❆❅❄ Winter Wonderland Digital Breakout ❅❄❆

Are you looking for "that activity" to carry you into the holiday break? Or maybe you're looking for an extension to use with students as they wrap up their work this time of year? Or, like me, you have a small group of students visiting the library and need an activity for them? It might be a good time for a digital breakout!

We've both hosted classroom breakouts and worked through several library or advisory breakouts--both physical and digital--over time (you can read about them here), and today's breakout is very similar to others we've used. Today's breakout, Locked in a Winter Wonderland, comes from VirtualEscapeRooms.org, which was featured recently on Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook.

In fact, Matt Miller and Virtual Escape Rooms have a limited-time offer for this particular breakout, and you can get it for free when you enter the code "ditchbook" at checkout. You can access the breakout here. 

Students could sign up to participate in the breakout during advisory today, and after listening to the introduction to the activity, students could choose to work in groups or individually to tackle the breakout.

Once students got into the breakout and clicked around a little bit, the sleuthing and unlocking happened quickly! The largest group seemed to have an effective problem-solving approach and worked through the pages efficiently, while other groups took their time, but in the end, each of the groups was able to solve the lock combinations.

A great activity to get students using their problem solving skills and thinking critically--and to enjoy the season! ⛄

American History Breakout Activity

Our semester ends this week, and as a wrap-up activity to prepare students for a final assessment, students in American History classes participated in a Breakout EDU related to the Great Depression called "Save the Stocks."

Students worked in small groups to solve combinations for five locks. Their clues included videos, puzzles, and documents that lead them to determine how to open their locks. Some items were hidden around the library, and even with all the right clues and information, *how* they put everything together could also make the difference between opening a lock and trying again. In each class, all groups were eventually successful and broke out!

🕵 Breakout! Spy School Style 🕵

After the popularity and success of the last breakout (see previous post), it was time to design another in which could students could participate during our advisory time. The theme this time was spy school, and students worked as though this was their final test before graduating spy school.

Six groups worked through several clues--and red herrings!--to find and open four locks, including a padlock & key, direction lock, word lock, and 4-digit lock. One clue even took students to the bookcases to find the right book and the answer they needed.

Students collaborated to work through the clues, talking through likely lock and combination possibilities. Overall, four of the six groups were able to break out (break into?) in the time allotted.

Successful "spies" earned a "graduation gift" of fruit snacks if they were able to open all of the locks and get into their boxes. 

By the end of our time together, students were already asking about the next breakout, so it's time to start planning the next one!

Breakout--Zombie Style! 🧟‍♀️ 🧟 🧟‍♂️

Students today could choose to participate in a zombie/holiday-themed breakout during their advisory/AO time. A huge "thank you" to Jana, a community member and Grimes Public Library employee, who created the breakout to share with my students!

The breakout was holiday and zombie themed, and based on puzzles, books, and images, students worked together to think critically about the items presented and problem solve to open five different locks. Two teams had similar work, and both teams successfully opened their breakout boxes.

In working through clues, students had to engage their powers of observation, use their library skills, and employ some math skills to successfully open the locks.

With time remaining in the session, both teams were able to open all of their locks and find the "zombie serum" inside--nothing like a Freezie Pop on a windy, cold late-October day!

And to let their friends and classmates know we were all "safe" from the zombie invasion, students also collected buttons to wear.

If you missed today's breakout during advisory/AO time, keep checking the offerings in November. Another breakout will be headed your way soon!