Our principal, Miss Sharon Jackson, purchased 12 Breakout EDU kits for our school. We have been having so much fun using them in library class to deepen reading comprehension, support the curriculum, and teach collaboration skills!
For example, we read George Crum and the Saratoga Chip, a biography which takes place in New York State. While reading the biography aloud, we display the map below and discuss many facts related to maps and New York state before beginning to read:
- Is this a map of a city, state, or country? How many states are there in the United States?
- Why do some of the places shown on the map have a black circle while others have a blue square? (cities versus major attractions)
- We read through the words on the map and ask students to listen for locations marked on the map that are mentioned in the book (Saratoga Springs and Adirondack Mountains) during the read-aloud.
After reading the book, students must read clues and answer 3 reading comprehension questions from the story to open 3 locks or “breakout” of the Breakout EDU kit:
- George worked at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs.
- George was a blend of these 2 heritages (African American and Native American).
- George invented potato chips.
The students love working in teams and using UV flashlights, red lens viewers, encypted messages, etc. to solve the clues.
Before we begin we discuss this question, “One of the purposes of using Breakout EDU is to build good teamwork skills. How do you think good teamwork will look and sound?