Escape Room

Bear with me for a minute while I sound like Billy Mays (RIP, Billy).  This Escape Room activity is amazing.  It builds team cooperation, it reviews concepts, it encourages critical thinking, and it fosters communication and creativity.  But wait!  There's more...it's fun!!!







I've seen these Groupons for Escape Rooms all over  the place, but I hadn't heard about using it in a  classroom until my own kids came home having completed one.  I thought, "Gosh, did the teacher lock my kiddo in the classroom?"  Upon further questioning my own kid told me that there was a series of puzzles she and her classmates had to solve in a certain amount of time in order to "escape".  Just for bragging rights!

I'm working with the advanced math group this year so I though I would give one of these a try. Lesson #1...This activity would be great with any ability level.  It's all in how you structure it.  My second favorite site in the world, TPT, is filled with so many of these Escape Rooms.  I've been using the ones by Teresa Kwant.  You can pick any concept (long division, comparing fractions, grammar skills) that you would like to review and you can do this activity whole group or with teams.  Mange it well, and it will be a great learning experience.

I've done four of these Escape Rooms now, and organization is key.  Case in point...see that mess on the table there?  Yuck!  This version of organization takes a little practice.  Lesson #2: The first time you do an Escape Room, do it whole group.  This will give your students, and you, a chance to get the process down.  Pro tip...once you're done with a clue, put it back in the envelope.

The publisher of this wonderful program recommends putting clues in envelopes and envelopes in envelopes, and... Aughh!!!  Lesson #3:  Do what works for you.  I happen to have a ton of file folders hanging around, so I used those.  Where possible, I glued clues onto the folder.  This made it a bit easier for the kids to handle, and it's a lot sturdier for re-use.

  I love these Escape Rooms and my students love them too.  They are a great way to review a concept at the end of a unit of study.  However, I was finding that my more capable students were doing all the work for the whole group.  Shocking, I know!  Lesson #4:  Outsmart 'em!  It took me until my third Escape Room to figure out that I should form the teams ahead of time.  Not only does this save on class time, but it also allows me to balance the group dynamic.  Another strategy I used was to demand participation.  (Ahem...bribery always works!) Each clue needs to be solved on an answer sheet.  You can see this in the upper right hand corner of the photo above.  Teams were told that in order to get a clue to help open the locked box, they would have to ensure that every team member had a completed answer sheet.  I stressed that this would be easier to accomplish if team members actively participated, worked the problems together, and communicated with each other to ensure success.  As the teams worked on their clues, I walked around making sure groups were on task and no one was getting left out.  The kids were so good about this.  I love 'em!

That brings me to Lesson #5:  Enlist some help.  This would be a great time to call in a parent volunteer.  This is Jacky.  She is Sunnymeadow alum and working on her teaching credential.  Amazingly, comes in every Thursday to help out and has been invaluable in helping me assemble these Escape Room folders.  Thank you, Jacky!







So back to that lock box you see.  That was my idea!  So brilliant!  It's just a carrying case, locked with a four letter combo.  I set the lock to spell out a clue.  I think for this one it was, "When you are finished, that means you are d o n e."  There were six teams so two of the letters I handed out did not work, but that was just another part of the fun puzzle.  Inside the kids found some candy.  I know...shameless of me!

I'm sure I've left out some great ideas, but I highly recommend you give one of these a try. Don't think that you are too busy to do this.  Sure it will take you time to assemble the activity, and it will take away from instructional time, but the benefits far outweigh any time constraints.  I promise.  It is a well spent 60-90 minutes.  Give it a try