Try this Fun Social Studies Activity Before Spring Break!

Kirsten 0:09

This is the social studies teacher podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm Kirsten at the southern teach, an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies. I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Kirsten 0:47

Hello there, and welcome to another episode of the social studies teacher podcast. As always, I am so glad you're here listening in today. Something a little different, since it is almost for many spring break, or at least in the next few weeks, you will be coming across some type of spring break for the week. So I thought I would get this out there before then, hopefully I catch you before spring break, and I wanted to share a fun and engaging activity that is perfect for the days leading up to spring break. And just thinking about ahead of time, because I know you might be planning ahead, or maybe you'll pull up this episode a couple days beforehand, if you're looking for a way to keep your students focused and excited while also reviewing what they might have learned in social studies so far this year, you are in the right place. This episode is all about turning review time into game time with a social studies activity that is very well known, but also educational and entertaining. So let's dive in and talk about how to keep your students learning and having fun right before spring break.

Kirsten 2:04

All right. Are you ready to hear about the game? This is social studies Jeopardy. What better way to review the year's Social Studies content than with a Jeopardy style review game? This was one of my favorite activities that we did in the classroom before the days of Kahoot or anything like that. This activity is easy to set up. It's adaptable for any grade level, and also sure to keep your students engaged. So I'm going to share with you some steps to set up the game, and some templates that you can use, why this activity works, and some pro tips for success based on my own failures and successes.

Kirsten 2:47

Step number one, of course, we want to set up the game. You want to create your game board through five or six categories. I would say probably five. I would definitely make sure to have five, maybe a bonus one if you want, but you could do something like geography, us history, government, historical figures, current events. Or you could even do one on vocabulary, so you can pick one of the ones I just mentioned, or just thinking about five or six categories that just represent the major topics you've covered this year.

Kirsten 3:23

The second part to think about is to write five questions for each category increasing in difficulty as the points go up. So you've got the 100 200 300 400 500 for example, this would be geography, 100 points, what is the capital of Texas? That would be easy one. And then for us, history, this would be for 500 points, who was the president during the Louisiana Purchase? You could either do a multiple choice answer or have them all short answers but just like thinking about whatever questions you write, they're increasing in difficulty based on your students and what they know now. Pro Tip is using something like chat GPT or AI to help you write the questions, because if you're like me, I am not about to write 25 questions based off of everything we talked about this whole entire school year. So the most I would recommend, okay, I'm just going to tell you eduaide, Edu ai de.ai This is free to get started, and they have a Jeopardy tool. So all you have to do is go to the content generator. Once you log in, you can click the social studies subject and the grade level, so let's say fourth grade students, and I'm going to enter in a topic just basically general what we've learned so far this year. I'm going to type in. I'm doing this as I'm recording. I've got Texas geography, Texas history, Texas history vocabulary, famous people in Texas history, and Texas government. And I'm just going to click the gamification tab, and Jeopardy style is already here. And I'm going to add to my workspace and generate and I'm just going to tell you what it looks like. It's a spreadsheet. It has the different categories I entered in and just shared with you. And then it has the $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 and it has 25 questions already done, and I can just utilize whichever ones I want to, or I can change them out based on I like it, I don't like it. So I'm going to give you an example of for Texas geography. $100 What is the capital of Texas? Or the $200 name the longest river in Texas. $300 what desert is located in Texas? $400 which two States border Texas to the north? And then $500 name the largest city in Texas. So I could probably switch around some of that and just making sure I have either short answers or multiple choice, depending on what the questions are. But the fact is that in seconds, it generated 25 questions for me. So I recommend using the tool Edu ai de.ai and I will make sure to link that in the show notes if you are interested in checking it out.

Kirsten 6:24

And as far as creating your game board, you can either do this on a whiteboard or a bulletin board, or you can use a digital tool like Google slides for a virtual experience. I also am going to link something that I've personally used. It's by the fichter files. She has a TPT category about just a variety of Jeopardy templates that you can just enter in, and it's already done for you. It's digital. It's you - I think there's a Google Slides option and a PowerPoint option, and you can pick a theme if you want to do a spring theme, or just a fun bright color theme, or just a theme based on what your classroom looks like, or whichever one you fancy. You can always click one of those templates. So I'm going to just link the whole category so you can check out the digital Jeopardy templates.

Kirsten 7:05

All right. Step number two, divide the class into teams. After you've set up the Jeopardy game, you've got all the questions ready, split your class into teams of three to five students. This can keep the game a little bit collaborative, competitive still, and it ensures everyone gets a chance to participate. Assign each team a buzzer or have them raise their hands to answer questions. So you could do three to five, depending on each student, but I've also done two teams. I've done three teams. You could do four or five teams. It's up to you how you want to divide it. But you can give them a buzzer, or you can just have them raise their hand.

Kirsten 7:42

And then step three, play the game. So just a quick rundown of how the game works. The teams are choosing a category. They take turns choose a category and a point value. So for example, they might say, I want historical figures for $300. You as the moderator read the question aloud, and teams must buzz in or raise their hand to answer. If the team answers correctly, they earn the points. And if they are wrong, another team can steal by answering. You can continue playing until all questions are answered, or you can set a time limit.

Kirsten 8:22

Now you could also do a bonus round for extra fun. So this is step number four into the game with a Final Jeopardy round where teams can wager points on one last question. Whatever question you have, or whatever course you might have for what you're teaching this year, choose a big picture question that ties together themes from the year. So one question example might be, name three ways geography influenced early settlements in the United States. Teams write their answers on whiteboard or piece of paper and reveal them all at the same time.

Kirsten 8:57

Now, I wanted to share just why this activity? It's so simple. It seems so simple. You know, tried and true. This is why it's not just fun, it is effective. Number one engagement, this game format keeps students energized and excited even before spring break. Another component, collaboration, when they're working in teams, it encourages the teams to discuss and review the material together like they could, even if you want, you can have them use their social studies notebooks, but I would recommend they do it off the cuff. Another reason why this works is that it covers multiple categories and it's comprehensive. It's a great way to revisit a wide range of content from the year. And another fourth way, it's a low pressure assessment, so you're kind of taking some notes as you're seeing which questions are being correct and which ones are not correct based on you know who the team is, and all of that. This can help you assess student understanding in a relaxed and supportive environment. So it's not like you're putting an X next to the question, or anything like that. It's not graded, but you can kind of guage which categories you might need to revisit maybe after spring break.

Some extra tips for success is to include a variety of question types like I mentioned earlier. I would want, thinking about my Texas history example, to make sure I have some multiple choice, some fill in the blank, even visuals that might be a fun one, like they just have a picture and that's a question, and they they have to identify what that landmark is. Also keeping it fair, rotate who answers within each team to make sure all students are getting a chance to contribute and also adding some prizes. This is always, of course, a favorite for the class. If you have extra recess time or even candy or stickers, whatever incentives you want to do with your class, it can make the game even more exciting.

So I know Spring Break might be just around the corner in a few weeks, or maybe next week - I don't know. It does not mean that your social studies lessons have to lose momentum. A Jeopardy style review game is the perfect way to keep your students engaged while revisiting everything they've learned this year so far. So I hope you give this activity a try in your classroom. It has always been a hit with my students, and it's a great way to end on a high note before spring break. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you're subscribing and leaving a review and share this episode with a fellow teacher. Maybe you want to do some type of competition between them. Until next time, keep making history fun and exciting. Have a wonderful spring break.

Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.