It's been a minute

Hi friends!

It's been two years (plus a little) since I've last posted on this blog. Sheesh!! Where did the time go? Oh, yeah, Covid...who had time to do anything else? Anyway, I digress...

I just created a combination Digital and Physical breakout for my 5th grade team on the topic of weather (based on the teacher's Quizlet vocabulary cards) and I wanted to share my process as it is very low-key and hopefully will inspire someone else to dabble in Breakouts!

How it all begins...

The first clue students will receive will be in an envelope that looks like this:

(I like to use envelopes because they are easy to keep track of and to store things in. I use sticky notes instead of writing directly on them, so that I can reuse the envelope.)

Once the kids get their envelope, they will pull out a sheet of paper that has "Directions" written in black marker at the top and a QR code taped to the bottom with a message that says, "Don't use this until you have read the directions." Students will need a blue light* to read the invisible ink on the page. The QR code will take them to the Weather Website they will need to begin. We are a Google School, so I always use Google Sites. Plus, they are really easy to use, so I don't use anything else for school-related websites.

*There will be basket for each group with supplies in them to help them solve their puzzles: blue light, scissors, tape, pencils, markers, 6 locked boxes (labled 1-6) and additional envelopes. There will also be one HINT card.

It Starts with a Story...

When I first learned how to make breakouts, the presenter (at NCTIES) said that you always want to start with some kind of story (real or made up) to get kids started with the process. So, I tried to reach out to my local weather team to get a REAL life meteorologist's help, but that didn't pan out, so I started a work of fiction.

(We have a school news show called WDNN and do not currently have a weather segment. Part of the prize for breaking out is that they will be able to be filmed forecasting the weather for that week.)

It's not just any story, though...do you notice the letters that are slightly bigger than the rest? Well, that is one of the clues students will need to breakout! Can you see what it spells? FORECAST. Students will use those letters to unlock the 8 Letter Word Lock in a Google Form that I created. There are two other locks in this form: Direction Code and Number Lock. You can use as many different locks as you'd like, but since this was their first breakout, I chose to just do three.

Let's talk about Google forms

One of the cool things about using Google Forms for breakouts is that you can give clues to students if they don't get the answer correct. To do this, put in a question that is SHORT ANSWER. Then, click on the three dots and RESPONSE VALIDATION.

Once you click RESPONSE VALIDATION, you'll want to select TEXT, CONTAINS and then type exactly what it should say (check spelling and capitalizations). Then, put a little clue in the last space. You can also add a description to give students clues. In this case, I've told them that spelling matters and it's all lowercase because in the paragraph, the letters are a mix of upper and lower. Another big thing to remember is to make the question REQUIRED.

Back to the Breakout

Once students have made it to the website, the have a few different sections where they can start solving clues. I made sure that this particular breakout doesn't go in any particular order. They can start with the EdPuzzle video or the Genial.ly puzzle or the paragraph. The only thing they have to do is put all the answers into the "locks" in the Google Form and then they will get their final clue. More about that in a minute.

EdPuzzle Clue

I love EdPuzzle!! If you've never heard of it, it's a platform that allows you to take videos (found on websites or made by you) and place questions in different places throughout the video that students need to answer. You can use it as a pre/post-assessment, in a breakout, or for fun! My favorite feature of EdPuzzle is that students can't skip any part of the video to try and answer the questions without watching. My second favorite is they can go back and watch again if they didn't quite catch it. Plus, you can see all of their progress and their answers on the teacher dashboard inside of EdPuzzle. If you don't have an account, I highly recommend.

If I were the classroom teacher, I might have made my own video for this clue, but since I'm not and I don't really know what they covered, I relied on one from YouTube. So, they will watch the video and answer 4-5 questions based on the video and (hopefully) based on their classroom learning. Then, the final question gives them their next clue.

(If you'd like to view this video as a student, click on this link. )

The possible answers to this question are "low --> high" or "high --> low". Again, I've written on some sticky notes and put them on some envelopes.

Inside the "low --> high" envelope, students will find a piece of paper with invisible ink. It says, "At ___(degrees) F, we will have sleet and snow" (Enter the answer in the google form.)

Inside the "high --> low" envelope, students will find a blank piece of paper! Their first red herring!

Genial.ly Clue

Genial.ly is a fun website that allows you to create digital content and is how I made the presentation in the shape of a puzzle.

Similar to the EdPuzzle format, students answer questions to remove puzzle pieces and then on the last page, they see the picture of the Water Cycle. The question says, "This is a picture of ___. Find the envelope with the right answer on it." Now, I'm pretty sure the kiddos will get this one pretty easily, but I did put another red herring envelope in there.

If they open "The Water Cycle" envelope, they will find a puzzle of the same picture from the Genial.ly puzzle that they have to put together and then flip over to find directional arrows written in invisible ink. This will by far be the hardest puzzle because there's nothing that prompts them to flip it over. Students will likely use the HINT card on this one.

Opening the "Evaporation" envelope will give them a bogus directional card.

the Home Stretch

By now, students will have entered all answers for the locks on the form (forecast, 31 and DLLRLLU) and get a confirmation message from Google Forms with the final clue.

The final clue in any breakout does not have to end with the students going to the teacher, but I didn't want them to "somehow" find the envelopes with the keys in them before they are supposed to, so they will be in our possession! Gotta watch out for those sneaky kiddos! LOL

To make a confirmation message, go to your Google Form and click on "Settings". Click on the down arrow to the right of "Presentation" and edit the Confirmation Message.

Once students see this, they will come to us to tell us the correct answer: "east ---> west". Once again, I'll have two envelopes. The other will say "west --> east". The correct envelope will have a key inside to open the locked box (that corresponds to their group number) that will have a breakout certificate inside. Students will take their picture with the sign. The other envelope will have a key, but it will be the wrong one!

To download and/or print this certificate, click here.

Now you try!

I hope this gives you the inspiration or courage you need to try designing a breakout of your own! Please feel free to use any of these ideas or resources as your own! I don't mind sharing and I don't plan on trying to make any money off of it! If you choose to use it, please share it with someone else and let me know how it goes!

Happy New Year!