Zap!

Zap is a game that I merge together from various other review games. I created this game after Jeopardy didn't have the competition, engagement, or review level I desired for the students. I found this Smart Board App on the Smart Board site exchange.smarttech.com but created the rules of the game myself.

The set-up/rules are as follow:

1. Each row is considered a team.
2. Each individual student gets a different number (I had numbered 1-30 because most classes have 29 students)
3. Each student has their own "game card" that is split up into four sections regarding problems that have been learned in class (i.e. Simplifying Expressions, Adding Expressions, Subtracting Expressions, and Factoring Expressions). Each student must play the game and put each problem under the correct label. 
4. I put one an expression up on the whiteboard that follows under one of the four topics and allow students 1 minutes time to work on the problem.
5. After one minute, I call out a number (I have my own deck of numbers that I randomly draw from).
6. The student with that number comes up and does the problem. If they get it correct, they get to earn points for their team by playing Zap! As seen in the picture below, there is a dark blue area that can have different point values. Each point value can be added to the light blue bank. Each team can say whether they want to keep clicking and obtaining points by tapping the dark blue side. The catch is, if the word ZAP! appears, that team loses all the money they gained in the bank.
   (If the student gets the problem answered incorrectly, I call out a new number, allowing a different team or possibly the same team to answer).
7. After that problem is answered correctly and the points are added (or not added), I put up a new problem on the board, call up a new number, and repeat.
8. In order to win, not only is it the team with the most points but each student in that row must have their "game card" filled out correctly. 

The best part about this game was that I never knew who was going to win. Zap! has a random number generator in it so you never knew what was coming. There were games were it was after every 4th hit, there was a Zap! and some games where it took 12 hits. Those teams that were ambitious could either get away with it or find themselves unlucky.