Silent Ball is a fun way to review facts with students for those difficult teaching days. This works for nearly all grades with minor modification and also has worked in special education classrooms. The game has but three rules and the teacher is judge and jury. The end result acts as an assessment in a lesson plan as well as a way to be cross-curricular with physical education as well as the combining of motor skills to subject matter.

Step 1: Write a question on the board with a one or two word answer. Be sure to instruct the students to not make any guesses out loud unless it is their turn to do so as there can only be one winner.

Step 2: Draw the traditional Hangman platform with the appropriate lines and spaces for each letter with an area for the “bad letters” to be written.

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Step 3: Explain the rules of the game. The object is to throw a soft or padded ball around the room. A student is out in one of three ways. First, if any sound is made whether it be talking or laughing, they’re out. Second, if a student drops a ball at any given time, they’re out. Third, if anyone makes a bad throw, they’re out.

Step 4: When you have a winner, that student gets a chance at solving the puzzle. Ask the question then they guess a letter. If a correct letter is chosen, they continue to guess until either the puzzle is solved or they choose an incorrect letter. If that’s the case, they should take a guess at the answer. If incorrect, add a head, body, arm or leg to the hangman and play silent ball again for another winner.

Step 5: The student who solves the puzzle gets a prize.