Review Jeopardy... and Bags!

As my sixth grade students near the end of another unit, that means it is once again time for our Review Jeopardy game! We have spent the last few weeks learning some introductory algebra concepts (variables, expressions, etc.) so that we have a solid base heading into the next two algebra units, which both really pack in a lot of material! Solving equations, solving inequalities, functions, and graphing are all coming soon! My review has evolved into a slightly new version each of the four years I have been teaching. Here is a picture of the game I created. This was from a few units ago when we were multiplying and dividing decimals.

My jeopardy game consists of five categories that change based on the unit we are studying. Each category has five questions with point values increasing in increments of 10, from 10 to 50. My students are in 5 or 6 groups based on their row. During each question, only one student from each team is participating on behalf of their team (although I encourage all students to try the problems, even when it isn't their turn!). On the first question, the first person in each team is up, on the second question the second person, etc. Students who are "up" for the round must first write down their answer to the question before raising their hand. Once most or all of the students up for the round have their hand up, I take answers in the order their hands went up. The first to have the correct answer gets the points for their team! Whichever team gets it correct gets to choose the next category. Here is a link to all of the questions that I use for the jeopardy games!

Recently I started incorporating a bags game (aka bean bag toss, cornhole toss, or any of the other million names there are for it!) into the mix...the sixth graders have LOVED it! I went a little crazy a few years ago creating this baseball card covered bags set. It was originally painted for my wife and my wedding reception...here is me converting its original purple color into the card covered Brewers and baseball masterpiece! One is all Brewers cards (of course!) and the other are all other teams.

I went back and forth on how to incorporate the bean bags into Review Jeopardy. What I have finally settled on is for any team that reaches or passes a multiple of 50 to each get a shot at the bean bags. For example, if Team 1 is at 30 points and answers a 30 point question correctly, each player on their team gets one shot. I mark off three distances: short is worth 10 points, medium 25 points, and long 40 points. If a team passes the next multiple of 50 as a result of making a bean bag shot, they each get one more shot. That is the limit for that round though!

Before using the bean bags, I would take off 20 points if a student was talking out of turn. After starting the bean bags, I started having students miss their next shot if talking. I have found this very effective and I like it because it doesn't penalize the rest of the team as much since they still get to take their shots!

I also usually have a final jeopardy question ready for the end of the game. I give students one minute to come up with a wager for their team. They can wager as many points as they have. If a team has zero points, I let them wager up to the amount of the team with the lowest amount. During final jeopardy, I give each group about 5 minutes to work on the problem as a group.

Review Jeopardy has definitely been a class favorite...especially since incorporating the bean bag toss! However, I played it for two years without the bags set and it still was a hit!