Scavenger Hunt!

This activity is STUDENT APPROVED! It is so easy and my students love it!  Even the never-want-to-participate kind.

 

Before you can begin you, you must have a few things.
1. Study Guide with approximately 10 questions
2. Scavenger Hunt questions- pre- printed and cut out. It may be easiest to print each set of questions on different color paper. It might be easier to print them on a business card template. (See this template)
3. Paper clips or rubber bands- To keep the cards together
4. Resources for the students to find answers (textbook, notes, articles, computers)
5. Students are put into groups of not larger than 3

There are two ways to do a scavenger hunt.

1. Textbook and Notes Only- Groups all start out by getting question #1 from their stack. Each group looks through their textbook and notes and write their answer on a small dry erase board or a sheet of paper. If it is incorrect, they go back until they get the right answer. If it is correct, they get question #2. The group who gets to last question correct first, is the winner.
2.  Textbook + Computer+ Other Resources- With this variation, direct students to find some answers in the textbook, some on bookmarked websites on a class computer, some in class workbooks or teacher resource books, and even some on class posters or quality work of other students (that you may have posted on a brag board).

At the end of either scavenger hunt, pass out the study questions worksheet (which are the same study questions from the game except they are on one sheet). Quickly go through the questions and answer, since students have answered most (if not all) of them and can readily give the answers. I usually have a PowerPoint or smart board activity with the answers ready to help those students who need to see it visually.

When to Use This Activity
1. At the beginning of a lesson or unit to force the to find the answers on their own. This activity is a lot more fun then just reading and answering the questions.
2. After they should have read the assignment (either for homework the night before OR during class) to see if they paid attention.
3. As review for a test- I use those multiple test questions that come with the textbook or others similar to the ones on the test. (Make sure to remove the answer choices so there are only questions. If students have answer choices they will keep guessing.)

Application to Math- Give students a set of practice problems. This is more fun then giving them a worksheet and since you probably have worksheets with the problems, it is easy for you to make.

Application to Science- Give students a set of questions involving an experiment they completed. Ask them about the steps of the experiment and why the results turned out the way they did.

Application to Reading- Ask students about a story they should have read for homework. If they read they should be able to quickly answer the questions.


Application to Language Arts- Ask students to identify and change the mistakes in sentences. Or they can make changes to a paragraph. 

Application to Social Studies- Ask students to a series of events in a unit. Answer study questions in preparation for a test.

SPED Accommodation- For SPED students, give them a set of cards with pages numbers (and even hints to which paragraphs to read) to find the answers. Make sure to pair them with another student that would help guide them. Also make sure with SPED students, they have had the change to read the material before hand. Do not use as a beginning activity with this group of students. See the SPED version in this sample.