Gist: This twist on the classic game gets students up and moving to match questions to answers.

 

Why Do It?  Students rarely care much about the work they do on a worksheet.  Playing Heads Up Seven Up gets them up and moving and interacting, encourages them to think more critically about the content, increases engagement and motivation, and generally breaks the doldrum of a regular school day.

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Materials: 

-Plastic page protector sleeves (one for each student)

-worksheet questions and answers printed one per page

-String or yarn

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Set Up:

1.  Write or print worksheet questions and answers individually, one per page.

2.  Tie an 18-24 in. string or yarn through the top and bottom holes of the page protectors to make a giant necklace-like-sign.

3. Have a copy of the answer key ready for you to use to check answers

4.  Have a class roster ready to keep track of turns.

That's it!

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To Play:

1.  Count out enough question-and-answer matches for each student MINUS however many kids you'd like to be "up" (seven works fine for typical class sizes, but you may want four for smaller classes).  For example, if you have 30 students and want 7 "up," count out 23 question-and-answer matches.

2.  Slip the answers into sleeve protector signs.

3.  Pick one question for each "up" student and slip the questions into sleeve protectors.

4.  Give each seated student an answer to wear so the answer lays on their back.  Give each "up" student a question to wear so it hangs in the front.

5.  Seated students lay their heads down and hide their eyes.  "Up" students solve their problem and walk around till they find the student with the answer.  "Up" students tap the students with their answers, and tapped students raise their hands (or put a thumb up).

6.  When all answers are found, "up" students return to the front of the room, seated students pick their heads up, and tapped students stand up.

7.  Seated and tapped students turn their answer sign around to the front and "do" all the questions represented by the "up" students.

8.  One by one, tapped students say who they thought tapped them (based on whose question their answer matches).  Correct tapped students trade places with their "up" match.  IF THE TAPPED STUDENT AND "UP" STUDENT DISAGREE, the class votes on who they think is right.  The right student is the next "up" student.

9.  Collect the answer signs and redistribute (to mix them up).  Slip new questions into the question pages and distribute to the new "up" students.

10.  Repeat steps 5-9 until end of play time.

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Caution and Tips:

-You can distribute copies of the worksheet and have students fill in answers as players guess their matches each round.  This is not essential but may hold students accountable to being on task.

-You can keep a roster handy and check off students who are getting questions right, x-ing for students who miss.  This gives you an idea how students are doing (check for understanding).

-If students cannot behave according to your expectations during the activity, they can be sent back to their desk to complete the entire worksheet on their own.

 

Variations:

-The same process can be used with terms and definitions.

-To drive the learning deeper, you can add a step at the end of each round where students write or discuss an explanation of WHY the answers were correct, justifying thier answer with reasonable evidence.

-Page protector sleeves work as a dry-erase surface.  You can slip blank paper in and write on the plastic instead of printing questions and answers.

 

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