INCORPORATING ACTIVE GAMES AND MOVEMENT
IN INFORMATION LITERACY INSTRUCTION
Active games are an innovative way to increase play and movement during library or classroom instruction. Increasing movement while learning links students' physical bodies to their cognitive processes, thus improving retention and encoding the learning more deeply. Designing or using active games to meet learning intentions or as formative assessments can create a learning environment in which more students can achieve greater success.
ACTIVE GAMES & MOVEMENT ACTIVITIES: Examples
Charades: Divide the class into two teams. Select a student to stand at the front of the room and act out a word without speaking from a list of information literacy vocabulary or concepts previously taught. Their team must then guess what the student is attempting to portray. After a predetermined number of incorrect guesses or time, the other team of students can guess. Play goes back and forth between teams until a goal is reached (ie first team to 10 correct answers during game play). Resources: a list of information literacy vocabulary terms or concepts students are familiar with
Draw Swords: Split the class into small groups and choose a student from each group to start. The nominated student then places a text, article or book under their arm. The librarian then says a word or name of an image which the students must then race each other to find in their text, after pulling the text from under their arm similar to drawing a sword. The first student to find the word/image is the winner, and their team receives a point. New players then take their places, place the text under their arm and the game resumes. The game continues with different words/images until every student on a team has had a turn. If you have enough text for every student, then the whole class could compete against each other as oppose to team play. Resources: a text, article or book about an information literacy topic
Hot Potato: Have the class form a circle and hand out an soft object to the group. The person with the object will start. The librarian then names a information literacy topic or concept such as social media platforms, mass media outlets, book genres, print formats, Dewey Decimal Classifications, etc. that have been previously studied. The students pass around the object while stating an answer that corresponds to the round's topic as fast as they can. The first person to give an incorrect answer leaves the circle. Play until there is only one student remaining. For large classes, you may divide into smaller groups. Resources: a soft object per group and a list of specific topics
Map Quests: In pairs or as individuals, students are given a blank map and a list of tasks or 'quests' they need to accomplish. As they accomplish the tasks, they fill in or label the map such as mapping a genrefied library collection.. The map may also be used as a guide to lead the students through a process in order to reach a goal such as finding facts hidden in a resource. Resources: maps and directions for completion
Move if You...: Create a circle of chairs with one less than the number of participants. Have students sit in the circle with one person in the middle. From a list of possible groups, the middle person calls out for a certain group of people to move — for example, “Move if you have an iPhone" or “Move if you have made a TikTok." If the students fit the criteria, they must run to a new seat in the circle. The one student left standing is in the middle for the next round. Resources: chairs and list of groups
Musical Mingle: This strategy works along the same lines as Musical Chairs. Develop a series of questions to ask students before the lesson begins (to assess background knowledge) or after the lesson (to assess learning). Ask all of the students to stand. While music is played, they will move around the space. When the music stops, they will find a partner to discuss the question with. Once students have had the opportunity to talk, then repeat the process. Generally, limit questions to three or four. Once the mingling activity is done, ask for students to share some of their discussion points with the whole class. Resources: school-appropriate music and questions
Pictionary: Students work in teams. One student from a team is chosen to start. They choose or pick a term to draw from a list or out of a hat. They must draw the information literacy term or concept they chose within a given time (30 seconds – 2 minutes). The rest of the team then guesses what they are drawing. If the team correctly guesses the word, they get a point. Play alternates between teams. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. Resources: whiteboards and markers or pieces of paper and pencils/pens, plus a list of information literacy terms or concepts
Race for the Truth: Have each person stand on the starting line while a leader lists off general facts that may be true for some students. (For example, I have a fact-checked a TikTok video.) If the stated fact is true for the student, those students must move forward a step. Whoever crosses the finish line first wins! Resources: sufficient space to move from one side to another, a starting and finish line, and list of facts
Scavenger Hunts/Quests: In teams or as individuals, students are given a list of information literacy items or terms they need to locate in a space or from a resource. For instance, students are given a list of book genres and then they hunt for titles using the subject search function in the OPAC or a list of books by call numbers that they locate on the shelves. Resources: list of items or terms to locate, access to OPAC, collection or other resources