interesting.  

Helping Students Live Better Stories

I haven't elaborated much on it since this original post, but it could be a great, ongoing project for a class.  If you like the looks of it, tell me and I'll work on it some more before school starts!

Six iPad games I recommend for school

I love games of all types and have pride myself on introducing people to excellent titles they have never heard of.  (And when it comes to learning from playing games, I approach it differently than most.  These are not games that will teach students specific skills just by playing them.)

Here are the games I keep in my "School Games" folder of apps on my iPad. Some get played more than others, but I believe these are all great for the classroom. All except one are based on board and card games, which are my favorite types of gaming for thinking and social interaction in and out of the classroom. 

I usually end up play these in math classes, but if time for games arises most can work well any content area--or in the cafeteria or anywhere else I find myself with a group of students. They allow for critical thinking, problem solving and (if played multi-player) practicing communication skills. 

Prices are what I found on iTunes as of 7-19-2013.

Hey, That's My Fish! - $2.99 - This works for 1 - 4 players. Rules are extremely simple and the animations make it all the more engaging. Players compete to get fish points on a shrinking iceberg.  Strategy and tension emerges as players balance getting to the most fish, trapping opponents and maximizing the chances of their own survival. 

Olo - $1.99 - This is the only game here that's not based on an existing non-computer game. It is a two-player action game involving flicking disks of various sizes. It's so intuitive that students can start having fun with it right away, but there's room for skill.  They score points if they stop in the scoring zone and players can reuse them up to three times each if they are flicked or bumped into their shooting zones.  The fun comes in knocking the opponent's disk out of the scoring zones without returning them to the shooting zone where they can be reused. 

Through the Desert - $2.99 - Here's a game I didn't expect to connect with the students from the remedial math class where I tried it, but they really liked it. It has a few more rules than most on the list, but the actions each turn are simple. Put two camels on the board. Points are earned in a variety of ways. The app makes the setup and sometimes cumbersome scoring effortless. If you work with students who like fresh strategy games, be sure to check out this one!

Sixis - $0.99 - This is a push your luck dice game with cards. I don't particularly like it because of some odd rules I never remember and I can't seem to roll the numbers I need!  I have seen students really have fun with it though. 

Can't Stop - $0.99 - This is the classic push your luck dice game. It makes a fun two-player game that my son and I enjoy. I used to have success in the classroom with the original board version and I thought the app would make it all the better. So far I haven't seen it catch students' attention, but there is a lot of potential here, at least for older students. 

Ingenious - $1.99 - I have had a lot of fun with this app and the board game. It is very simple, but has plenty of room for strategy and interesting choices. The app allows two players to compete. I actually have not had a chance to teach students this game yet, but I think it will appeal to many in the upper grade levels.  My big complaint with the app is that it's easy to accidentally place a piece in the wrong place or orientation, but there's no undo on the moves.  

Ra - $3.99 - I keep Ra in my School Games folder, but like Ingenious, I haven't yet used it in class yet. The app does a great job of making a complex, long game very simple and fast.  Each turn can take only seconds most times, but there are a lot of rules and to play well or even to care what's going on, there will have to be some explanation before the first game. So far I haven't been working with a group of students that I felt would sit through that. I absolutely love the game in the traditional form and the app. My son and I can speed through the three rounds of a full game in about 20 minutes on the iPad.

What's It to Ya? randomizer for classroom presentation games

Much of this site is dedicated to classroom games based on my party game What's It to Ya? (a.k.a. Oh, Really!). You can find all the rules and ways to use the game on the Critical Thinking Games page.

This new installment to my resources is simply a randomizer that draws item cards for any of those activities.  If using this as a classroom presentation game, you'd need a response system (set of clickers) that allows students to do a sort in order question.

Update 8/8/2013:  If you like this activity and want to use the physical party game in class, my friends at Fair Play Games are selling four copies in a classroom bundle for only for $7.99!  That's enough for 32 students to play in multiple groups.  Check this post out for more information.

Just click the start button in the randomizer below.  Five cards will be randomly drawn from a set of 118 items that could spark interesting discussion or thought in the classroom.  See this page for a list of free critical thinking classroom activities that would use the cards.

(If the randomizer is not displaying correctly in your browser right click here to download the file.  You might have to open it with Flash Player or another browser.)

Again, you'll want to see the game's page to get all details, but basically you can use the randomizer to select the cards and then use them in any of the many ways outlined on that page.  Usually someone (depending on how you play) will rank the items from most important to least important.  Predictions and discussion can follow.  Briefly, some possible uses are:

• Have one student or the teacher rank the items and the class tries to predict his or her rankings.
• Just display five items, have the class rank them and discuss the results.
• Display random items at the end of class and assign a short writing piece for homework.  Students can express their own opinions and also make predictions on how the class would rank them.
• If students are playing in groups they could use a laptop to select the five items for their group instead of using cards.

If you're having fun with What's It to Ya? be sure to check it out at Fair Play Games.  My friends there are selling off the last remaining copies for less than $2.50 each! I'm not getting royalties for this game, so this is just my effort to help you and them out.