Kahoot!

Kahoot! is a game show right in your classroom.  My students have begged for it almost every day and as soon as we finish playing they ask to play it again. It’s fun, educational and engaging. Oh, and it’s FREE.

Go to Kahoot! (getkahoot.com) to sign up for your free account.

(Jr. High Students Playing Kahoot!)

How does it work? You as the teacher can pre-write questions for and your students use any internet-ready device to answer the questions. Students will use kahoot.it as the web address to answer questions. As students play through a quiz they will see a leaderboard. The faster they answer and the more questions they get correct the higher their score. If your students are like mine, they’ll plead to play Kahoot! all the time because they want to be on that leaderboard.

Setting up a Kahoot! is so easy. I can write questions and answers for a 10-question Kahoot! in about five minutes. There are quizzes (ask questions to play the game), quick polls (a single question to gather info and spark discussion) and surveys (to collect feedback).

What will you need? A device for every student or one for each small groups of students. You can play Kahoot! on any mobile device or computer. Teachers at the Jr. High use the IPods and Chromebooks to play.

(Getting Started with Kahoot!)

5 ideas to get you Kahooting in your classroom.

1. Drill vocabulary — If meaningful repetitions of vocabulary terms help students to remember them, this will do it. A quick game of Kahoot! with your current vocabulary list won’t take much time and will get them engaged right away.

2. Reading comprehension — After reading a story, article or chapter in a textbook, Kahoot! can help you assess how much students remembered.

3. Current events — Because a Kahoot! can be created so simply, you can give students questions on the most current of topics. If part of your class is following news, a quick Kahoot! can check how up to date they are.

4. Identify images — Artwork. Diagrams. Photos of terms. A picture can bring a concept to life, and they can be uploaded (YouTube videos, too) to Kahoot! questions. Use them to ask a question instead of words to better illustrate your content.

5. Find already-created public Kahoots — Kahoot! can give you something useful to do if you find yourself with several extra minutes to fill at the end of class. Search public Kahoots for your content area, preview questions of the ones you find by clicking on the title, and send them out to the class — all in a minute or so!