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If you've ever been to an Escape Room before you know the rush of the clock wearing down, the tasks connecting and the sense of urgency with problem solving. I like to bring that same level of engagement to my class by creating Escape Rooms with Math Review Tasks.
Setting the Scene
Setting the scene is key to sparking the highest engagement. A few simple dollar store purchases and some fun fonts on printed tasks make for great physical ambience, but there is so much that can be done digitally as well. My top ambience strategies for buying in to the theme are:
A Google Slide with video built in for: ambience sounds or music; visuals like a haunted house, snow falling, fire crackling, birds chirping; a timer for the escape room.
Festive tablecloths and centerpieces that are aligned with the theme
Printing tasks in fonts with backgrounds that align with the theme.
Dressing up for the theme.
Enlisting colleagues or administrators to pop in and act the part aligned with the theme.
Encouraging students to buy in to the theme with their actions and language.
Create a fun backdrop and print "I escaped!" signs for a photo booth that can be used once students break out of the escape room.
See these in action here!
My Favorite Tasks
Puzzles: Students put together a puzzle to reveal the problem set or code. I have done this digitally by making an image and adding problems to the picture, then uploading it using the website TheJigsawPuzzles.com and pushing it out to my students.
Matching: Students have to match items in order to crack the lock. I've done this with matching the items like gloves, carrot nose and hat to the snowman; and with letters to reveal the secret code.
Hide and Seek: This is my newest one! I created the background of a Jamboard and used the ink tool to color over the problems to hide them. Students need to use the eraser tool to seek and reveal the questions! See this in the photo to the left.
Ordering: Students crack the lock by determining the proper order according to the solutions in the task. In my Spring Break Escape Room I have students solve problems to determine the order of their spring cleaning to do list.
Mazes: Students work through a maze based on the answer they got to the previous question. I've done this with printable mazes but I would love to incorporate conditionally formatted Google Sheets in the future to allow for more effective self-checking!
Google Sheet Picture Reveals: Students complete tasks on a Google Sheet that is conditionally formatted to reveal a picture. In my Spring Break Escape Room students answer questions about completing the square to reveal the code for the lock. The image tells them that the code is the sum of the two solutions they found when completing the square! I've learned a lot about this from Lisa from @helloalgebra. She has a course on this that you can sign up for to learn more!
Word Scrambles: I always love to end with some word scrambles that involved math vocabulary and words that connect to the theme. One last challenge that levels the playing field for all! Words I've used have ranged from polynomial, inverse, and function; to dracula, snowflake, and sunshine.
Getting Started
Depending on your current instructional environment you have to make a choice about whether you want to implement a physical activity, using printed tasks, or a digital activity using digital tasks and locks. I prefer digital right now because I am teaching in a hybrid setting, but I look forward to the day when I can hide tasks around my room and my students can search for them!
In my TPT store you can find three activities to get you started on using these in Algebra 1.
"Escape the Snowstorm" Mixed Review of linear skills (graphing, average rate of change, systems of equations, systems of inequalities)
"Escape the Haunted House" Mixed Review of algebra skills (Solving equations, graphing compound inequalities, evaluating functions, operations with polynomials)
Factoring Escape Room - Factoring by GCF, when a = 1, when a > 1, difference of squares.
"Escape to Spring Break" Solving Quadratics Algebraically by factoring, with the Quadratic Formula and by Completing the Square.
Or get them all with this bundle!
Are you interested in making your own? I love the work of Matt Miller from ditchthattextbook.com and he has a great post with a free template to get you started!
Share your questions, comments and experiences in the comments below!
Have you used escape rooms before? Share you wins and challenges!
What is your favorite task? What other tasks have you seen?
What questions do you have about implementing escape rooms effectively in the math classroom?
What topics would you like to see more of in my store for escape rooms?!
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