Tuesday, January 10, 2017

5th Grade Forces Star Wars Breakout

This breakout game is to review all the 5th grade standards for Forces and Motion.  I created it to share easily among teachers so they only need a minimal amount of setup to run the game.  As all my games, it is setup for 5 teams to work collaboratively to complete the game.
Click to access all the materials and steps to setup the game are shared in Google Drive.

Materials Needed:
Internet Access - Devices for each team
1 Large Breakout Box
5 Three digit locks
1 hasp
5 three digit locked boxes
5 UV (ultraviolet) pens
5 medium to large vanilla envelopes
5 small envelopes
5 Envelopes / Boxes to place materials (5 small boxes with sheet protectors on top - Optional)
Cardstock for the puzzle pieces, Sort pieces
“Secret Plans” Google Form
Glue or Tape
Colored pencils to decorate droids

Setup:
DROID Large Envelope - SEE ABOVE TO ALIGN THE CORRECT FORMS
Print the 5 copies of the Droid Drawings -  (All 5 are slightly different so you need use them all)
Cut out and decorate the droids, be sure to keep the QR area black and white
Tape to the front of the large envelopes
Print the file “Imperial Access Codes” which contains 5 different copies
Tape them to the back of the large envelope
Print 5 copies of the Droid Jigsaw Puzzle File on cardstock
Cut out the pieces and place them inside the droid envelopes
UV Pen - Write each of the following scenarios onto each of the Droids image page of the envelope
*one scenario per droid cover page, use each scenario only once*
Select the graph that displays movement at a constant speed
Select the graph that displays constant movement interrupted by a five minute break
Select the graph that displays constant movement interrupted by a ten minute break
Select the graph that displays constant movement then no longer moves
Select the graph that displays an unmoving object


Small 3 Digit Boxes
Print the 5 Imperial Symbols
Label each of the 5 small boxes with the Empire’s Circular Label
Print 5 copies of “QA Sort Cards” on Cardstock
Separate and place inside each 3 digit box
Place a UV light in each of the 5 boxes
Set the locks of the small boxes with the above combinations


5 Boxes/Envelopes
Print and separate the 5 graphs and place one on each of the envelopes/boxes
I used decorated cigar boxes with sheet protectors so I can re-use them
Print 5 copies of the “File Name Word Search” file (2 pages)
Place the “File Name Word Search” sheets in each of the 5 boxes


Large Breakout Box
Print 5 copies of the Imperial Security Codes worksheet
Place each inside a small envelope
Label each envelope “Imperial Security Code”
Place the envelopes inside the large Breakout Box

Using the hasp, lock the box with the 5 three digit locks with the above combinations

Playing the Game
Play the Star Wars Intro Video to destroy the Death Star by stealing the Empire’s plans from a Droid Spy.  

Each team should have a small black box in front of them.  Hand out the Droid envelope to begin the game

The clues can be completed in ANY order - You will need to enter all three passwords to the Google Form to win.

Back of the Droid Envelope “Imperial Access Codes” = 3 digit lock boxes
Count the number of Potential Energy examples for each vertical column
The number will open the 3 digit lock box.
The box contains a UV pen light, and sort cards
Sort question cards with their correct answers
Each card has either a letter or a number on the bottom corner.
Writing them in the correct order (question 1-6) will create a 12 digit Access Code
Enter the Access Code in the “Secret Plans” Google Form

Jigsaw Puzzle Inside the Droid Envelope = Large Breakout Box
Piece together the jigsaw puzzle
The puzzle displays a question to determine speed
Solve the question to obtain an answer
Look at the image of the droid to locate a number
The droid number on the cover image is the first digit to the 3 digit lock, the next two digits are the speed answer
The three digits will open one of the locks on the Large Breakout Box
**in order to open the box, ALL 5 teams need to complete the jigsaw puzzzle**

Large Breakout Box
An envelope labeled Imperial Security Codes contains the next clue
Each team selects an envelope
Solve each of the Speed questions
List all the answers in order with No Spaces will generate a “Security Code”
Enter the Security Code in the “Secret Plans” Google Form
Entering all the answers with no spaces on the Google Form “Security Codes” will unlock it

Droid Image and Hidden Message
The droid image has a QR Code in the center of it.
Scan the QR code will open the “Secret Plans” Google Form
It requires 3 passwords found in the rest of the Game

