I guess it depends on how it's played. Here is what I have done to make the game as least teacher-focused as possible. I actually played this game with my university students a few weeks ago to review for their final. It went over really well and I actually was able to easily identify some of the weaker students and help them come up with the best answer.
The first thing I do is to take the speedy 'I'm First' element out of the game. Therefore everyone gets a chance to answer and to win or lose points. I break the class up into small groups of 2 or 3. Instead of speaking the answer they discuss the answer with their group and then write it down. Therefore noone can copy another's answer and everyone gets a chance to answer. If they are right, I give them the points of that square. If they are wrong I deduct points. You could also just reward points for being right and do nothing for being wrong.
The last game I played we were reviewing past and future. The categories were: "Who", "What", "Where", "When" and "Why". Under each category were 5 boxes with points 100 to 500 just like the real game show 100 being the easiest and 500 being the hardest. The teams take turns picking a category and an amount. Then I would say the answer: "I ate pizza." or "I am going to the hospital.". They would write the answer (really the question) down on their paper. "What did you eat?" or "Where are you going to go?".
It was a great review and I think it got almost everyone involved.
Eric |