Tornado game (aka the best review game in the world)

Tornado Game

This game is the ultimate review game. It’s really effective for review, especially if you make sure teams are listening to each other’s answers. This kids love this game, and will beg to play it again. It works for any class size, and works for elementary, middle, and high school (I wouldn’t recommend it for really young students though, because it can be a bit mean).

Materials:

Tornado die

Flash Cards (optional)

Preparation:

You will need 6 different colors of large construction paper, one of them should be black. On the black paper use a white crayon or piece of chalk and draw a tornado. On the other 5 colors draw images that represent the 5 topics you wish to review.

Fold the edges of the paper so that each side form a perfect square, you should have about 2 inches of paper folded down on either side.

Laminate each of the 6 pieces of construction paper. Refold the papers at the lines you previously folded them. Cut of any extra laminate.

Use double sided tape to tape the dice together. Tape the extra two inches on each side to the backs of the other sides.

Game rules

The goal is to have the most points.

Split the class into teams, for a class of 20 or more split into 4 teams. Have a volunteer from team 1 come up and roll the giant dice. If they roll one of the regular sides, have them answer a question/review a phrase having to do with that side. If they get the question right they get a point for their team, if they get it wrong no points. If the player has trouble with a question I let their team help, but the volunteer has to be the one to say the final answer (it forces them to review). After their turn is over continue to the next team.

Points will be given in the shape of a house, it takes 5 points to draw a house.

If a team (say team 1) rolls a tornado, the student who rolled they must answer a challenge question. I usually make these questions that are very challenging. If the student gets it wrong, a tornado hits their house, and blows it down (team 1 looses their points). If they get it right they can either take a point for their team, or they can send a tornado to another team, and blow down their house. The game is pretty mean, but the children love it.

Point system

Students get 1 point per correct answer.  Each point goes towards making the side of a house.

If a team gets a tornado question right, they can either choose to give their own team a point, or they can choose to attack another team.

If a team completes a house (5 sides) write 2x in it. It now takes 2 tornadoes to blow down that house. The students on that team can now start making a 2^nd house. If a tornado hits a team, any incomplete houses are erased, and any complete houses without a 2x in them are erased.

If a team has had their 2x erased once they get another point I let them choose, Point or Safe, if they choose safe, then a 2x is written in one of their houses (just one if they have multiples).