The Last Word Game Follow-up

As you know, I don’t have my own classroom just yet, so I had to find a creative way to try out my game. I have a friend who teaches Geography in a local middle school so I modeled my game around her learning concepts and class objectives.

I’m not sure if the students had raised interest levels because I was a “visitor” and they were on their best behavior or not, but every student seemed to be very attentive and involved.

The first group was a little resistant to lay down their subject card, probably due to fear of the unknown, but by the time the second group had their turn they couldn’t wait to throw down their card and start the game. In fact, two boys out of group two almost had a wrestling match while grabbing for the timer.

Even though it is still quite early in the year, and the students haven’t even touched on some of the subjects, I believe they did very well. There was one instance, however, that no one in group three could name anything from the first subject cards they drew. I had each of the students redraw and start the round from scratch.

If I were using this in my own classroom, I believe I would be a little more selective in which subject cards I was using at a particular time of the year. The majority of the subject card should be things the students have already covered in class, and only throw in three or four subjects they would be covering very soon. The game could then be used as a review and a preview of things to come.