11. Ball Toss: For this activity you need to set up cups in a pyramid and have a squishy ball of some sort. I hide questions on index cards in the cups. The student who selects this activity should throw the ball toward the pyramid while a teammate retrieves the ball and throws it back. The goal is to knock down the pyramid, run to the fallen cups, and answer the questions on the index cards correctly before time runs out. I usually have a six-cup pyramid and three of the cups have questions.
12. Hut, Hut, Hike: For this activity, the student that selects the challenge becomes like a center in football ready to hike the ball. Except, instead of a ball, the student will throw toilet paper between his legs and into a basket. I ask the student 4 questions and then give them the remainder of the time to try and hike the toilet paper into the basket one time. If they do, they accomplished their task! It involves toilet paper, and apparently, anything that involves toilet paper in the classroom is fun for the kids. I won't forget purchasing an oversized bag of toilet paper from Wal-Mart for personal use at home, and while standing in line, one of my students spotted my wife and I and asked if the toilet paper was for a classroom activity. Unsure of what to say, I simply grinned and said, "You'll have to wait and see..."
13. Spell It Out: A simple team activity, for this challenge I ask a recall question that has a short response (maybe 2-4 words) and have the students dig through foam letters and spell out the answer. I think I might try a new twist this year, in which students would go through a newspaper or magazine and have to cut out letters that spell out the correct answer. WARNING: In order to make this task reasonable, make sure that your answer is a short one!
14. Zip Around: Similar to "I Have, Who Has", the team of the student who selected this challenge must complete a zip around of 10-12 cards in 60 seconds. Each card has a question and an answer to another question in the room. For instance, one person asks, "Which president bought Louisiana from France?" and someone else reads, "Thomas Jefferson" then flips their card to read the next question. The final answer should be on the back of the card with the first question.
15. Flash Mob: One of my favorites, party music must be readily available for this one (remember you just need 60 seconds of a song). When the timer begins, so too does the music and dancing. I allow my students to dance on chairs and (sturdy) desks, while I read flashcards aloud to the student who selected the card. The student's goal is to answer 8 of the flashcards correctly without being too distracted by the music or the groovy moves of his/her classmates. This challenge may or may not have been inspired by my attendance at this event:
I make an appearance at the 4:05 mark. Can you spot me?
There will be 2 more posts in this series. Each one will contain 10 more Minute To Win It challenges that you can use in your own classroom!
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