Playing Jenga in the Classroom

I simply love review games in my US History class!  Who doesn’t enjoy hearing their students reviewing content and being successful?  I especially love it when I see students being competitive and being joyful at the same time.  

I started playing Jenga in my US History classroom many years ago.  I’ve tweaked how I play it over the years and I’d like to share what works for me and why my students love it so much.

1st things first – get your Jenga sets!

• • I suggest you get one set for every 3-4 students.  You can have students in larger groups, but I’ve found 4 to be the ideal number.  

• • Ask around first! I’ve had success getting FREE Jenga games from friends, family, my faculty and parents.  Before going out and buying brand new sets, I suggest sending out an email to the parents of your students and see if anyone has a set hanging out in a closet. 

Label your sets

• • Use different colored sharpie markers to label the ends of your Jenga blocks.  When you label each set with a different colored marker, you and your students know which set each block belongs with.  The blocks WILL get mixed up.  The marker trick will save your sanity! 

• • Label EACH BLOCK with the same number (both ends) from 1-54 (if you are using the original Jenga game)

• • To save you time, I recommend you having a student volunteer (you know the ones that always need service hours?)  to help you label the sets.

 

Game Set Up:

• • I create 54 questions for the unit we are reviewing.  I include people, vocabulary, documents, battles – you name it.  It takes a while to create them.  To save you some time, both 8^th grade US history and 11^th Grade US History are created for you!

• • I copy the questions and the answer key separately and give a copy of each to each group.  Next, I put the answer key inside a file folder and tell students to only look at the key when they don’t know the answer or need to confirm the answer.  You could also have students keep the key face down on the desktop.

How to play:

1. 1. Students stack up the tower following the normal set up.  Use the stacking sleeve (that came with your block set) to make it easier. 

1. 1. A student will remove a block (using only one hand) from anywhere below the highest completed layer.  They can touch the blocks to find a loose one. Whatever number is on that block is the question they must answer. 

1. 1. Students keep the set of questions face down until a block was pulled out.  That way, students don’t have a chance to look over the questions ahead of time.  Have them put the questions face down again after they answer a question. After they answer the question, they will put the block back on the top of the tower.  If the tower falls anytime during their turn, they lose.  

1. 1.  I have my students place the block on the top whether they get the question right or wrong.  You could change this rule to fit your class.  

1. 1. Winner?  The last player to stack a block without causing the tower to fall! 

Benefits of this review game

• • It’s student driven. All I need to do is monitor the room.  

• • Students are TALKING, REVIEWING, LAUGHING and COLLABORATING.  Instant win!

• • Once I prep the blocks and question sets, they can be used over and over. 

And there you have it! This Jenga game and Swat the Star are my go-to review games! Both of these games are fun for your students and easy for you to prep and incorporate!