The Campfire Chronicles

reported by Miss Camp

April 19, 2002

Why do we play “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”

• We learn the skill of note-taking.
• We learn how to listen carefully.
• We learn how to work cooperatively in teams.

How do we play “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”

• The class is divided into four teams of 5 or 6 students each.

• Each team is given a certain amount of time (for example, one hour) to read information they are given about our social studies or science topic. Their goal is to take notes on whatever they think might be important or helpful for answering questions in the game. If their team makes it to the “hot seat,” they will be allowed to bring their notes – but not the actual text that they read.
  • This week, because they had 3 pages to read, each team divided the work by breaking into pairs. Each pair was responsible for taking notes on only one page. One person was the Reader and the other the Listener who decided what was important. The team counted on each pair to be an “expert” on the page they read.

• Once the time was up for taking notes, the teams were ready to play. In this game, only one team plays at a time. Playing the game is called “being in the hot seat.” To decide which team gets to be in the “hot seat,” all of the teams are given a group of words that they have to put in A-B-C order on their white board. The first team to do this correctly wins the “hot seat.”
  • This week, the teams had to put in order: “all of the continents, spelled correctly, with capital letters used correctly, in A-B-C order.” For the next round, they had to put in order: “all of the days of the week, spelled correctly, with capitals used correctly, in A-B-C order.”

• Once in the “Hot Seat,” the members of the team would sit in chairs in front of the class. The team has to select one of its members to be the spokesperson for the team. The spokesperson can only give the answers that the rest of his/her team agree upon. The game show host (Miss Camp) asks them a multiple-choice question. (The question is difficult on purpose. Because the purpose of the game is to practice note-taking, it defeats the purpose if they know the answers from their own knowledge.)

• If the team doesn’t know the answer, they may use their LIFELINES. They have 3 lifelines:
  • 50-50: This lifeline allows the 4 possible answers to be narrowed down to two. They then have a 50-50 shot of getting the correct answer.
  • Ask the Audience: This lifeline allows them to poll the audience. A vote is taken for each of the 4 answers, and the “hot seat” team can then decide if they want to go with the majority vote from the audience.
  • Phone a Friend: This lifeline allows them to ask one person in the audience.

• If a team is able to get 5 questions correct, without running out of Lifelines, they win. The current prize is a Jolly Rancher.