This masterpiece is a bell ringer winner. It is easily adaptable to multiple subject areas and you can use the stash of bell ringer questions that you already have made! In my classroom I turned one of the bulletin boards in the classroom into a Chutes & Ladders game board.
Throughout the year, each of my classes are trying to beat my other classes to the end by answering bell ringer questions correctly. This is a nice change of pace from other classroom games and activities where students are typically working against each other in their own period. The game stays interesting with the possibility of a ladder, slide, OR swap places which are scattered throughout the game board.
The winners get a party at the end of the school year – I go to Costco and buy treats, we listen to music, and most importantly they get their class picture up on the Wall of Fame for all the years to come.
HOW IT WORKS:
On Chutes & Ladders day, I project a question on the board. Some questions are related to the topic at hand – while others are pure fun. For example, the question on the left is a question I did the first week of the school year whereas the question on the right I did a couple of weeks in.
Each question is tailored to the class at hand – but a similar level of difficulty is used to remain as fair as possible. When time is up, I check each question to see if they hit a majority of teams with a correct answer. I then go through the problem if necessary. If students earned the opportunity to roll I use a random student selector to choose the student. They roll and I move them along the board.
To keep things fair I remind students their answer will be disqualified if they are trying to speak to another team during the chutes & ladders opener.
There are prizes along the way such as extra credit, candy, or SWAP places with another team. This keeps it interesting despite the fact that it is a year long game.
Technicalities I have come across –
- In a year where it doesn’t look like anyone is going to make it to the finish line, the team who is furthest along wins the year.
- One year, I had a student who kept trying to move the pieces when I wasn’t looking – so I took pictures of the game board and/or wrote down their positioning after they moved.
- Another year I was in multiple classrooms, I took a picture of the board and moved students along it virtually.
Overall, this is a fan favorite from my students. Many of them tell me how much fun they had (even if they didn’t win) playing it all year long. If you are looking to mix up your bell ringers this year – this might be for you!
Ms. Pi 4 Ever 