The droid’s name (a number) is on the image

Hidden Message
Using the UV light on the image of the droid will reveal a secret message clue to solve
Each of the five situations refers to a specific graph posted on a box/envelope for students
(monitor to determine they select the correct graph)
Inside is the 2 page word search sheets
Answer the vocabulary questions to get a list of terms
Complete the wordsearch to eliminate all of the vocabulary words listed
The word that is missing is the correct filename - kinetic
Enter the Filename in the “Secret Plans” Google Form

Secret Plans Google Form
Enter each of the three codes - Access Code, File Name and Security Code
The Google Form has a set of Science questions needed to be answered
If ANY question is incorrect, the From will move the team back to the beginning of the file
Once all the questions have been entered correctly - The Death Star Exploding Video can be played ending the game.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Can't Stop This Feeling

Thanks to Chad Lehman sharing his idea and project to all in Chicago.  To support Discovery Education's Theme of bringing Joy back to education, 5th graders created a music video.

Cooper vs Sharknado

Monday, October 3, 2016

States of Matter Paper Slides

An expectation for 5th grade during our States of Matter unit is to identify and describe all the physical and chemical properties of matter.

Students worked in small groups to select a common item and describe it with as much detail and key vocabulary as they could.  I did not provide a rubric, just their interactive notebooks where they can utilize their vocabulary and write their script.

To display what they have learned, I used one of my favorite Discovery Education SOS lessons; Paper Slide Videos.

Some of the videos had mistakes, however it led to good discussions after viewing them as a class.
After completion, students create a QR code of their video to attach to their interactive notebooks.
Cooper waiting to be read to at the library

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

First Week of School


The first week of school is a great way to establish what your classroom will be for the rest of the year.  Therefore it felt important to provide these components into the room.

Makerspace Morning
To teach the importance of taking care of the materials in the room, work collaboratively and commit to an assignment and see it through to the end, I had the students complete a jigsaw puzzle.
Musical Kinesthetic Learning
Not only does this song from Lodge McCmmon teach the properties of matter, this Discovery Education SOS strategy teaches students movement and music are components to a well rounded learning experience.  Plus, it builds relationships with the students and creates a sense of accomplishment seeing themselves practice and perform in such a short amount of time.
Discovery Education SOS Strategy - Paper Slide Videos
One of the many great educational resources DE has to offer are their Spotlight on Strategies (SOS) lessons to teach any content.  Paper Slides is a quick and innovative way for students and teachers to show what they know with just paper and a recording device.  In this activity, students had to select five attributes from a list to describe themselves.
I have created several escape rooms/breakout games based on content yet this is the first time I used one of their created games.  "Oh The Places You Will Go" Dr. Seuss theme, designed by Patti Harju. A breakout game specifically designed for the first week of elementary school.

I made some small changes.  Instead of hanging items to easily view, everything each team needed was locked inside its individual box.  Therefore they would first focus on one of the locked boxes by deciphering the first clue.  I also added a 5th puzzle to have five teams of students.  As with all my escape games, the focus is for all the teams to unlock their final lock along with everyone else's so it is a collaborative whole group accomplishment.

It was a great week thanks to the DEN, and Cooper.
Volunteering at the Library for Paws to Read

Monday, August 1, 2016

Discovery Education Summer Institute Breakout

This breakout theme was Joy along with highlighting Discovery Education material.  Click to access all the materials in Google Drive.
My intent is to modify this game to be used during the third Discovery Ambassador Session.
Therefore, portions have to be modified such as the previous DEN Events word cloud images and the names on the double puzzle worksheet.

As with all my games, content can be easily replaced to support your needs.  For example, the clue following the Google Form was to find an image depicting a past Discovery Event.  Remove the Discovery Event with a topic and the images can be replaced with word clouds summarizing them such as Wordle.
THE GAME

Thanks to DENnis Grice for his intro to get the game started.
1.  Jigsaw Puzzle - solve the puzzle and turn over to reveal the secret message to find a particular board from Discovery Education.

2.  I used Board Builder on Discovery Education to be the hub of the breakout.  It contains the next clue, a hidden hyperlink to a Google Form.  The hyperlink can be hidden by changing the font to match the rest of the text so it is invisible unless you hover over it.  It also contains information to solve the last clue inside the balloons.  That was done so if anyone skipped steps, they would still have to backtrack to the beginning and complete the entire game to breakout.  I included as many tags on the board included as many hints to the puzzle clue to ensure participants found the correct board.

3.  The Google Form's last question had three choices.  All three led to a particular visual word cloud based upon the topic that was selected that I hung on the wall.

4.  I have Who Has cards were inside an envelope behind the images.  Organize the cards correctly will display the Google Voice phone number.

