The parachute team challenge is a junior high English class warm up game but can also be used in elementary schools. The winner of each round remove a point from another team and the game ends when one team has no points left.
Basic Info
Time: | 10 minutes |
---|---|
Level: | Elementary grade 5 - 6, Junior high grade 1 - 3 |
Works with: | Writing practice, spelling |
Class size: | Small to large |
You will need:
- A blackboard and chalk (or equivalent)
Description
- Divide the class into teams (3 - 6 students per team).
- Draw a parachutist for each team leaving space for students to write something. For this game, about 5 strings per parachutist works best but the more teams, the less strings.
- One student from each team comes to the board and stands in front of their parachutist.
- From the back of the class, call out a word, ask a question, show a flashcard, etc, and the students should write their answers on the blackboard.
- The first student to write the correct answer is the winner and gets to erase one parachute line from another team.
The game ends when all of one team's lines are "cut".
Tips
- Let the students write some answers in Japanese (if necessary, usually for elementary students only).
- Get the home room teacher (if you have one) to determine if the students have given the correct answer (if the answers are in Japanese).
- If your class is like most junior high school classes and the student's desks are in a grid layout, then by columns is the easiest way to assign teams.
- If the game is taking a while, you can let the winner erase two chute lines (one from two different teams).
- Giving each team a different color chute (using different color chalk) lets you give a name to the team, and so you can say "Team red" when you announce the winner of each round.
Warnings
- Junior high students do like this game, but they can be a bit slow coming up to the board, which drags out the game. As soon as one round is finished, get the "NEXT!!" student to come up. Try to keep it moving.
Variations
- This game is a spin-off of the basic parachute game (which is hangman reimagined to take away the death by hanging aspect of the game).
See also
I use this parachute team challenge as a warm up. Here's a list of similar junior high warmups that don't need any preparation.