Time to Breakout (EDU)!

Breakout EDU has developed a way to use play, excitement, collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity in the classroom environment with breakout box kits or digital breakout games.  Students solve clues and Breakout (or unlock clues or boxes) for the “win”. I have used kits can be used to create puzzles and mysteries for students to discover curriculum or review content.

Breakout EDU can be used to introduce a new lesson or concept, to reinforce and strengthen learning, or at the end of a unit to bring closure to a lesson and reinforce skills and concepts learned, all in a fun way.

Breakout EDU’s kits provide the basic materials necessary to present puzzles for students to decipher, each clue leading to another, and ultimately to the locked the puzzle or mystery. There are many reasons to try Breakout EDU:

Last year, I used a sandbox game with my students to discover the Lost Colony of Roanoke found on the website: http://www.breakoutedu.com/.  I set the timer and turned them loose.

The students were immediately curious and their problem-solving skills soon kicked in. They worked independently and together to solve clues. They made mistakes, backtracked, and tried again, moving from one clue to the next. As the game evolved, the excitement grew and even initially reluctant students gained confidence and began taking active roles in the quest for solutions. The kids were questioning, thinking and focusing, solving the puzzle and “breaking out”—all the time trying to beat the clock!  Excitedly they all asked, “When can we do it again?”

Well, I was just as hooked as they are!  I set off to write my first game: Escape from Mars as a review of science and math content.  From that moment on, I have been looking for lessons and puzzles on the Breakout EDU site and writing my own.

I have written a 7th graded math game incorporating variables and the awesome new lock I found on Amazon.  It allows for a letter variable and two-digit answer. I have become a frequent browser for new locks on Amazon Prime!

I have written a school wide Polar Express game, with 6 versions geared to each grade level from kindergarten to 5th grade. And, most recently, I created a game for 5th grade teachers introducing a Social Studies and literacy unit for Colonial Williamsburg and Fever 1793.

I have also spent some time exploring Digital Breakout games found at http://www.breakoutedu.com/digital/. No boxes or locks needed. Students login to the game using their Chromebooks, and you are off to solve a puzzle or mystery!

Frankly I am hooked on this awesome learning tool and the opportunities to provide for students and teachers.

 Consider “Breaking Out” of the routine and trying a Breakout Edu game in your classroom today