The Last Word Game

Here's a great game for geography classes....

The Last Word Game:

Students will be broken into 3 teams. Each of the students in team one will begin by choosing one subject card from the following three topic decks of their choice: Landforms, Bodies of Water, and Manmade Geographical Features. The subject cards in each deck will consist of the following corresponding subjects:

Landforms
List of caves
List of continents
List of deserts
List of glaciers
List of hills
List of impact craters
List of islands
Lists of mountains
List of mountain passes
List of mountain ranges
List of peninsulas
List of volcanoes

Bodies of Water
List of geysers
Lists of lakes
Lists of rivers
List of seas
List of straits
List of waterfalls
List of waterways

Manmade Geographical Features
List of airports
List of bridges
Lists of state capitols
Lists of counties
Lists of countries
List of marinas
Lists of national parks
List of railway stations
List of reservoirs and dams
List of roads and highways
List of tunnels

The first student from team one to lay down their subject card, read the Subject aloud and then says a word that fits that category, starts the round. That player then immediately starts the timer by pressing the button.

Any player (including the starting player) now says another word fitting that category. Players continue saying words that fit into that category until the time runs out. The last player to say a word is the winner. The key here is to know enough about the topic and subject you can list as many as possible.

The last player to say a correct word before the timer sounds wins that round and will continue to the finals. This is the same for team two and team three. Then the winners from each team will play a championship round played exactly the same to determine the game champion.

Energizers....

MID-DAY ENERGIZERS 

I say while raising my hand, “Who here is bored? Let me see a show of hands.” Students raise their hands. I continue with my hand still in the air, “Who here needs a little fun pick-me-up?” Students raise their hands again this time with excitement.

“In about 15 seconds when I say “Go” Everyone will stand up and face the person next to you. I’ll give you a few seconds to look your partner over carefully. Then, when I say “Turn” both of you will turn around and change five things about your appearance. You can roll up your sleeve, take off your jacket, change jewelry, mess up your hair, or anything else you can think of. I’ll give you about a minute for this, so be quick and don’t peek! Then when I say “Turn” again, you will turn back around to face your partner and then spot the differences.”

“Does everyone understand?” Students nod. “Does anyone have questions?” Students shake their heads. “Ok, then, is every body ready when I say go?” Students nod their heads.

I yell, “Go!” Then wait about 20 seconds to let the students look their partner over. Then I shout, “Turn” and give them one minute to change five things about themselves. Then I repeat, “Turn” again so they can spot the differences.

Now Even More Testing

I just attended my first on-site class at UAM on Saturday! What a large class. I was glad to see there were others having trouble finding a job just like me. It was also very nice to hear real life stories from teachers going through the MAT program and how some difficulties and successes they have had. One thing I learned that was a little disappointing was we still have yet another test to complete before graduation... the PLT! I thought after passing Praxis I and Praxis II in three different areas, I would be finished until the Praxis III. It just made me realize this is a profession on continual testing, training and learning.