Day 3: Play-Doh, Classcraft, and Student Questionnaire

Play-Doh Conversation-Starter Activity

After the Movie Marquee activity, I told students which teams they would be in for our gamified class. They sat in their teams and were given Play-Doh and a pile of get-to-know-you questions. I found all of the questions on a webpage titled "200 Questions to Get to Know Someone."

I told students to take turns. One person picks a question and answers it. The next person picks a different question and answers it, and so on. I gave them an option for using the Play-Doh: they could just mold it with their hands while talking, as many people just need something to do with their hands while talking, or they could mold their answer using the Play-Doh.

While they were doing this I imported students from Google Classroom into Classcraft and put them into teams.

Classcraft Introduction

After students were placed in teams on Classcraft, I introduced the game to them. I talked through the following...

• Character Types
• Warrior
• Healer
• Mage
• Points
• XP - Experience Points (how to earn them by meeting or exceeding expectations)
• AP - Action Points (how to use powers to eat in class, choose music, use notes on quizzes)
• HP - Health Points (how health points can be lost by not following expectations)
• GP - Gold Points (how to use GP to buy armor or prizes in the classroom like snacks or hot chocolate)

I will write some posts in the future about how I structure my gamified class, so stay tuned for that!

After I introduced the game (and answered about a million awesome questions from my excited students!), students had the opportunity to create their characters, choose their team crests, and check out the platform.

That night I gave each student the XP that they earned fro the Teacher Quiz on Day 1.

Student Questionnaire

Before students left the room I gave them a questionnaire so I could learn more about each of them. I adapted my questionnaire from a student survey that Pernille Ripp put together. Students were to finish it that night and bring it back the next day. I gave XP to each student who brought their survey back completed the next day.

I learned a lot about their personalities by reading these!

Curious about the other activities that I did in the First Week of School?

• Day 1: Teacher Quiz and Student-Made Class Guidelines
• Day 2: Movie Marquees and Google Classroom
• Day 3: Play-Doh, Classcraft, and Student Questionnaire
• Day 4: Marshmallow Team-Building
• Day 5: Classroom Tour and Flexible Seating