How to Play SCOOT
Have you heard of the game SCOOT? If you have been wondering how to play Scoot, read on! After teaching for over 20 years (good grief….It simply can’t be!), I have found it can be easy to get stuck in a rut and keep doing the same activities and lessons over and over. I didn’t want to be a boring, predictable teacher.
So when I came across a new game that was easy to set up and could be used with ANY set of questions or task cards, I was sold! SCOOT is so fun for students, and I love that it is the perfect review activity!
Anchor charts and task cards have both been welcome changes in my classroom. Anchor charts I will save for another post, but let me just say I LOVE them. Task card sets are just what they sound like – a set of cards with topic-centered tasks.
Task cards are perfect for:
- Learning Centers
- Early Finishers
- Intervention Groups
- Review Games
- Exit Ticket
Originally, my thought was to use the task cards in either a math center or as independent work. Then, I stumbled upon the game of SCOOT. It was totally new to me, but pretty fun-sounding, so I just had to try it! Fast forward to today . . . it worked, it was fun, and ALL students were quietly engaged and furiously working. If that isn’t success, I don’t know what is!
I’m always happy to share things that work with other teachers! Here is the entire scoop on how to play Scoot, step by step.
How to Play Scoot - The Steps
Step 1: Set Up the Cards
Place a different numbered task card on each student’s desk. Give each student his or her own answer sheet on which to record the answers. We only had 13 students in this particular group, so I only used the first 13 cards from the set. (There are 28 on-level cards and 4 challenge cards total in this set of task cards.)
Step 2: Go Over the Game Directions
Post directions for “How to Play Scoot” on the Smartboard. Get your FREE ready-to-display PowerPoint directions HERE. Read, discuss, and clarify game rules as a class, especially if it is a completely new game for the class.
Step 3: Ready, Set, Go!
Once everyone understands the directions, it is time to begin SCOOTING! On your mark, get set, go! When you call out “Scoot”, students take their pencil and answer sheet and move on to the next desk over with a task card on it. I had students rotate in a clockwise direction, as that is how I placed the cards in numerical order. Students were instantly quiet and working as quickly as they could.
Step 4: Work, Solve, Scoot!
The time you allow between each scoot is totally up to you. At first, you might want to give students a longer period of time to solve each problem, to help them gain confidence. As the game goes on, you can give shorter amounts of time to solve problems before you call out “Scoot!” It is amazing how every student can be fully engaged at one time during the time frames. Once students are back to their original seat and starting card, the game is over.
Step 5: Check the Answers
At this point, you have several options. You can collect all the answer sheets and check them as a type of formative assessment, have students each self-check and then redo the cards they missed, or put the answer key on the Smartboard and check together. I chose this last option. As students checked their answers, I was able to walk around and observe which questions were most often missed. We then took some time to look at these questions together and revisit concepts.
Step 6: Declare a Winner
Reward the winner(s)! You can choose whatever prize you’d like. It can be as simple as displaying the winner’s name on the Smartboard or more hands-on, such as a fun eraser or pencil. We had a 4-way tie for first place, so these winners got a round of applause and a sticker for their treasure charts. Hooray!
Click HERE to download your FREE editable Winner PowerPoint Display!