(Best Ever Educational Review)
Yes, you read that heading correct B.E.E.R. Pong Review! Ok, it’s not really Beer Pong as there is most definitely no beer! However, this is a fun game you can implement into your classroom review to get the students out of their chairs and engaged in their learning.
During a recent Master Educator training, one of the attendees shared this idea with me. Amber Greer from Salon Success Academy in Upland, CA plays Beer(less) Pong with her students as a way to review various subject matters.
Here is how it is played.
Beer(less) Pong Review
Objective: Toss a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup at the other end of the table, answering various review questions.
Topic: Any
Number of Students: 2 – 20 players
Materials Required:
- Minimum of 20 Red Solo Cups
- Multiple Ping Pong Balls (at least 2)
- 6 ft. to 8 ft. table
- Review Questions written on strips of paper
Preparation:
- Set up a table. Set up a minimum of 10 cups on each end of the table in a triangle format.
- Take review questions / test questions and cut up into strips, so that each question is on a separate piece of paper.
- Place one question into each cup on the table.
- Divide into two teams and determine which team will go first.
- Explain that each student on the team will take a turn tossing the ball.
- Decide if the student tossing the ball must be the one to answer the question or if they may discuss the question as a team to determine the answer.
- Pick a spokesperson for each team to help eliminate shout outs. This person will be the one responsible for giving the answer.
How to Play:
- Team A will toss the ball toward the other end of the table, trying to get the ball into one of the cups.
- If the ball does not land inside a cup, the Team A loses their turn and Team B will now toss the ball.
- If the ball lands in one of the cups, the Team B will pull the question out of the cup and read the question to Team A.
- If answered correctly Team A will receive a point.
- If answered incorrectly, Team B has the opportunity to answer the question. If they answer the question correctly, they will receive the point. If they do not answer it correctly, no one receives the points.
- Team B will now toss the ball to the other end of the table and play continues.
- Once a cup has been hit, it should be removed from the table, leaving only cups with questions on the table.
- Play continues back and forth until all cups have been played.
- The team with the most points wins!
Variations:
- Instead of removing a cup from the table when the question is answered, simply place a new question in the cup and play continues for a pre-determined time frame.
- Rather than each question being worth 1 point, when creating the questions, identify how many points each question is worth. Multiple Choice questions could be worth 1 point, while fill in the blank questions are worth 5 points.
- Instead of cutting up questions for each cup, you could number each cup on the table. On the bottom of the cup, use a marker and give it a number, 1 – 20, or however many cups you have on the table. Then when a ball lands in the cup, the student would turn it over and let you know what number the cup is. You would then read the corresponding review question. You might need several versions of review questions to keep play going.
Not only would this be a fun classroom review, but it would also be a game that students could play without an instructor. During downtime on the student salon, students could review for an upcoming test by playing in the breakroom.