Engaging students while being digital only can be tricky! One activity that my students enjoyed was the “5 Clue Challenge”. It is super easy to implement and it does engage students in a variety of ways. The beauty of it, as always, is that it can be used in both the traditional and remote classroom settings!

What is the 5 Clue Challenge?

• The 5 Clue Challenge is a traditional guessing game, kind of like “Name that Tune”.
• View this sample challenge to see how it works. As you play the video, pause after each clue so students can do some research. My students were very excited as they participated in trying to figure out the answer.
• After each clue, I ask students if anyone knows the answer. If they do, they privately share it with me. If they are correct, they keep it ot themselves or they continue with the next clue.
• Repeat the process until you get to the 5th and final clue. Students guess the answer and then in the video, it is revealed and students can see if they were correct in their guess.
• If you want to assign points, you can assign as follows: If the answer is guess on the first clue, award 5 points. If the answer is guessed on the second clue, award 4 points and continue in that manner until you get to the final clue which is only worth 1 point.

Procedures

• First, decide on your topic. I used exotic fruits because we were studying fruits at the time, but this technique could easily be used with a variety of topics.
• I happened to have 2 sections of my foods class so one class was randomly assigned a set of fruits while the other was also assigned a set of fruits. I decided that my 6th period class would view the 7th period classes videos and 7th period would view 6th periods videos.
• If you only have one section of the class you are doing this with, I suggest conferencing with each student and have them sign up for an exotic fruit that only they are privy to. Afterall, this is a guessing game so you don’t want students discussing their fruits or clues.
• Once students have their assigned fruits, they begin researching information so they can create their 5 clues. Clues begin broad, getting more specific as they descend. The final clue should be the easiest to guess.
• I had my students write the clues out first so I could preview them and make suggestions if I felt the clues were too broad all the way through.
• After students wrote their clues, I created a Flipgrid for them to each record their clues, pausing after each one so their peers could do some research. I did not have students include the answers on their videos, but it certainly is an option. I had a master list so I know who did each fruit.
• There are a couple of ways to use this in class. The first is possibly as a bellringer each day–this may be dependent on the size of your class. Another way is to have the class view each Flipgrid video separately, writing down their answers and then going over them as a class. This could also be a great substitute activity if you have to be out for a day and you could go over correct answers when you return the next day.
• I also use the 5 clues to introduce a food topic we will be working on such as the tortialls in the Tortilla Trends: Lesson & Lab.

Possible Topics

• Exotic Fruits & Vegetables
• Herbs & Spices
• Cheese
• Breads Around the World
• Cookies Around the World
• Pies Around the World
• Kitchen Tools & Equipment
• Macro & Micro Nutrients
• Clothing & Fashion Styles
• Sewing Tools & Equipment
• Types of Fabrics & Textiles
• Architectural Styles

Attachments

• 5 Clue Exotic Fruit Challenge (please make a copy)
• Flipgrid Tutorial

Photo by Olya Kobruseva from Pexels