Trashketball - Review Game!

I am absolutely in love with this review game! I bought candy for the winners, but my students were so competitive that they forgot all about it (and I did too! Oops!) . Here's how you do it:



What you need to prepare before class begins:

1. Questions on the chapter, relating to the upcoming test! I tried this in my calculus class on Friday, and I prepared 15 questions, and we didn't even get through all of them in the 75 minute long class! Depending on the difficulty of the questions, I would say have at least 15 prepared.
2. Create a Powerpoint, where each slide is a different question. I find that this makes things go by much smoother than if you give them questions on paper, or writing on the board. 
3. Arrange the class in such a way that each group can write on a blackboard. If you don't have enough blackboards in the class, you could buy some mini whiteboards. I am really into letting my students write on the board or on mini whiteboards, because it encourages them to work together. If they are in groups and are writing on their own papers, I find that it is one student doing all the work, and the other group members just chatting to each other.
4. Set up a recycling bin and 3 post it notes on the ground, each a little farther from the recycling bin. Have the farthest post it note worth the most, followed by the next closest, then the closest. You can choose how you many points each is worth. Just write it on each of the post its to remind the students.
5. Buy a ball, or find a crumpled piece of paper to use as a ball. I have used crumpled pieces of paper before, but they aren't very heavy, so the students get frustrated when the paper doesn't go as far as they want it to. I have had a lot of success using a ping pong ball.

During class:

1. Split the class up into small groups. I would say around 5-6 students per group. My calculus class was pretty small, so I just split them in two groups.
2. Start the Powerpoint with the first question. Then have all the students work together with their groups to solve the question on their blackboard or whiteboard. Whichever group solves the question first, gets to throw the ball from whichever post it note line they want. If they get the ball in the recycling bin, their group gets as many points as was on the post it note.
3. Repeat for the remaining questions until the class is over. To get students more competitive, get some prizes for the winners!!

Sometimes when I do this, I ask a random person from the group to answer the question, so that every group makes sure that every member in their team knows how to solve it. But when I see a lot of collaboration, or I know that my class will all participate in the activity, I omit this.