Recent News: We have expanded our breakout box to Sugar Creek Elementary and are in the works of developing a new game because of high demand to come back. The feedback we have received has been outstanding. Almost every teacher we have participated with has asked us about a next time which is positive to our development of the game and fun to see how we are bringing some fun to learning. Since the last blog , we have only done two classes, partly because of the planning of sugar creek and troubles of coordination. We visited Mrs. Polster's class at New Palestine and Mrs. Cannon's class at Sugar Creek. Mrs. Polster's Class: We went to New Palestine Elementary to do our last class for this Breakout Box on February 28th. Mrs. Polster's class has been waiting for us due to inclement weather for some time now. Finally, we were able to head over there. Since she is a fourth grade teacher, we were able to use the extra room right next to her class. We separated into two groups like planned and began our project. Everything went just as planned and we had a good time. A teacher aid also participated in our little game by doing some of the questions. Mrs. Cannon's Class: Nobody in our group has attended nor fully been in Sugar Creek hence why we favored New Palestine Elementary. However, we realized Sugar Creek is not that bad. We went Mrs. Cannons class did not know what to expect or if they would fully embrace the game as New Palestine elementary did. In all honesty, I think they enjoyed the game more than any other class we have had. We were told they were the high ability class so there were high expectations. We did not help them as much because they were capable students. They were the first group to use their ipads as help for the questions. After finishing the game, we talked to the kids for a little bit. Mrs. Cannon wanted us to tell them what high school was like and some ways of getting involved. We let some kids ask questions about high school (most of them asked if they knew someone there which was amusing). All in all, we had a blast with them. We did not get as many pictures with them sadly. Future Plans: We have three more classes scheduled as of now. All of which are at Sugar Creek Elementary. We plan on doing these sooner than later so once spring break is over, we will get started on a new game to finish out the year. We plan returning to the same classes with these games.
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Recent News: We have almost completed all of our scheduled classes for our first breakout box game. With the recent class, we have just one more scheduled. Our first attempt of creating a breakout box for elementary school aged kids is believed to be a success. We have received excellent feedback from every teacher thus far. The kids also have enjoyed the games. Every class, we have kids cheering on their classmates, hoping to win the competition. I believe this has been an excellent project four our group. Mrs. Kleine's Class: Like I said, we recently had our second to last class to participate in our breakout box game. Mrs. Kleine is a fourth grade teacher at NPE. Due to the inclement weather, we have had to reschedule on numerous occasions. Luckily, we managed to fit in the time on Wednesday, February 6th. We headed over at 10:30 and immediately got to work. In the fourth grade wing, there is an extra classroom so we set up our game here. We split the class up into 2 teams and placed clues around the class like normal. The first group obliterated our game, sadly. We try to make the game on the more difficult side to control the time and focus on teamwork. This group was the best we have ever had. They completed the game in an astonishing 9 minutes. The second group had next to no chance. We did all we could but the first group ended up winning by over 3 minutes. As we have gained more experience, we have learned more about our projects and what the kids need more help on. Here is a picture of us with the class: The Future:
We have came up on a crossroads. We have been faced with an opportunity of extending our project to other schools (of course making the game more difficult for higher ages) or creating a new game for the same teachers. Every teacher we have visited has requested us to come back and that the kids really loved our game. So far, we have not made any headway on which decision we will make. We have discussed new themes for games but have no decided on the age group. We really enjoyed working with the kids and do not know how Intermediate or Junior High kids will respond. We will be contacting schools shortly and generating a consensus on what would be best for the future of our breakout box game. Mrs. Oliver Breakout Box: We have completed two more classes since the last update. First, we visited Mrs. Oliver, a third teacher. With 3 of the members going to NPE, we already knew Mrs. Oliver. Once we walked into class, she had us introduce ourselves then instantly started talking to us about past memories. After reminiscing, we started our game. We had a big distance to cover however. Since we need an extra room, Mrs. Oliver found a Pre-K classroom available but the classroom was near opposite end of the school. So, we had to test our abilities to control third graders walking through the hallways. Luckily, they were not too bad. I believe the teachers are talking to each other about this project so she resumed with the trend of boys versus