Splash into Summer REVERSE Escape Room: Break IN to ANY Lesson or Content Area!
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Description
Ready to make a "splash" with a game-changing new pedagogy? Put the power of gamification to work for this seasonally spirited REVERSE escape room activity, guaranteed to add life and energy to ANY content area or grade level. Turn *any* (yes, any) existing lesson plan into an asynchronous puzzle solving challenge with a springy twist. Introduce course routines, cool tech tools, and classroom procedures to turn your unit into an exploration that your students will love.
In this REVERSE Escape Room, students will work with small teams of salty seagulls to splash into eight "buckets" (stations) in search of summer artifacts to collect. Along the way, student teams will earn custom badges, make some new friends, and get instant feedback on their progress thanks to a game-changing array of on-the-spot checking tools, procedures, and resources that will save you a TON of at-home grading. This completely editable gamified approach to a welcome back activity can be modified for any course or content area (don't laugh: I teach eleventh grade literature, and my students eat it up!). Put a summery splash on an otherwise tired Powerpoint lecture for this high-energy unit activity driven by exploration and discovery designed to tap into your students' sense of wonder and curiosity!
ABOUT THE PRODUCT:
Imagine a class Escape Room in REVERSE. Where student teams compete to break IN to a new unit of study, teaching themselves by solving asynchronous BYOD puzzles in a race against their peers and the clock.
I've had a ton of fun designing and implementing themed escape rooms in my HS classes, but for as AMAZING as class escape rooms and tools like Breakout EDU can be (for real, they're fantastic!) -- I've found the traditional escape room to be somewhat limited when it comes to its functionality in ensuring that all students receive access to all puzzles. This posed a real challenge when using escape rooms in place of traditional lectures to introduce new content that could be delivered in such a way that every student would get the same level of access to new materials.
And thus, a new pedagogy was born.
Think of it as a REVERSE Escape Room (or a caffeinated update on old-school "centers" with a gamification twist) designed for simultaneously teaching eight different concepts through asynchronous problem-solving by using devices in small groups. Capturing the fun and excitement of an escape room, while self-pacing and enriching content in a way that moves more efficiently through all of the material you'd otherwise have to cram into a traditional lecture.
No physical locks to set or boxes to keep track of. With a ticking countdown and an overhead leaderboard so EVERY student will complete EVERY activity -- and find themselves genuinely excited to do so! This REVERSE Escape Room is designed to help your students “Break IN” to the world of your classroom through a series of timed challenges, team puzzles, and self-paced unit content and enrichment activities.
ABOUT THIS GAME:
The default template included in this game is designed as a teaching activity as you welcome students to your classroom in the first days of school -- but the fully editable gamified approach to activity centers it provides can likewise be reformatted for play for any future unit of study at any time during the year (you might likewise consider using individual puzzle types at select intervals throughout any unit). Though it is originally designed as a “back to school” style puzzle with asynchronous activities, it can quickly be adapted for any new concept in virtually any course or content area with access to BYOD or one-to-one internet access.
This high-energy "Summer" inspired activity is 100% editable -- and requires minimal set-up. Student teams compete asynchronously in a looping three step process:
• SELECT a puzzle from the available choices by rolling a custom dice
• SOLVE the puzzle at your desk group with your teammates
• REDEEM the puzzle for the corresponding weapon badge
Player teams will collect new badges as they solve different puzzles, with the goal of being the first team to collect all of the available badges before time expires! Be the first team to solve the eight core puzzles, and you'll unlock a bonus advantage before the full class takes part in the Pollen Puzzle Scramble showdown!
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
Students will need BYOD or one-to-one devices with free QR scanner apps installed. There are eight puzzles in this game, testing the following skills by using a mix of traditional handwritten notes and discussion, websites, and these free mobile apps:
• BEACH BALL: Course Introduction Survey (Google Forms)
• FLIP FLOP: “Can you picture an ideal classroom?” (Sketchnoting)
• ICE CREAM: Content Quiz (Quizizz)
• SUNGLASSES: Growth Mindset Article (Webquest)
• WATERMELLON: Video Trailer (YouTube)
• SUNSHINE: Course Content Preview (EdPuzzle)
• GRILL: “What’s your Best vs. Favorite Class?” (Flipgrid)
• STARFISH: Great teacher / student discussion (Microlab)
DOWNLOAD INCLUDES:
+ 5 page game instruction manual
+ 27 fully illustrated Google Slides with all printables and escape room activity scenario planning documents for 40-120 minutes of simulation (the template of which you can use again and again to introduce a similar "break in" for any future unit of study).
