Jenga!

So, tonight I have to share with you a review game I did with my kids that was a total hit. I give all credit to my good friend Emily, who teaches Spanish across the hall from me.

On Friday, I could tell my kids needed a brain break. Spanish II is a huge change from level I in that it is back-to-back grammar, grammar, grammar. I try my best to keep it fun and exciting, but still...it’s a lot of grammar! So our game was all about Spanish trivia from Spanish-speaking countries. There were some fun questions thrown in, written in Spanish, like, “When did Neil Armstrong land on the moon?” (Um. One class said 2004.)

So I asked her to share this activity with me so I could try it out. All you need is a Powerpoint with whatever review questions/answers you want, and a Jenga tower. Mine was from Wal-Mart (the Jumbling Blocks tower) and all my kids commented on how it was off-centered and “not easy to balance”, so maybe just splurge and buy the real deal. I actually sent out an email to my district to see if any people had any Jenga towers they didn’t want and I received, like, 8. I am that teacher who asks for things before I buy them...you never know what some teachers don’t want anymore!

I wish I could post video, but I am not smart enough to figure out how to protect my kids’ identities, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one. They. LOVED. It.

Here are the rules and set-up that worked best for us:

For set-up, I had all the kids push all desks except for one all over to the walls. The one desk in the middle is where you set up the Jenga tower. Put the kids in teams of three or four, and have them sit on the floor in one giant circle, next to their teammates. Choose a team to start with, but make sure when you end that you end with the team before them so that everyone gets an equal amount of chances to answer a question (in other words, go around the circle in order and make sure you don’t stop halfway through the circle at the end of the review, so everyone gets the same number of questions asked of them). I had my kids sit in desks one time to do this, and the engagement wasn’t nearly as high as them sitting in a circle on the floor.

Play:

Start with the first team, and put the question/review problem up on the board. A clicker comes in really handy here, because I stand at the whiteboard keeping score. This way I can click through the slides without having to move (because you won’t have room to move probably). If the first team gets their answer correct, they choose another team (or even a person from another team) to pull a block out of the tower. If they get the answer incorrect, I call for “robas” or steals, and the first team with their hands in the air may steal the question. If that new team gets it correct, then, same thing: they get to choose another team to pull a block. If no one knows it, the team to whom the question originally belonged must pull a block out. Whoever the tower falls on loses a point (or two, or whatever you want to do!). Teams earn points by answering questions correctly.

So: get it correct (even on a steal), you earn a point and choose another team to pull a block. Get it wrong, and you pull a block if no one else steals or knows it.

That’s it! Oh, and make sure to review the normal rules of Jenga before you start, to avoid any fights during gameplay.

I hope your kids find this game as engaging as mine did! And don’t be afraid to throw in some fun trivia questions!

#review #games