5.  Google Voice is a great tool for breakouts, as messages pertaining to particular games can be saved and switched when needed.  The message hinted "Have you ever wanted to see what made your favorite DEN Guru's tick by looking inside their minds?  Here is your chance, select one Guru and operate on him to find your next clue."

6.  Using Makey Makey and Scratch, I built three operation games out of snack boxes.  There are many websites sharing how to design them and the program to go with it.  I modified the sprites (images) and sounds to match my particular game, but I followed their instructions.  I used glue stick caps to hid the pieces of the next clue inside the game.

7.  The three pieces hidden inside the operation game have the message "under a desk" written.  I just cut the message into three pieces for the players to assemble quickly to decipher.

8.  Under desks were envelops with the character Joy from "Inside Out" and inside were double puzzle worksheets I created using Puzzle Maker from Discovery Education.

For DENSI, I just used well known DEN members names to rearrange in an anagram.  To be used for Discovery Ambassador program, I would replace the names with contact persons and departments depicting different components of DE that a person may need.  The rearranged words spell out "find the correct box with the numbers ...." spelled out in word form.

9.  Inside the room are locked boxes with a three combination code which you receive from the double puzzle worksheet.

10.  Inside each box are Nerf guns I bought at a Dollar Store with the message "to release your joy, you must aim high."

11.  The hint was for persons to shoot down a balloon placed high in the classroom.

12.  Inside the balloons are rolled up index cards with the final clue.  Each message said "How would spread joy by speaking....."  Each note listed three unique languages ex:  French, Italian, Spanish.

13.  The final puzzle requires you to return to the Board on Discovery Education and find the list "Nine Ways to Say Joy to the World."  In order are nine Joy's from nine different languages.  By looking at your three languages compared to this list, you will determine the three numbers to open your lock.  ex: French could be the third number and Italian the sixth on the list and Spanish being the first.  Which would be the lock combination 3,6,1 and open the lock.

Again, this breakout is designed to modify to your Discovery Ambassador meeting or within your classroom modifying the content using these basic clues.  Hope to inspire, assist, and motivate.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Wayne's World of Science Breakout - Review of all 5th grade content

The purpose of this activity was to create a kinesthetic lesson based upon all of the 5th grade essential standards with a minimal understanding of escape rooms.  This breakout was designed for all users; therefore all the clues are easily duplicated for any person to easily and quickly recreate for their individual classroom.  The breakout should last around 35-45 minutes.  
All that is required are a few containers for the clues and the students Chromebooks a box with a few locks.  I uploaded instructions how to setup the game along with all the steps of the game in detail to follow along and ensure success.

Provided is a link to all the materials, instructions, and videos that you will need to create the game


Materials Needed:  A box that can be locked, at least 3 locks, 6 shoeboxes, sheet protectors, chromebook/ipad, envelopes/folders, construction paper, 3 baggies, index cards, sharpie, some decorated containers:  folders, boxes, envelopes to place clues in around the room, Wayne’s Intro video

Setup:  
Set the locks to the following combinations:  7,3,5 8,1,4 6,4,2

tape sheet protectors to the top of the shoeboxes (allows interchangeable text/images to be placed on top.
- to replace the images and keep the boxes for other games

Print all materials:  Double Puzzle, Forces Visual Boxes, I have Who has? (6 sets), Matter Number Sort, etc


Using index cards spell out “anemometer”, “wind vane”, and “barometer”.  Write one letter one each card for the students to sort the cards to spell out their weather instrument. - Place in small baggies


Slide Forces Graphs in the sheet protectors on top of the 6 boxes

Cut out “I have, Who has” into squares and place them in each box

Cut out the QR codes and place on a wall

Place Double Puzzle sheets in envelopes/folders - label the area “BODY SYSTEMS”

Place the Matter Number sort in separate envelopes or folders - labeled “WAYNE IS HAVING SUM FUN”

Place/Tape the challenge baggies on or near the Wayne’s Tools of SCIENCE  for students to easily pick up

Place the “Tools of Science” labels on one side of colored construction paper and the vocabulary match on the other.  Place the challenge cards in a place where the challenge card label can be seen and somewhere they are not easily obtainable since it is the last clue for the game. **The FIRST THREE matter match are the correct ones - THEY MUST BE BEHIND “air pressure, wind speed, and wind direction” in order for the game to work.

Place the clues all over the classroom to setup your Wayne’s World Lab.  Label or identify the areas for students to easily find.