+ EIGHT themed puzzles that can serve as in-game activities or stand alone centers for asynchronous pre-teaching / assessment of course basics.
+ ONE bonus game for a kinesthetic big finish to your activity.
+ ONE printable "game-changing" visual scoring rubric to help students see their unique progress and areas for growth.
+ TWO ready to go, plug-and-play quiz activities using EdPuzzle (1 video with 10 questions) and Quizziz (10 questions),
+ A FREE copy of my course welcome letter that's otherwise available on TPT for $2, along with a complete set of survey questions in a back-to-school Google Forms questionnaire for inspiration.
*(Note: Not ready for a full-class Escape Room? No problem. Teachers can use these same interactive puzzles as stand-alone activities to be completed in small groups across multiple days of your welcome back week! Have groups solve one or two puzzles a day to keep chasing for new badges one at a time as you roll out new classroom tools or concepts). Plus you have full edit access to the Google Slides presentation, which makes it a PERFECT pedagogical tool to revisit time and again as you break "in" to any new unit of study)!
+ ONE Summer-Themed gameboard, designed to spark visual intrigue and echo the familiar gameplay of childhood.
+ ONE printable eight-sided dice template (to move teams around the board), plus color-coded summer icons (for team select), and eight collectible summer-themed badges.
+ Complete instructions on how to create themed Google Forms and customized QR codes for all puzzles to serve as electronic locks
+Step-by-step teacher walk-through for all activity puzzles. (Included as speaker notes on each page of the Google Slides)
+ Step-by-step walkthrough of the pedagogical rationales and instructional strategies behind each of the game's puzzles, mixing high-energy hands-on problem-solving, kinesthetic learning, and app-based gamification. A sample: "A microlab is a timed discussion in which teammates take turns hearing one another out as they respond to the same “HOT” (“Higher Order Thinking”) question. Hot questions are multi-layered questions without simple “yes” or “no” answers, so they typically lend themselves to multiple layers of interpretations. Keep digging! And be prepared to use rich detail to fill the time! When you’re ready, call The Narrator over to observe your group’s Microlab discussion on this question: “What makes a great teacher? What makes a great student?”
+Step-by-step teacher walkthrough with sample work products and to how to set up accounts and activate all game puzzles.
+ Fully customizable Google Slides download contains plug-and-play Escape Room scenario and review game that can be put in place TODAY if your students have device access. Likewise, includes instructions on how to modify any puzzles to your course needs (including strategies for classes using laptops) -- creating incredible versatility and flexible re-use.
***(PLUS additional activity modification instructions and an at-home scoreboard for educators who might be teaching this year's classes using a distance learning or hybrid instruction model)!***
High energy, visually stunning, and fully immersive -- this is a class escape room done right. Driven by student collaboration, competition, and communication skills: it's an immersive BREAK IN activity that your classes will NEVER forget.
Hope your classes "fall" for this activity like mine did! And good luck with your REVERSE escape room.
- John
*PS: While I really cannot say enough great things about BreakoutEDU, please note that this product is in no way affiliated with, designed for, or endorsed by BreakoutEDU. Two totally separate products with two completely different instructional aims. BreakoutEDU is run by awesome people with an fantastic class-based Escape Room product, where students collaborate with classmates to divide & conquer and break out of a themed escape room scenario. Reverse escape room games use the same timed spirit of competitive play to "break IN" to a new unit, which ensures that ALL students have the chance to work on ALL puzzles.
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Prefer a different season or looking to complete your collection? The gameplay of this seasonal product is functionally identical to each of the resources listed below:
Autumn REVERSE Escape Room: Gather The Lost Acorns!
Winter REVERSE Escape Room: Save Mr. Snowman's Missing Items!
Spring REVERSE Escape Room: Buzz In to the Pollen Puzzles!
Summer REVERSE Escape Room: Make a Splash in the Summer Sun!
