"Name Five"

I wanted to mention an activity we did in class Monday that I thought was really cool.

I'm pretty sure Dr. Kist called the game "Name Five" or something along those lines. The whole class gets up and stands in a circle. Then, the teacher asks one of the students (let's call her Mary) a question pertaining to a book the class is reading. I can't remember the exact questions we used in class, but they had to do with Little Brother. The questions that were asked each had multiple answers. Mary has to name five of the answers to the question as an object (a crumpled piece of paper will do) gets passed around the circle. If Mary can't come up with all five answers before the object comes full circle, then she has to stand in the middle of the circle. But, if she gets all five answers before the object is passed all the way around, then whoever is left with the object in their hands is the next one to have to "Name Five". The concept is a little bit like musical chairs, in a way. The great thing about it is that it keeps students on their toes, because they all have a good chance of ending up with the object. Plus, I think it is a nice ice-breaker for kids and a good change of pace in the classroom.

I actually think that it would be interesting to do a bit of a twist on this activity, and turn it into a knockout-style elimination game. If Mary can't answer in time and has to stand in the middle, then she is eliminated from the game. This way, there can be a little bit of competition among the students to be the last one standing. Whoever is left at the end can be considered the winner, and a small prize of some sort could be offered as incentive—nothing too extravagant though. If the game keeps going on for longer than the teacher had planned, multiple winners could be awarded. Even so, it's okay. If the game goes on for too long, that just means that the class must really know their stuff!

Hopefully all of that made some sense; it's a bit easier to understand if you take part in the game than if I try to explain it.