Any folder/box you are using can be dead ends with messages “try again”
Resources:  Discovery Education Puzzlemaker, Google Sheets, Google Forms, Puppet Pals 2, QR stuff.com, youtube, plus worksheet and game ideas


The Breakout Game: Place all your students into three / five  groups

Play the youtube video of Wayne introducing the breakout and explain all three teams need to work collaboratively within their own group along with all three groups working together to open the three locks to end the game.  The video keeps the theme of the game, plus its a timer.

Clue 1:  Wayne’s favorite pastime:  Students complete the wordsearch to determine what their next clue is:  “SUM”.  Students will have to find the station labeled “WAYNE IS HAVING SUM FUN”.

Clue 2:  Matter Number Sort:  There are 6 different sheets, have students randomly select one and complete.  Each of the 6 examples has the same correct number:  37.  However each leads to a different body system.

Clue 3:  Double Puzzle Body Systems:  Students sort the terms located within that system to generate the next clue.  Hardest component is certain numbers are used repeatedly due to the same letter being used to spell out the clue.  Each clue will lead to a different QR code.

Clue 4:  QR Winds:  Students match the term from double body systems to the definition located below a QR code.  **Monitor students closely to determine they are selecting the correct QR code for their term.  Reason all QR codes lead to a video and may will progress through the game even with a correct matching term.

Clue 5:  Wayne Youtube / Visual Box:  Students watch a short youtube video to identify what type of graph they need to find located on top of one of the 6 boxes.  **Monitor students closely to determine they are selecting the correct graph/box.  As above, the group can progress even though they may have selected the wrong graph.  

Clue 6:  I have Who Has Cards:  Students find cards to line up according to I have, Who has to spell out a google Form.  **Students will have the most difficult with transference since the URL has to be spelled EXACTLY.  It is case sensitive and the symbols need to be included.  
Here is the Google Form the cards link to: http://goo.gl/forms/6NmbMa0QNu   

Clue 7:  Google Form Science Review:  The Google Form contains several questions from Weather, Forces and Matter.  Students have multiple choices, if they get their answers correct, they progress to the clue very quickly.  However, if they answer incorrectly, they will be given more questions and will take longer to obtain the clue.  **If students SUBMIT form, they will not see what the next clue is and would have to repeat the entire process over again.  
The clue reads:  You will need the best tools for the job. Select one bag to spell out your next clue

Clue 8: Anagram Sort:  Students select ONE of the three bags and sort the words of a weather instrument and match the definition to determine which challenge card to select

Clue 9:  Vocabulary Match Tools of Science:  Students select the correct card.  Behind the Tools card are terms which correlate to selecting the three numbers to unlock one of the locks.  Numbers on the lock work from top to bottom.  Only three cards work.  The others are dead ends.

Once a team opens a lock, they can help support the other two teams complete theirs.  
If all 3 teams open the three locks within the set time they win and earn 5’s on their challenge.

Saturday, June 4, 2016

5th Grade Science Review Escape Room

This game was run to review all 5th grade science concepts for their end of grade assessment. Below are the steps of the game followed by all that you need to recreate the game.
The Breakout Game
Clue 1: Intro Video - setup theme, provides first clue by playing songs from Moby


Clue 2:  Makey Makey Operation Game - students retrieve one of the many messages inside the operation game.  Some say try again.  5 have (3 for now) westerlies, jet stream, gulf stream, el nino, trade winds


Clue 3:  Passing Wind - Find the correct description of a global wind written on a cloud envelope for next clue inside.  They include the 5 mentioned plus Coriolis Effect as a dead end.


Clue 4:  Word Bank - use all of the words in the word bank to complete the sentences, the four remaining words first letters spell out the next clue Insulation, Precipitation, Acceleration, Decomposer - IPAD


Clue 5:  Locks App (numbers lock) - attached to each ipad is a clues sheet to answer several math related science questions, answer all of them and then calculate the sum to enter into the locks app to receive your next clue 1) 40 2) .25 3) 6.5 4) 20 5) 13.25 TOTAL:  80 (locks app)


Clue 6:  Clouds - locks app reveals an image of a cumulus cloud.  Clear baggies hanging from the ceiling containing cotton balls to simulate clouds possess the next clue.  Students need to figure out what to do next and then devise a way to get one of them down.


Clue 7:  I have Who Has - Inside the cloud is a baggie containing I Have Who Has cards to sort.  Lining them up leads to a Bitly http://goo.gl/forms/NytDLOZuiCvrY7KV2


Clue 8:  Google Form - Complete the answers to lead to the next clue:   Incorrect answers lead students into more questions.  The clue reads:  “Go to the cooler and use the best method of heat transfer to thaw out your next clue.”


