Treasure Hunt

Ahoy Mateys! Time for a treasure hunt!

In the Treasure Hunt game, students examine classroom displays very carefully as they race to find hidden "treasures." The treasures are small pictures or little cards representing material the students have studied.The pictures or cards are tacked or taped to various displays. The pictures might depict foods whose Hebrew names students have learned. The cards might contain names of figures in Jewish History or names of the Holidays. In each case, students are given a list of words (in Hebrew or English), definitions, or descriptions that match the information conveyed by the hidden pictures or cards. Students hunt for the treasures that match the items on their list.

Some examples will make the process clearer.

Among the wall displays, you might hide small pictures of a chair, a book, an eraser, and other common classroom items whose Hebrew names the students have learned. (Use pictures from store flyers advertising Back-to-School sales.) Students receive a list of the names of these items in Hebrew. Students search for the pictures of the items which illustrate the Hebrew words. In doing this, they are demonstrating that they know that "kiseh" means chair, "sefer" means book, "machak" means eraser, and so on. When they find a picture, they either remove it from the display and tape it next to the word on their list or write the name of the item (in English) next to the Hebrew word on the list and note where they found the picture.
As an added challenge, pictures may be hidden which don't have a matching Hebrew word on the list.

An additional example -
The students are given a list of statements describing aspects of Holiday celebrations, such as "We build and decorate a temporary structure." The students examine the wall displays and one student finds, taped to a corner of a satellite map of Israel, a card with the word "Sukkot" in Hebrew or in English. The student either detaches the card, which is lightly taped to the map or records the word "Sukkot" next to the appropriate statement on the list and notes where the word card was found.

You might hide 10 items and give the students a brief time, say, 4 minutes, to find as many hidden treasures (ie. pictures or cards) as possible. The student who finds the most, wins.

Treasure Hunt is a versatile game format which can be used with a variety of topics in Hebrew or English. It's a lively review exercise to begin or end a class. Be sure to allow students time to share the treasures they've found, so that all students hear the correct matches for the items on their lists.

More to come...Treasure Hunt variations