How to Play Jeopardy in Class
The intoxicating theme, tricky questions and well-versed host set Jeopardy apart from other game shows. This classic American TV show has been puzzling viewers and contestants alike for decades. Teachers can harness the excitement of this enjoyable quiz show and create a similar experience in their classroom by building a Jeopardy game and playing it with their students. Creating a classroom Jeopardy game is a simple and attention-getting way to review information with your students, and can provide a much needed diversion from the typical monotony of a classroom.
Instructions
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Use a Jeopardy Template. Jeopardy class games are easily created using PowerPoint. The board consists of a grid containing an array of hyperlinked point values. To build your Jeopardy game, download the free template from the Educational Resource Center for Teachers. See the Resources section for a link to this template.
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Replace the categories with subject-relevant topics. Upon opening your template, you will see that the first row of boxes are filled with categories. Select the text in each box, and type over it to create new categories germane to your class. For example, if you are teaching a science class, you may dedicate an entire category to single-cell organisms. Likewise, an English teacher might designate a category as "Transitive Verbs."
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Compose questions for each difficulty level. Build your list of questions in a Word document or on a piece of paper. Compose five questions of increasing difficulty for each category. For example, in a math class you may want to start a definitions category with simple questions such as, "What is the definition of addition?" and advance to more complex questions such as, "What is the product of two divided numbers called?" While standard Jeopardy games include statements instead of questions, posing questions increases the likelihood that your students will understand--and allows them to practice answering questions similar to those that they will encounter on a test.
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Plug the questions into the template. Starting at the left side of the playing board, click on the lowest point value. Place your lowest valued question for that category in the space on that slide by cutting and pasting your text from the Word document, or typing in your clue from your written list. Continue in this fashion until all of the board sections have been filled.
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Divide students into teams. When students arrive, divide the class in half. Ask each team to sit on the opposite side of the classroom to create a division among the students.
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Project the game using an LCD projector. After hooking your computer to the LCD projector, project your game onto the wall or a screen to create a large playing board.
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Allow teams to take turns selecting questions. Flip a coin, or randomly select a starting team. Allow the first team to select the category and value, and take a guess at the answer. You may elect to allow the team members to confer and decide upon an answer, or, to ensure that all students participate equally, you may want to ask one team member to come up with the answer on his own. If they miss the question, allow the other team to steal and get the point. You can vary this game format by providing teams with bells, and allowing them to ring in if they know the answer. However, this can become difficult as it can be hard to determine which team buzzed in first. To ensure fairness, alternating is the safest bet.
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Keep score on the chalkboard. Keep score yourself, or ask a student to volunteer to act as scorekeeper. Add up the teams' points as you move throughout the game so you can easily tell who won at the game's end.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit question mark image by Dumitrescu Ciprian from Fotolia.com
