Yawn

Trying to keep library lessons exciting and engaging can be a challenge.  We don’t think of encyclopedias, Dewey Decimal, guide words or indexes as exciting catalysts for keeping students attention.  I have always struggled with keeping fourth and fifth graders motivated during these lessons and have always been disappointed when the “Information & Media Literacy” portion of the CRCT (Georgia’s standardized test) comes back with less than desirable results.

This prompted me to think about how I can better engage my learners.  I need a hook that would make them eager to learn about these typically boring topics.  Over the years, I have found myself hooked by TV game shows where contestants have to compete with physical tasks, like Wipe Out and Who Done It.  I got to thinking, if I could incorporate these fun challenges into my lessons, maybe I could reach my topics more effectively and “trick” my students into learning the important life skills that I so desperately want them to understand.  So, it began…..

The Amazing Race of Knowledge

Any new adventure has its frightening moments.  This was no exception.  The logistics of a well thought out “game” was very intimidating.  How was I going to create challenges?  How would I keep track of the progress?  To get my feet wet, I first started with the final outcome, the trophy.  I went to the Good Will in my area and purchased a pair of baby sneakers.  I spray painted each one gold and mounted them on a small block of wood.  I made trophies for both fourth grade and fifth grade.  The trophy goes to the most outstanding class on each grade level at the end of each semester.  I was happy with how they turned out but, I still needed to figure out how the classes would earn the prize.  I decided on two components, teams competing against teams within the class and, classes competing against other classes.

The Teams

With the help of the fourth and fifth grade teachers, I created teams for each class.  Each class had four or five team members with children of different strengths.  Teams within a class compete with one another each time they visit the media center.  The teams have different tasks to do to show what they have learned from the lessons in the media center.  These tasks are called “challenges”.  Teams that successfully complete a challenge receive a star.  Each team has an index card with all the member’s names on the front as well as their team number.  On the back, I use a star stamp to keep up with their accomplishments.  Sometimes, because all teams are working so well together, I give every team a star and the team that completes the task first and correctly might receive and extra.  This keeps everyone motivated and working to complete their challenges.

At the end of the semester the team in each class with the most stars comes to the media center for a prize day.  I usually have lots of posters, books and other items that they can choose from.

The Classes

Classes receive up to four stars per visit to the media center based on behavioral expectations.  (See the picture of the flip chart).