5 - 15 Minute Sponge Games
1. The Sponge Game - Divide the class into two, three or four groups. Play a 5 - 15 minute continuing game of
Las Vegas News Bowl, Pigskin News Bowl or Jeopardy News Bowl. This sponge activity can be used once a day or several minutes
throughout the school day. If a continuous game is played throughout the week, it is fun to keep a running score throughout the week.
2. Question of the Day - Use a "question of the morning" or a "question of the afternoon." The activity is
simple, but continually focuses the minds of children on current events. Each day the teacher chooses a question from their News Bowl
Weekly/Primer and posts it in the room. A box is placed in the room and students write their name and answer on a small paper and
place it in the box. Students are encouraged to guess. The teacher awards a fun prize for the right answer. Other rules can be
applied such as: a student can't win two times in a row, or closest answer wins, or pick a different news category each time. The
teacher can add other fun rules!
3. Play for the Prize - This activity brings quiet organized closure to your classroom on Friday or a regular
school day. A question is thrown out to the class and they answer it by secret scratch paper with the winner getting to take a small
gift prize. If students tie, have a tie breaker question ready for them. This activity is loads of fun and seems to get all students
interested even if they don't win the prize. Optional: A student may not win twice in a week.
4. News for Nickels - This activity comes from Pat Ford at Pineview School in Casper, WY. Pat says the
activity is "so simple," but her students "love it." Set out several nickels and ask the class a news question. The student who has
the correct answer first gets a nickel. You can call the activity "News Time for a Dime" if dimes are used, or "News Bits for
Two-Bits" if quarters are used.