Race to the Top Interactive Game

Up to five teams work through sections of problems on a mountain-shaped game board, checking in with the teacher after finishing each section before rolling a die to reveal one of six movement rules — some multiply the roll, some average two rolls, and one lets trailing teams catch up. A team that answers incorrectly must find and fix its mistakes before checking in again, and the first team to reach the top wins five percent extra credit on the next test, according to the built-in Game Rules slide. The problem numbers shown on the board are placeholders in an editable PowerPoint file, so a teacher fills in whichever problem set the class is working through that day.

Grades: Not Grade Specific
File type: Microsoft PowerPoint
Editable: Yes

Updated Apr 17, 2023

Subject: Social Studies, ELA
Topic: Race to the Top, Interactive Math Game
Resource types: Games, Activities
Editable: Yes

From the author

About this resource

This is a Race to the Top PowerPoint Activity. This allows you to turn any worksheet into a game! This is for any subject and any grade level.

The goal of this game for students is to be the first to reach the top of the mountain. To do this, students must advance their team up the mountain by working sections of problems correctly. Once each team finishes a section of questions, they can check in with the teacher. If everyone is correct, that team will roll to find out which rule to play by. If incorrect, they will need to find and fix their mistakes before they check in again.

Directions to Teacher

Before Game:

On “Race to the Top” slide, edit the box in top left corner to show the problems you want students to complete. The vertical gray bars in the textbook group problems into sections.
Edit textboxes next to each rule to suit your preferences (or use the default rules).
Edit “Game Rules” slide to suit your preferences. Show this to students before starting the game.

To Run the Game:

Put PowerPoint in presentation mode.
After a team finishes a section correctly, have them roll a dice to see which rule they get. Then follow the directions for that rule (if the rule involves a dice roll, have them roll again). To make a rule show up, click on the Rule textbox. Click on it again to make the rule disappear.
Sometimes it’s advantageous for the teacher to select which Rule teams play by for a given amount of time (5-10 minutes). To speed the game up, use Rules 6. To slow the game down, use Rule 5. To catch last place teams up, use Rules 2 or 3.
To advance a team up the mountain, click on their dots (starting at the bottom and working your way up). If you make a mistake and click too many dots, simply click the dot again and it will revert to white. Essentially, clicking once adds colour; clicking on the same dot again removes the colour.
Beware: once you exit presentation mode, all PowerPoint animations will be reset.

I hope you enjoy!

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In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Work as a team to solve an assigned section of problems accurately before advancing on the board.
Identify and correct mistakes in a team's answers before rechecking with the teacher.

Teaching tips

Fill in the placeholder problem-number groupings on the board with whichever set of questions the class is currently working through.
Choose which of the six movement rules to reveal ahead of time, or let each team roll to find out, since both options are built into the Game Rules.
Use the rule that gives trailing teams two dice rolls added together when a class needs the last-place team to catch up.

Skills covered

Team-based problem accuracy — students must correctly complete an assigned section of problems before their team can advance on the board.
Error correction — students identify and fix incorrect answers before rechecking with the teacher to advance.
Game facilitation — teachers reveal or preselect one of six dice-based movement rules to control the pace of play.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Can the game be used with any subject's problem set?

Yes — the board's problem-number groupings are placeholders, so a teacher fills in whichever section numbers match the current unit.

How do teams find out which movement rule applies to them?

After a team's section is checked and correct, they roll a die to see which of six rules applies, unless the teacher has already chosen one.

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

Cooperative review game
Dice-based movement
Problem-set customization

Topics

Race to the Top Interactive Math Game Cross Curricular Games Team Games Social Studies Mapping Skills Language Arts Skills Smith Math

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Categories this resource belongs to

Social Studies ELA Games Activities Not Grade Specific

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