Treasure Hunt Re-visited

I've been thinking about my post of 8/4/10 where I describe the Treasure Hunt game. The description sounds a bit complicated, but really Treasure Hunt is simply an interactive form of a matching or fill-in-the-blanks exercise. Instead of completing a pencil and paper matching or fill-in exercise, students get to walk around and hunt for the matches or fill-in words which are taped, tacked, or stapled to classroom displays. Students have a chance to move around and perhaps work with a partner. As a bonus, while discovering a picture or word card camouflaged in a display, the student will also notice the display, itself.

There is a point that some of you may raise. Doesn't a game like Treasure Hunt require a substantial amount of preparation time on the part of the teacher? The teacher has to make word cards or cut out pictures, and devise a set of fill-in statements or items to match up. Then, the teacher has to go to the classroom early to hide the pictures or cards in the displays.
Yes, it's true. Teacher time is necessary to prepare the Treasure Hunt game. It's alot quicker to say, "Complete page 12 in your workbook," - and students can certainly learn from workbook activities.
Think of games such as Scavenger Hunt and Treasure Hunt as experiences, rather than tasks. These games are meant to be sprinkled occasionally into the mix of activities featured in a lesson plan. The pictures and cards can be re-used in future years when similar topics are taught. I actually lay the pictures on a sheet of copy paper and make a color copy, in case some are damaged or lost. This way, I won't have to find them and cut them out again. The cards can also be copied.

Students enjoy these games. They have a positive Jewish Educational experience, work off some energy, and socialize a bit. Providing active games distinguishes their Jewish classroom from many of their secular classrooms. We're shaping an environment different in tone from the secular classes they've attended all day before arriving at religious school.

On a more sobering note, there is the issue of compensation for preparation time, such as that required for setting up the Scavenger Hunt and Treasure Hunt games. Many Jewish educators, especially those working in synagogue (supplementary) schools, are compensated only for the time they're actually teaching. There is no compensation for prep time. This is a complex topic worthy of more in-depth consideration. It deserves its own post and I will return to it in the future.

More to come...variations on Treasure Hunt.