Tried & True Classroom Jeopardy! Playing Strategies
Jim Birge, Long Beach (CA) Unified School District

Introduction

Every year since 2002 I have produced a Jeopardy! tournament at Cubberley School in Long Beach, California, and in May of 2004 we began using Classroom Jeopardy! at Cubberley, making my job a great deal easier.

As a substitute in the LBUSD I have played Classroom Jeopardy! in over 40 K-12 classrooms, and have done much trial and error on behalf of you, the teachers.

Along with the Quickstart Guide (a fold-out brochure), your school has a complete, 80+-page Jeopardy! Guide on the CD-ROM that came with the game. This abbreviated guide of mine contains instructions, tools, and suggestions I’ve compiled to initially make your job a little easier. A suggestion example is to always refer to the words your students see on the screen (and which you’ll read) as “CLUES”; not questions, and the answers given by the students should be referred to as “RESPONSES”; not answers. This is done to take away the confusion of the Jeopardy! format that requires the “answer” to be in the form of a “question”.

Without a doubt, the most useful piece of information you will find in this guide is the Student Clues/Ratio sheet. In order to determine how many clues each student will get in a game will depend on the number of students in your class and whether or not you want your students to rotate and play once in the game or twice. I’ve already done the math for you and would suggest that you copy those two Student Clues/Ratio sheets. It will save you a bunch of time and will always keep you in control.

Whether using the 80+-page, or my abbreviated guide, everything should begin with the Quickstart Guide for hooking the Base Unit to your television.

Please take the time to read this abbreviated guide and understand that after you play Jeopardy! one or two times in your room you will probably not need to use it again.

As you get to know this extremely user-friendly game, I am confident it will complement many of your classroom needs (reviews, test preps, etc.) throughout the year.

ENJOY.

To help you, the teacher, maximize your experience playing Jeopardy! in the classroom, the following suggestions are offered:

Prior to Playing:

1. Make sure everything you need (including AAA batteries and screwdriver) is available. If batteries in a remote go dead, you can then change them quickly and not jeopardize your lesson plan for that day.

2. Familiarize yourself with the game set-up on the television (use the Classroom Jeopardy! Quickstart Guide), & the Teacher’s Remote Control (see below).

3. For appropriateness & familiarization, review the game(s) you plan to play.

4. Before students enter the room, establish 3 teams yourself, and put them on the board. Make necessary adjustments when a student(s) is absent.

5. Use the Student Clues/Ratio sheet (below) to establish the number of clues each group will be given (at one time, or twice in the game).

6. Test your remote and the 3 joysticks (they may need new batteries). Keep the remotes hidden before students enter your room.

7. Up front, set up a table with room for 3 players to sit, or simply 3 chair desks.

8. Have 3 blank sheets of paper and 3 working pens ready for Final Jeopardy! wagers (on one side) and responses (the other side).

To Begin:

1. Tell the class that teams cannot be adjusted (or you’ll spend too much time doing just that). To begin, the top 3 on the list will take the 3 seats up front.

2. Explain that their joysticks will not work until you release them with your remote. Go on to explain that clicking in early will reroute them, in a split second, BEHIND the other players. Tell them that you will release their joysticks as you say the last word in the clue (as is done on the show).

3. Explain to the class how many clues each group will get to see (from the Student Clues/Ratio sheet below), and that all responses to clues must be in the form of a question. NOTE: The first few times you play with a class, you may not want to penalize them for not responding with a question, but encourage and train them the proper way to play.

4. Explain what a Daily Double is, and that there is one in the first round and 2 in the Double Jeopardy! round. FYI, unlike the television show, the Daily Doubles are randomly put anywhere. They may show up in a 200-point clue. When a Daily Double appears, joysticks aren’t needed. The person who made the selection will be the only person able to make the wager (the prompted maximum amount will be on screen) and to respond (in the form of a question).

5. Explain that only the 3 people sitting at the desk will answer the clues, and that everyone else must keep quiet. Shouting out responses to the 3 students who are playing makes the game unplayable in this format.

6. Emphasize that everyone should remain in their own seats, except to come up for their time at the table. You tell them (perhaps after 4-5 clues) when to rotate.

7. They must know that you are the judge, and your decisions are final.

Final Jeopardy:

1. Only those teams that have points can play. Zero or minus scores cannot play.

2. Have each team select one representative to play Final Jeopardy! (or you select the 3), and remove joysticks from the table.

3. Explain that wagers on the provided paper are to be made secretly, only after the Final Jeopardy! Category has been given.

4. After wagers are made, have the players turn over their sheets to write their Final Jeopardy! responses (to be given in the form of a question).

5. Explain that once the Final Jeopardy! “Think” music hits its last note, all pens must be down, and whenever they finish writing their replies they are to cover their replies with their hands.

6. As you read the last word in the Final Jeopardy! clue, push BEGIN on your remote. The Final Jeopardy! “Think” music will begin. When finished, say, “All pens down,” and collect pens (to prevent temptation to change anything).

7. On the television screen you will be prompted as to which player will go first. If it says, “Player 2”, ask Player 2 to hold up his or her reply (in the form of a question). If it is correct, push CORRECT on your remote. Then ask Player 2 to show his or her wager, and enter that amount. Once the amount is entered, push SELECT on your remote, and you will be prompted to do the same for the next player, and so on.

8. The game is over when the television flashes the winner.

When Finished:

1. Make sure you still have the 3 joysticks, your remote, all question sheets, the batteries & screwdriver.

2. If you do not store the game in your room, and if you had to use new batteries, make sure you not only mark that fact on the Check In portion of your Check Out, Check In sheet (provided at the end of this guide), but that you physically make someone aware (so new batteries will be added to the game and not mess up the next teacher to play). Then return all of the above, plus the Base Unit, all cartridges, the power cord, the video/audio cord (yellow/white plugs), and the antenna. Make sure you complete the Check In sheet, and sign it.

Suggested Student Clues/Ratio Sheet

Following the examples below, write the teams on the board before students enter. If some are absent, erase their names and move people up until teams are even (or as close to even as possible). With a variety of class sizes, the following ratios have been set up to make the play as smooth and as fair as possible. I recommend that everyone be required to play. If they aren’t, you’ll get behind in your numbers, and others may want to drop out as the game is being played. If teams are uneven, let’s say Lana & Mary are absent in the first example, let Isaac and Joni (they’ve waited the longest), take the last 5 questions with Kari.

The letters OPG mean each student will play Once Per Game. The J and DJ mean that they could play twice, once in the Jeopardy! round, and once again in the Double Jeopardy! round. The option is up to you.