Comprehension Breakout

Have you ever been to an escape room?  Most people really enjoy the experience of finding clues and "breaking out" of the escape room!

How about bringing that same experience to the classroom?  An escape room is a super fun way to engage your students in ANY topic!  The idea is to find clues and use a code or key to unlock the next task with a prize or reward at the end. 

For our very first escape room challenge, we used The Grinch Comprehension Breakout by Kori Markussen.   This breakout provided five challenges that covered five different ELAR skills. 

First, we read the book How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Students then started the escape room with a challenge that required them to write a summary of the book.  

Once they had written a summary they were able to find the code that would unlock the next challenge.  Each group started with the hardest challenge.  This allowed me to be able to provide support to all of the groups as they worked through the first challenge.  It also helped stagger the groups as they finished up with the first task and moved on to the next one. 

The students then completed cause and effect, theme, synonym, and character trait challenges.  

When the students worked their way to the end of the escape room they were able to find and enjoy their prize! 

The breakout challenge provided a fun and innovative way for students to practice their problem-solving, critical thinking and team building skills!

Another quick and easy way to create an escape room in your classroom would be to use Google Forms.  You can use the response validation option that requires students to type the code in the correct order to unlock the next task.  You can turn any worksheet or activity into an escape room.  This is an easy, no prep way to bring this same experience to YOUR classroom!