Reading Relay

In the days before the end of the school year, when the students were antsy and their attention spans were as short as a Hobbit, I tried a fraction activity that I thought would be engaging, challenging, and fun.

It didn't turn out that way.

I guess I should have expected that they wouldn't be in the mood to sit. So with that, I changed my plans for the following day.

I wanted to get them up, out of their seats and moving around. I also wanted them to continue our unit studies. So I decided to so something I called a Reading Relay.

1. I had the students read a short, one-page article.
2. I brought them outside and separated them into two teams.
3. I made a finish line about 100 meters from the starting line and at about the 50 meter mark, I stood with another teacher.
4. The students were to run to the teacher at the 50m mark, and the teacher would ask them a comprehension question.
5. If they got it right, they could run to the finish line and the next person could come.
6. If they got it wrong, all team members had to do 20 jumping jacks, PLUS the student had to skim and scan the article for the answer. This would continue until all the students had finished.

I did this for an hour, and at the end of it the students got a good workout.