I have always been a proponent of the power of brain breaks for students. These can be connected to a curricular area or just plain fun. Brain breaks should be part of every teacher and student's toolbox.
One of my favorite brain-break ideas is to share and explore local trivia. Today I wanted to share a few trivia resources and a Midwest Trivia Set created with Gimkit. I am also a big fan of using trivia as a bell ringer question posted in Google Classroom or in a Slide Deck.
If you have been a reader of my blog, you know that I teach science and that I am also my school's Instructional Technology Coordinator. In my somewhat busy life, this is the best of both worlds. I get to practice what I preach.
One of the tools we are exploring this year is Gimkit. Gimkit is a game show for the classroom that requires knowledge, collaboration, and strategy to win. During our PD sessions, our staff will be competing to be the master of Midwest minutiae. Our goal is to model the student side of some of the game modes. We also hope to have a little fun and share some fabulous prizes.
Gimkit is designed to be live or it can be assigned as homework, but I can't run a live game asynchronously for anyone exploring this post. It can be connected to run as "homework" in Google Classroom in game mode. For anyone reading this post, the best I can do is share a "practice" session.
If you want to try some of the game modes feel free to make a copy of this Kit or any other Kit available. Gimkit has a great search feature that helps educators find, copy, and edit kits for just about any topic you might need.
Additional Gimkit and Classroom Gameshow Resources
- Gimkit Support Center
- Gimkit Twitter Account
- Have your students create your Gimkit questions using KitColab!
- We don’t do tests - Ditch That Textbook
- Game Show Classroom - Ditch That Textbook
I've also been exploring Pear Deck Giant Steps as another formative tool. I shared a public copy. I don't see a way to share this directly, so if you are curious you will need to Sign Into Giant Steps and search "Illinois Trivia Challenge" in the "Shared Libraries".
- Useful Trivia - U.S. States Trivia
- Pear Deck Trivia Showdown Templates
- The Best Quiz and Game Show Apps for Classrooms
- Classroom Trivia Games
- 1000 BEST Trivia Questions In 11 Categories
Additional Brainbreak Ideas
- Google Search's Hidden Easter Eggs - Quick Brain Breaks to Recharge Student Engagement
- Brain Breaks - Wordle Style Challenges for Students and Classrooms
- Brain Breaks - Google Games and More
Let me know what you think? Also if you have a favorite Gimkit to share or questions please share them below. #HappyLearning
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