1st Mystery Skype of 2014

On Tuesday, my class participated in their first Mystery Skype of the school year.  If you are unfamiliar with Mystery Skype, the concept is simple: two classes Skype with each other and try to figure out each other's location by asking only yes/no questions and using maps.  Students must keep up with "clues" they are given, narrow down possible locations, and guess the correct state and city (and sometimes the correct school--although we didn't get that far this time).  This geography activity is perfect for helping my students master their map skills and usually takes around 20 minutes to complete.

Here are the jobs I gave my students:
Greeter--This student greeted the other class politely and got the "game" up and running.  He/she then joined the Think Tank.
Inquirers--These two students asked yes/no questions of the other class and answered questions from the other class.  They sat in front of the computer camera the entire Skype call. 
Clue Keepers--These two students kept up with information from the other class and wrote clues down on the dry erase board.
Think Tank--A group of students who studied maps and worked together to create questions for the Inquirers. 
Runner--This student kept communication going between the Think Tank and the Inquirers.
Photographer--This student took pictures and video of all the groups/happenings.  He/she eventually joined the Think Tank.
Computer Mappers--These two students used the classroom computer to search maps online.  They worked closely with the Think Tank.

 

For their first Mystery Skype, the students did a wonderful job!  After the Skype session, we had a time of reflection.  I asked the students two questions: "What went well?" and "What can be improved?"  

 

I have to say, I agree with their assessment:

 

What went well?

• We knew our cardinal/intermediate directions.
• We were good sports.
• We were cooperative.
• We communicated well.
• We tried to create good/effective questions.
• Clue Keepers worked very well together and did a great job.

What can be improved?

• We need to stay in our assigned spots.
• Our volume needs to be lower.
• We need to get better at using Google Earth and online maps to find locations.

To see a brief video of this session, click here:  1st Mystery Skype of 2014-2015



For more info, see my posts about previous Mystery Skype sessions: CLICK HERE.