This is the absolute best way to play the game Around the World so that the whole class can participate and review.

How is the original game played?

The traditional game goes like this. You have two students who sit next to each other stand up. You ask them a question. First student to answer is the winner. He goes back and stands next to the kid behind him. The new student stands, the teacher asks a question to the two students, and the winner moves onto the next student. The goal is for one student to make it all the way around the whole room, defeating all the other students, and getting back to his original seat.

What’s wrong with the original?

The big problem with this game is that the students who aren’t competing often zone out or start causing trouble

So how can you make this game more engaging for everyone?

There are four simple changes you can make to the original game to ensure everyone is participating and learning while playing Around the World in class as review.

Step 1: Prepare a PowerPoint

First, create a PowerPoint with the question on one slide and the answer on the next. This ensures that you won’t have any students saying “Huh?” after you’ve just asked the question.

Step 2: Make your slides eye-catching

Second, on the answer slides, put funny pictures or GIFs. This will keep students’ eyes on the board, even if its not their turn to answer the questions. You know your students, so if they’re into Pokemon, try putting a new Pokemon on each page. If you have teens, try memes.

Step 3: Get a bell or buzzer

Third, get a bell, a buzzer, or squeak toy. When it’s time to play, have students put their hands behind their backs and tell them they can’t hit the buzzer until you say go. The student who hit the buzzer first, gets to answer. Give them a limited amount of time to answer (such as 10 seconds from hitting the buzzer) to ensure students don’t just hit the buzzer even if they don’t know the answer.

Step 4: Drill the answers

If you want all students to participate more, then encourage everyone to read the answers out loud when the answer slide is projected on the board.

That’s it!

With these simple changes, I guarantee class participation will move way up and they’ll be much more invested in who is going to move “Around the World.”

This is a fun, fast-paced game that can be used to review anything.