girls. First, we had the boys try. Since we did this on a normal day, we sped the game up to fit our time schedule. The boys completed the game in around 15 minutes. Next, the girls tried. This was our closest game ever as the girls narrowly beat the boys by 20 seconds. Fun Fact- I saw Mrs. Oliver that night at CVS and she complimented us on how we were so good with kids and how she wants us to return soon. Mrs. Rush Breakout Box: Mrs. Rush is another 3rd grade teacher. Like Mrs. Oliver's, we had to schedule on a regular period day. This was caused by our 2-hour delay on the 23rd. We did this Breakout Box on January 29th where the temperature outside was nearing single digits and the wind chill was approaching unbearable (This will tie in later in the story). Once we got to her class, she was already ready. We used the little theater to be our set up for the time being. Like all other classes, it was boys versus girls. The girls went first this time. Due to our restricting time, we were more helpful. The girls completed the game in 13 minutes. While switching groups, we were made aware that there was a fire drill that will be happening in 10 minutes. So, we had to adjust. We had the boys start the game but 5 minutes in, we had to stop to get ready for the arctic cold. (This is where the temperature comes in to play). I would say we were not properly dressed to be standing outside in the cold because it was miserable. After being frozen, we resumed our game. The boys finished our game in record time coming in at around 10 minutes. The Beginning: We have tested our Breakout Box on two classes so far and the feedback has been great. Mrs. Purciful was the first teacher to allow us to try out our new project. Mrs. Purciful is a 4th grade teacher at New Palestine Elementary. During the period on January 9th, we went over to the Elementary School to finally get the project running. We went into an empty classroom close by where we scattered around our clues. We split into two teams and made a competition out of it and Mrs. Purciful was all for it. For the first group we explained the rules and then they jumped in right away. After completing the clues, they were surprised by a chest full of candy. Then, the second group came in and we repeated the process. The second group ended up winning but it was a successful first attempt. Below is a slideshow of pictures from our first Breakout Box. Our Second Breakout Box: We took a week to schedule another class to make sure we can personalize out lesson plan to try and implement some current knowledge they are learning. Our next class we visited was Mrs. Canada, who is a 3rd grade teacher at New Palestine Elementary. Having previous experience, we were confident in what we were doing and were able to control the classroom better. Mrs. Canada loved the idea of a competition and even added a bonus incentive of extra recess time. However, she wanted to add some more competition and make it boys vs. girls. The class was excited. We started off with the boys. We added perimeter into the mix of questions since that is what they were learning at the time. Once the boys finished, it was the girls turn. The girls appeared to be more focused and narrowly won the competition by less than 10 seconds. Below is a picture with Mrs. Canada's class. Whats Next:
We have many teachers that are interested in participating in our project. The only difficult part of that is being able to schedule everything that matches our schedule and theirs. Wednesdays are always our safe bet but due to the high demand, we are schedule teachers are normal days. Overall, the high interest is a big positive in grading our project. So far, we have gotten great feedback so we want to continue to do just that. What is a Breakout Box? A breakout box consists of keys, boxes, and/or mystery items. the goal of the game is for the players to solve a series of challenges riddles. and mysteries to "break out" and win the game. In our set, there are a total of seven locks each with its own combination. Each breakout box activity has its own theme that all of the clues would relate to. The themes could either be educational or strictly problem-solving or even fun riddles that could be done as a common household game. Our Breakout Box
Our Breakout Box is designed for an elementary school level. We will be working with 3rd and 4th grade teachers and use their class for our project. Since we are working with a younger group, we decided to create a theme that we hope most kids should know, Spongebob Squarepants. Our goal is to create multiple Breakout Box games designed for different subjects the classes are learning. For example, if there is a 4th grade class learning about the states and capitals, we might create a game that test their skills on states and capitals using riddles and clue statements. Since this is our first game, we are going to be making a game that focuses on problem solving rather than specific subjects. Who Will Play Our Game? So far, we have 6 teachers interested in playing our breakout box. These teachers are all 3rd and 4th grade teachers from New Palestine Elementary. We are looking to expand to the other elementary schools but since most of our group went to NPE, we feel as if it is a good starting point being in a school that is comfortable to us. We, also, are not limiting ourselves to elementary school. Depending on time, we hope to reach as many classrooms as possible. |