PAT Bank
Reference Book Relays (2nd-6th grades)
Author:
Olive School
California
Subject:
Any
Objective:
To see if the students understand which reference book
to use to look up information
Materials and Preparation:
You need 2 (or 4 depending on how many teams you have)
of each:
- dictionary
- thesaurus
- atlas
- almanac
- encyclopedia
Student Grouping:
two to four teams
The Play:
- Take the students outside, explain the rules and
divide them into teams. I had them line up on a basketball
court.
- Set up the books on the other side of the basketball
court. Make sure they are separated so teams don't
grab each other's books.
- Once teams line
up, pose a question and then say "Go!" The
first person from each team must run to the reference
books, grab the book that would help them find the
answer, and bring it back to you. It doesn't matter
who gets back first, only that they bring back the
correct book.
- Whomever brings back the correct reference
book gets a point for their team. If they don't bring
back the correct book, no point.
- Have the kids put
the books back, and the next set of kids gets ready
for their race.
- If ALL players bring back the wrong
book, just shake your head, repeat the question, and
they have to race back to find the correct one. Only
the teams that bring back the correct books get a point.
Scoring:
Teams get points when players bring back the correct
reference book.
Examples:
Question examples: "Which book would show me where
to find Egypt?" "What does 'migration' mean?" "What
is a synonym for nice?" "Which book would show
me the phases of the moon?"
Comments:
This was a spur of the moment activity and it went surprisingly
well. My 3rd graders loved running and the competition
and even when someone brought back the wrong book, they
were supportive. I did explain at the beginning, that
they couldn't shout out the answer to the running player
or get mad if he/she brought back the wrong book. If
they did, the game was over. I'm still making changes
to it.
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