The textbook is, and will probably continue to be, the most widely used resource in school. Yet, many teachers do not use textbooks in systematic and rigorous ways. We may do a good job of helping students get the content; but there are a variety of other skills we can help our students learn in addition to learning the content.
The following ideas were compiled for two reasons. First, we think teaching should be more enjoyable. Second, we believe students can and should learn important study and academic skills while they are learning content.
Brief Overview: The Scavenger Hunt
Most people know that a scavenger hunt is a game where people travel around trying to collect a variety of objects or pieces of information. The person or team who collects the most pieces wins the game. Below are sample ideas that we created for a textbook. With a little adaptation, this basic game can be converted into a useful teaching idea.
Our purpose is simple. We want to help students know how a book is put together, what parts are in a book, and how authors think about what's important. To accomplish this goal, a scavenger hunt can send students around the book instead of around the neighborhood. During their trip, they will be introduced to things like the Table of Contents, the Glossary, the Index, the Chapters, etc. They will also get an opportunity to see how pictures work in relationship to text, how questions are written, and chapters are laid out.
Instead of telling students how a book is put together, teachers provide opportunities that allow students to learn by themselves. At the same time, students have fun as they learn. By the time they have finished, students (hopefully) will know more about the book than when they started.
We encourage this Scavenger Hunt as a beginning exercise, although teachers could save it for "one of those days." Directions should be brief but clear so students will not have difficulty. The ideas could be used as small group competitions or as individual activities. Every choice has a tradeoff. The tradeoff here is that individual activities are the most educational; but group competitions are the most fun.
We encourage the activity as an in-class activity. However, if you are into homework, the assignment can be given as homework. As a third step, and a way to gather insight into how students are doing, you can give students an opportunity to make up a small scavenger hunt for themselves or the class. When this activity is completed, we would encourage a wrap-up of about 5-10 minutes that reviews what students have learned.
How to do a Scavenger HuntThere are many variations of the scavenger-hunt theme. The two examples we give here are Scavenger Math and Scavenger Sleuth.
Scavenger Math Problems
Directions:
This Scavenger Math problem is an adding problem. Read each part of the problem. When you find the correct answer, place it in the space in the sentence. Then write it on a separate line, as if you are making a math problem. Add each number as you go, but when you are finished check your work. It's the right answer, not the first one done that wins.
1. An index can help you if you want to look up a particular topic. Find the first page of the Index. Nuts, it doesn't have a page number. If it did, that page number would be ________.
2. Find the Table of Contents. It tells you the chapter titles and the sub-titles within the chapter. There are three questions in this Table of Contents for you.
A. How many chapters are there in this book? -----------
B. Which chapter number has six sub-headings? -----------
C. In which chapter can you read about religion? -------------
3. Chapter One talks about geography. How many maps are there in this chapter? --------------
Answer. You should have found five (5) numbers in these three questions. Add them up. Your answer is --------------
Directions:
This Scavenger Math problem is a subtraction problem. Read each part of the problem. When you find the correct answer, place it in the space in the sentence. Then write it on a separate line, just like you are making a math problem. Subtract each number as you go, and when you are finished check your work. Remember, it's the right answer, not the first one done that wins.
1. The Glossary gives you a list of important words used in the book and their definitions. The last page of the Glossary in this book is page ______.
2. There are some parts of a book no one really cares too much about. Page ii gives information to help libraries catalogue the book for their shelves. It also gives information about the author. This one shows that the author is still alive (good for him!) and the year he was born (not too good for him!). If the author was born on January 13th, how old is he? ______.
3. In this book, important words that students might not know are defined on the bottom of pages where they are found. Chapter 6 is a short chapter, but has many important words. How many vocabulary words are found on the bottom of the pages in Chapter 6? ______.
Answer: You should have found 3 numbers in these three questions. Subtract the number you found in #2 from the number you found in #1. Then subtract the number you found for #3 from the answer. What is your final answer? ______.
Scavenger Sleuth ProblemsDirections:
Scavenger Sleuth is a word game. The goal is to complete an important sentence about Japan using the clues given. When you find missing words for each question, write them on a piece of paper. Once you have all the words, put them in the right order to make the sentence. This sentence will give you important information about Japan. The first team to complete the sentence correctly wins.
l) Two words are found four times in the chapter titles of this book. They are ________ and _______ . Write the longest word on your sheet of paper.
2) On pages 40 and 52 of the book, there are two pictures. In each picture, the person shown on the left is (older or younger) than the person on the right. Write the correct word on your sheet of paper.
3) In Chapter 8, three sub-headings start with the same word. Write this word on your piece of paper.
4) Every chapter has three sets of questions at the end. Write the first word in the titles of these questions on your sheet of paper.
5) Pictures in the book show life in Japan. Read the caption on page 64. Write the third word of the second sentence on your paper.
6) The map on page 4 of the book shows the distribution of ________. Write this word on your paper.
Answer: Look at these words. Put them in a sentence that reveals an important fact about Japan. What is this fact?
By the time students have completed these scavenger hunts, they will not only know more about the content of the textbook, but they will have gained valuable skills in understanding its construction. Yet, instead of simply being told, they are discovering both the interior and exterior workings of the text for themselves. And, we think, they are having fun in the process.