Mrs. Minicozzi (aka @CoffeeNancy) came to our room today with a fabulous game! It was called BreakOut EDU!
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| Photos by Mrs. Yollis |
The object of the game was to complete several tasks and unlock the box.
TEAMWORK was important!
It you finished your task and unlocked one lock, you were free to go and help other teams.
It you finished your task and unlocked one lock, you were free to go and help other teams.
Everyone was intrigued with the locks.
QUESTION: How do we get the locks open?
ANSWER: Students were given 45 minutes to solve a variety of puzzles and tasks. Each solution unlocked a lock.
Some students worked with codes.
Others made calculations.
Hundreds charts and logical reasoning were used repeatedly.
A flashlight was unlocked and used to reveal a secret code.
At the very last second, we unlocked the box!
We loved this type of collaborative learning! A tip of the hat to Jeanine Huebner for the BreakOut EDU tasks!
Mrs. Minicozzi took this funny picture of Mrs. Yollis and tweeted it out!
Nobody beats @lindayollis when it comes to getting a good camera angle! #breakoutedu #lvusd pic.twitter.com/LeA0rSr6Pe— Nancy Minicozzi (@CoffeeNancy) May 26, 2016
Congratulations!
— Linda Yollis (@lindayollis) May 26, 2016
Without revealing too many clues, what was difficult about your task?
What did you learn about yourself from this task?
What a fun and great way of the kids working together as a team! GREAT JOB KIDDOS! Thanks Mrs. Yollis!
ReplyDeleteFrom,
Stephanie Moore/ George's mom!
Dear Mrs. Yollis and Mrs. Minicozzi,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed today's task on trying to open a box that had a lot of locks on it. Each group worked together, and everybody's skills were pushed to the limit. It took us the whole 45 minutes, but we cracked the code at the last second!
The most difficult part for me was adding and subtracting the numbers because it got confusing. I learned that I can be a bit impatient, especially when I get frustrated. It helped working with my group because we all supported each other.
What was your favorite part of BreakOut EDU today?
Your student,
Ari
Dear Yollis class-
ReplyDeleteLily loved doing this activity. It was all she could talk about on the way home. She had a blast. I think they have games like these for adults "Escape Rooms" where people have to work together to escape from an imaginary situation. The players have to use analytical skills, teamwork, and strategy. I wonder if they have ones for kids as well? I'm sure Lily would love to get a group together and go. Maybe I'll go to one of the ones for adults! Glad to see the kids having so much fun!
Warmly,
Vanessa -- Lily's mom
Dear Classmates,
ReplyDeleteI loved this activity! I think it was fun trying to calculate the numbers, yet it was hard to do. My group had to open a three number lock. My group was group W as in the W in teamwork. I had me as the leader, Andrew and George with some help from Rayhan. In the box there was a picture that said: "we broke out!" I really hope we can do this again.
Love
Pascal
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really good way to have fun and learn. We were put in eight groups. The groups were group T, group E, group A, group M, group W which I was in, group O, group R, and finally group K. In my group I got a problem about a famous person. We worked really well together so we finished fast. I was wondering what was in the small box that we had to unlock. In it, there was a flashlight that showed you hints if you flashed the light on the right place. My group was the second one to unlock a lock. We put the code in, but it did not work. Rayhan's group was the first one to unlock a lock, so Rayhan tried writing the code, and it unlocked. After all of that, I helped a different group unlock their lock, so they finished faster. I was really nervous when there were only thirty seconds left to unlock all the locks, but we were able to do it with one second left.
Thank you for bringing the game, Mrs. Minicozzi!
Sincerely,
Andrew
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteToday in class we got a box and it had a lot of locks and our challenge was to break all of them in 45 minutes. I was assigned the letter M, and it was about a bank robbery. I worked with Keya and Ari and some help from Michael. Mrs. Yollis gave us so advice READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, for my group that was the most valuable part in this fun game. I think the hardest two were the one with the hundreds chart and the one with the black light. I leaned that it is always important to read and understand the instructions.
Sincerely,
Will
Dear Mrs.Yollis,
ReplyDeleteMy task was difficult because, every time I tried to figure out the number on the hundreds chart, I always ended up with crossing out everything. That made me frustrated, but I persevered. What made it so arduous was the directions because it was super confusing, but some of them were easy.
I learned that I can easily give up from this project. I actually felt like giving up during the 45 minutes, yet I remembered that the second thing good students do is positive self talk. Then I said to myself, “Keep going, keep going! You’re going to do it!”. Kate and I started all over again and tried to find out the two mystery numbers. Finally, a couple of groups came over to help, and we figured it out!
Love your student,
Karissa
Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteI am happy that you enjoyed the Breakout activity as much as I did. It was wonderful to see how dedicated you were and how well you worked together. I am going to try to schedule another one before the end of the year.
Would you like that?
Warmly,
Mrs. Minicozzi
Dear Mrs. Minicozzi and Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteReading the passage and figuring out the math problem was difficult. My group was trying out different numbers to see if the code was correct.
I learned to read the directions because it said after you have your answer give it to the teacher. After we figured it out, my group unlocked the key lock.
The last group was very difficult. It was hard to figure the mystery out because the group had to look up the dates of the sports on the computer. Thanks to the group leader, we opened the box. I am glad we did.
What did you have to do to unlock your key? How did you do it?
Love,
Keya
Dear Mrs. Minicozzi and Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI loved this experience because it was a fun way to practice working in teams. That’s why they call it TEAMWORK.
This project was fun because we were each assigned a letter and given an envelope. Inside was a problem to solve. Sometimes, we got to work by ourselves, however, we also got to get help from others. That is Teamwork.
There were a plethora of locks and by solving the problems, we opened them all!
It was frustrating because whenever a group finished, we were all pressured to finish.
When Mrs. Minicozzi explained it, it seemed very hard, yet it was not actually that hard.
I learned that you always have to reread directions because sometimes students missed one part so they couldn't solve the problem. After all, it was way easier when we followed the directions.
Our class loved this experience because it taught us how to research, use logic, and code at the same time.
In teamwork, we learn to listen to each other. For instance, if someone said the correct answer and the other teammates didn't listen, that would waste time. According to Ben Franklin, "Lost time is never found."
I loved it because after Mrs. Minicozzi explained all the parts of this activity, we wanted to see what was in the final box. We pushed ourselves so hard, and as result, at the last second we did it!
Thank you so much to Mrs. Minicozzi for preparing this wonderful activity!
Sincerely,
Heloise