I’ve mentioned before that we are on a modified block schedule. Today was our four period block day – my busiest schedule all week.
My sophomore classes were on Day 2 of a two period lecture. Finishing up the topic today only took about 30 minutes. And I had expected it to take 50. Le sigh.
So I got them started on the second activity of the day – they are creating brochures that address the main objectives of the unit. I allowed them the option of working with a partner for this assignment and many of them chose to do so. I knew that allowing too much time for partner work could have disastrous results, so while they worked I turned to my trust lesson plan book for something I could shift around to fill the last 20 minutes of class.
The problem was that we are getting to the end of the unit and none of the few remaining activities would be a smooth transition for today.
So I jumped on the internet and did a quick search on one of my favorite sites, Sporcle. If you are unfamiliar with the site, don’t check it out until you have some time to get distracted. This website is filled with trivia games galore. Two small disclaimers:
1. Some of the games may contain material that is not 100% “classroom friendly” – especially if you have elementary or middle school students.
2. You should play the game first before sharing it with the class to make sure that the information is accurate. Some of the games have been denoted “Sporcle verified,” but many are not.
My sophomores take Scriptures. Currently we are studying the Old Testament, so I found a game that asked the students to name (and correctly spell!) as many of the Old Testament books as possible in a specific timeframe. I posted a link to the game on my website and each student played on her own laptop. As they finished, I recorded each girl’s score on my weekly participation log. We will play again over the course of our study and see if each student can improve their own personal best.
After each student was warmed up and had played once individually, we played once more as a class. I called this Sporcle Sparkle. You know the Sparkle game – the teacher gives a word and the students have to spell out the word one letter at a time. If a student misses their letter, they sit down and the play proceeds to the next player. So for today’s version, we went around the class and each student had to name a book in the Old Testament. If they could name one, they remained standing. If not, they were out.
This activity was easy and quick. It took about 20 minutes to complete, which made it the perfect time-filler. The girls really had fun quizzing themselves and comparing their scores with their friends. And best of all, it was relevant to the lesson.
After school, I spent an hour working with a new web-based program I’m really excited about. I’ll blog more about it once I’ve tried it out in class. Then I changed into my SuperSalesGal uniform and headed off to job #2. So in total, I spent 9 hours on school stuff.
Between Summers 