Clue 9:  Heat Transfer: - Frozen in airtight containers is the next clue.  Provided with materials:  plastic, metal, wood, etc.  students are encouraged to use them to thaw their next clue as quickly as they can. Have students justify why they chose the material they did.  Metal is the fastest. CLUES:  see image box document for images to be placed on boxes and the corresponding messages in the bottles


Clue 10:  Image Boxes:  Thawed were situations that needed to be matched to the appropriate graph found on top of the boxes.  Inside is the Food Web Final Clue


Clue 11:  Final Clue:Complete the Food Web  Inside the images boxes contains a food web where images need to be placed in its correct niche.  Numbers appear on each of the animals in the food web.  Directions ask students to determine the sum for the primary consumers, secondary consumers and the tertiary consumers.  Knowing how many animals for each trophic level is essential otherwise the numbers will be incorrect.


Lock 1:  8, 5, 6 Primary:  1, 1.5, 2, 1.5, 2, Secondary:  1.5, 1.5, 1, 1   tertiary:  2, 3, 1
Lock 2;  9, 7, 4 Primary;  1, 2, 1, 3, 2  Secondary:  2.5, 1.5, 2, 1   tertiary;  1, 2.5, .5
Lock 3:  5, 6, 9 Primary;  .5, 1.5, 1, .5, 1.5  Secondary;  2, 1, 1.5, 1.5   tertiary:  5, 3, 1

SETUP


Roll up the clues including dead ends and misleading clues into the glue stick caps.  To create your own Makey Makey Operation game, I used this link.  You will need cereal boxes, conductive tape, and tweezers to make them.  


Puzzle 3:  Passing Wind - Label a container such as a large manilla envelope, box, folder “Passing Wind.”  
Inside will be mailing envelopes for each of the global winds.  Write each definition/explanation on a separate envelope:  coriolis effect, el nino, la nina, prevailing westerlies, jet stream, trade winds, gulf stream.  Some will contain “whoops try again” and the rest will have a copy of the next clue.  


Puzzle 4:  Word Bank - Print copies of the word bank and place inside the envelopes which in turn is placed in the “Passing Wind” container.


Puzzle 5:  Breakoutedu locks app:  I created a number lock on the app with a image of cumulus clouds as the next clue.  The answer that needs to be entered is 80.  Only concern for the app is you need a hotspot to run the app in a classroom.  I used my iphone to share my data to the three ipads I used.  One for each team.  Plus to ensure the students didn’t get lost on the devices, I used guided access to keep the app on the forefront of the ipads and turned off the Auto-lock.


Puzzle 6:  Clouds:  Using zip lock bags, fill them with cotton balls and print the I have Who has cards on cardstock and place them in a smaller zip lock bag inside the cloud bag.  Using duct tape and string, I hung them from the ceiling.  When I first ran the game, the class noticed the bags when they walked in but did not understand until they played the game and quickly made the connection they were clouds on their own.


Puzzle 7:  I have who has - As mentioned in puzzle 6, the cards are printed on cardstock and placed in small ziplock bags inside the cloud ziplock bags hung on the ceiling.  Depending on the number of teams, the number of clouds and “I have” cards will be needed.


Puzzle 8:  Google Form - Students need a device for each team to complete the Google Form.  


**Puzzle: 9:  Heat Transfer -  A cooler is needed with lots of ice to keep everything frozen.  Print the graphs and the clues and separate the clues and graphs by cutting them.  I used airtight containers to place the clues for the graphs inside the containers and placed each of them in a ziplock bag filled with water.  I placed them in the freezer overnight to freeze and they were placed in a portable cooler for the game.  Also at the station are materials that are good/poor conductors for the students to thaw out the clue:  wool, plastic, wood, and metal.  Students are encouraged to explain their choices on what materials they need to thaw out their cannister.  


Puzzle 10:  Image Boxes - I used cigar boxes I covered with colored butcher paper to make them decorative.  I cut and taped sheet protectors on top of the boxes to reuse the image on top of the boxes for whatever game I am playing.  This game as previously mentioned in Puzzle 9, place the cut graphs and place them on top of each box.  There are more boxes than games (9) or so to create dead ends.  You can leave them empty or write “try again” if wanted.

Puzzle 11:  Inside each puzzle box is the printed final clue food web.  You will need to print the blank food web, the animal sheet and cut them into separate pieces plus the instructions for the final clue.