Would you like to host a family literacy night with activities that will have students, families, and teachers excited? Would you like to hear your students talking about how much fun family literacy night was? Turning your school into an escape game should do the trick.
How we turned our school into an escape room for family literacy night!
As families arrived, they were directed to an area where a scenario video was playing. It explained why they were locked in the school and what they had to do in order to escape.
They were then given a recording sheet for their grade level. If families had kids in multiple grade levels, they could choose the one they wanted to do. Some had time to complete more than one escape game. There are five activities/challenges per grade level. We had one or two in each classroom with the location of each on the recording sheet. For example, we have 3 first grade classes, so 2 activities were in two of the classrooms and one in the other. We also used extra areas such as the library, music room, and hallways. When families completed all 5 activities, they answered the questions on the back of the recording sheet to determine the mystery word that would set them free.
Each grade level had a box locked with a 4-letter word lock. This can also be done without a lock by having families show the code word to a designated person, but locks are so much fun! If they got the box open, they were given an “I escaped” coloring page. If not, they could try again or get an “I was so close” sign. We had a photo area decorated with an ocean background. Students loved holding their signs for a picture.
Theme
This is a nonfiction-based ocean-themed escape game for family literacy night activities for elementary school. Snappy the Shark has locked students in the school and will not let them go until they show him they can do hard work. Families will learn many fun facts about ocean animals throughout the evening.
Activities for family literacy night
Grades K – 6 each complete a grade-appropriate escape challenge. No worries about your 5th and 6th-grade kiddos complaining of it being too babyish.
Let’s take a look at what each grade level includes!
Kindergarten:
- Identify ocean animals (What am I?)
- Complete a puzzle and determine which letters are missing in a sequence
- Determine the beginning letter of some ocean animals
- Fish for rhyming words
- Decode a mystery message
First Grade:
- Decode the answer to an ocean joke
- Complete a puzzle and unscramble the letters to make a sight word
- ABC Order
- Read a nonfiction passage about sea turtles and answer some questions
- Identify ocean animals (What am I?)
Second Grade:
- Decode the answer to a joke
- Complete a puzzle (collective nouns)
- Related words
- Read a nonfiction passage about sea horses and answer some questions
- Contractions
Third Grade:
- Read a nonfiction passage about sea anemones and answer some questions
- Verb tense puzzle
- Using irregular plural nouns
- Ocean-themed context clues
- Identify ocean animals (What am I?)
Fourth Grade:
- Read a nonfiction passage about hermit crabs and answer some questions
- Ocean-themed context clues.
- Identify nonfiction text features
- Homophones
- Identify ocean animals (What am I?)
Fifth and Sixth Grade:
- Decode the answer to a joke
- Ocean-themed context clues
- Facts about an axolotl (synonyms)
- Decode a rebus sentence
- Identify idioms
What are the benefits of a school-wide escape game for family literacy night?
The benefits are endless!
- It is hands-on
- It is engaging for students and their grown-ups
- It is challenging
- It is standards-based
- It is fact-filled
- There are different activities for each grade level K – 6
- Most importantly…it is FUN for all!
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