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| Fun with Jeopardy! |
I was inspired with using Jeopardy from one of my university professors. When taking a Shakespearean course in literature, my professor would have us play Jeopardy as a revision before our tests. We looked forward to the day we played Jeopardy, and it motivated us to read and understand each play so as to answer the questions correctly.
Throughout my years as a teacher, I modified the rules of Jeopardy in order to motivate all my students to work harder and ensure they understand the concepts. Our class rules are:
- Students will work together in teams in order to solve a problem. Their team names need to reflect a concept they learned in the chapter they are reviewing.
- They need to assign a different person each time to select a category and state the answer.
- The answer should be in the form a question.
- Each team will take a turn (usually in a rotating manner) to select and answer a problem.
- If the team gives the wrong answer, the other teams will be given a chance to display their answers, and the points will be divided among the other teams. If none of the remaining teams display the correct answer, the original team that answered the question gets a second chance, but will only receive half the points.
- Students are responsible for recording their points on the board, and keeping track of which categories were already selected.
- At the end of the game, they need to calculate their points and designate which place each team came in.
Through playing Jeopardy, my students learn to work in teams, which is an essential skill they need to master in order to succeed in the real world. They also solve all the problems during the game, even if it wasn't their turn, in hope that they might get a chance to receive partial points. Most importantly, they will have everlasting memories of having fun while learning!
