This semester gave me the unique opportunity to re-try a
lesson I had already taught earlier in the semester, a literary device review
game using QR code. Please click here to access my previous post. While I was
really excited about the game itself, even with the creating process I found
myself lost and confused. I knew right
away that I made the game MUCH more complicated than it needed to be. It took almost 6 hours to create (cutting
each QR by hand, pasting, more cutting, organizing) and I found myself getting
flustered and lost so many times I should have known then that handing this off
to 10th graders wasn’t going to go as well as I’d hoped. To my surprise it wasn’t TOTAL chaos, though
there was a lot of confusion. I
reflected upon this experience to see what I could have done differently to
make the activity more effective. I was
elated when my placement was changed and I was given the opportunity to try
again. I threw out all of the old games
I created and started fresh. I printed
out all of the QR codes and had them labeled so I knew which was which when I
began cutting. Also, one of my saving
graces was that I recently invested in a paper chopping device so my lines were
precise and I was able to cut much more at one time rather than cutting each
code individually. This not only saved
time, but also made the game look much cleaner and well put together (an
important aspect for someone like me, an OCD freak) I built an assembly line,
cut, glue, labeled and put in a game bag.
This time around I also labeled each QR code with a number but whether
it was the definition or the word, it still had the same number on the back
again making things more organized. The
change that I think made the most difference was eliminating the cut and pasted
versions of the words and definitions that were NOT a QR code. Instead, I wrote those directly into their
graphic organizers, still creating 2 different versions, one had words 1-15 and
definitions 16-20 and vice versa. This
not only made things much easier to understand, but it also differentiated for
students who may be struggling with these concepts because for half of the
assignment they simply need to match the word with the definition. I will link my graphic organizers
below. Finally, I created a page of
directions that was included in each Ziplock bagged game and I also went over
the directions using the document camera.
I also created an example using 2 words not included in their list and
modeled the assignment. I brought out my
phone, showed them the proper way to scan the QR code, and when the
word/definition popped up, showed them how to fill in their graphic organizer.
The game started and every student was actively
participating, whether they were the scanner, reader, writer, passer, everyone
had a job. After about 30 minutes
though, one student had caught something that I missed while trying to remain
extremely organized. As they were
writing the number that correlated with the QR code into their GO (as a way to
know which QR correlated with which word/definition) They started to realize
that the answers were in numerical order, so the challenge to find the right
answer was taken away and they then just had to put them in order and write the
information in. I was discouraged when
this happened but it sparked an additional idea in my head. My thought is when I do this again, in my own
classroom, I would use the numerically ordered GO at the beginning of the year,
I wouldn’t tell them it’s in numerical order but if they figure it out so be
it, at least they will have the definitions to 30 literary devices. Then, at the end of the year while they are
reviewing, I would provide a new GO where all the words are mixed up and the
numbers would be completely out of order, thus adding the challenge of
recalling and reviewing what they have learned.
For this particular activity this time around, I really just needed the
students to all have the right answers so they could use it as a reference for
the next few days activity’s so figuring out the “secret” wasn’t a big deal in
the end. All in all I am extremely happy
with the way it turned out, from the way it looks, to my examples, and the
organizer.
BEST INVESTMENT EVER!!!
Mallory this looks awesome! How many students in your class had a phone that could read the QR code? I want to try something like this!
ReplyDeleteKate, I surveyed them before the activity and at least 11 of them had an Android or iPhone, I only needed 6 of them to have it since I created 6 versions of the game.
ReplyDeleteBasically what I did was start with 30 literary devices and their definitions. I split them in half providing 15 words, and 15 definitions in a graphic organizer. Then I went on google and searched for a free QR code generator. My favorite site is www.qrstuff.com you can change the color, size etc. You can link QR codes to anything really so on the left side of the site I chose the option to link to "plain text." Then I would type in what I wanted the screen to say once you scanned the code, i.e. the definition for one of the words in my GO or the word that correlated with a definition I provided in my GO. When the kids would scan the code they would have a word or definition pop up and then they would work as a team to decide where that belonged in their organizer, then they would write the number of the code so they knew that one had been used. I ensured they wrote in pencil just incase they wrote something wrong. At the end of the lesson I put all the answers on the document camera and let them check their GO. I also had them reflect on their team work; you can find the reflection questions on my previous QR code post.
This would work great for any set of definitions and terms. I also linked above 1 page of 3 I had for my graphic organizer that way people could see how I had both terms and definitions. My instructions for the game are above as well.
Hope this helps, I can definitely give you more info if need be, being organized is the key to this operation and when downloading a code I would copy and paste it into word and then label it so while I cut them out I did one word at a time and kept them all in order. It can be daunting but if you ever get confused you can just scan the code and figure out what it is again.
Glad you liked this, I was really excited and proud of it =)!