Around the World Review Game (Upgraded Version)

 Hey, ya'll! It's the first Bright Ideas Blog Hop of 2015! :) I'm going to share with you my take on a classic game that my students have really been enjoying this month.

You've probably heard of the review game "Around the World." I played it in school and have used it in my classroom. If you haven't, here's how it goes:

1) Start at one side of the classroom and have the first student stand beside the next student who is still seated (or standing as they get too excited to stay seated :P).

2) Show them a card with some sort of review question (math facts, alphabet letters, etc.).
3) The first student to say the answer on the card correctly gets to move on to the next student.
4) When a student loses, they sit in the seat of their opponent who is moving on to the next student.
5) The first student to make it back to their original seat wins.

This game has always stressed me out because of several reasons: 1) Having to move around with the students to show the cards and not being able to really monitor the whole class. 2) Students shouting out a bunch of different answers just to try to be first. 3) Having to wait so long until a student finally makes it back to their original seat.

So, here's how I've tweaked it:

1) Thankfully I have a camera projector, so I just show the card (we've been practicing measurement facts this month) on the projector for the whole class to see. All students have been much more engaged because they can all see the question and mentally try to answer it. And I don't have to run around the whole classroom with the cards wearing myself out.

2) The rule when answering is this - students may only answer once. If they are incorrect, that gives the other student a great opportunity to think and answer correctly. If they both answer incorrectly, I do a new card. This rule prevents students from just blurting out mindless answers.

3) I changed the goal of the game. When a student answers first correctly, I hand them a very small marble (These are from Dollar Tree. I have very well-mannered children. If you don't, I would consider passing out circle markers, pennies, etc. that don't make much noise. You just want something small that can fit in their hand as they go around the classroom.)

The goal now is to have the most marbles when I decide to stop the game. That way I don't have to wait until a student wins 20+ times. Whenever I stop the game, they count their marbles, and the person with the most marbles wins.

My kids are loving this game, and it's great when we only have 5 minutes or so left in the day. I plan on reviewing math facts and Spanish vocabulary throughout the rest of the year with this format.

Well, thank you so much for being here! If you enjoyed this Bright Idea, please connect with me at my TpT store, Facebook, and YouTube for more. :)

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