Jeff for America

When I think of Jeopardy, I need to take a seat. Arguably the most popular review game for teachers, Jeopardy is an utterly exhausting experience. Aside from explaining the rules, you have points to keep track of, dozens of questions to plug into an often malfunctioning powerpoint template, and despite the thorough preparation, students always end up arguing. I used to use Jeopardy review as a way to prepare for a unit test – so it was happening almost every month in one of my classes. It was out.of.control.

This year, thanks to some tips from pro teacher (and forever roommate) Erika, I’m changing the game. Quite literally. Jeopardy may never reign as the go-to review activity again. But what could I possibly replace it with? When I realized my students had probably never sat down to watch an entire episode of Jeopardy, it made sense that basketball would win their favor. Erika’s review advice was simple:

1. Place an empty trash can at the front of the classroom

2. Give each student a scratch piece of paper

3. Set up three throwing point lines (1 point is close, 2 points is further and 3 point is near-impossible)

4. Split the class into two paperball teams

Once the logistics are taken care of, the game happens by itself. One player from a team (this alternates) answers a review question read by the teacher (usually from a study guide) and if they get it right, earn a point for their team. Then, they get the chance to take a shot and earn more points for their team. After crunching up the paper to make their ball, they can choose any of the throw point lines and shoot. If they make it, the points are all theirs. If they miss, we move on to a player from the next team.

The directions take about 3 minutes to explain. The set up takes about 1 minute to completion. And the game itself is stress-free. There’s not much arguing with a missed shot. To be sure, there can be a great deal of variation if desired. I decided to project an image of a basketball hoop on the wall, and I also made the rule that an opposing team can steal a question that isn’t answered by the original player. It’s really all in your hands. Make it as complex or simple as you want. In the end, you’ve got a great activity that really gets them focused on studying the material and reviewing the content before the big assessment.

And it’s fun.

- Jeff