Better Than BingoActivity slides
Better Than Bingo · Classroom Edition
Six Words, Whole Campus
One prompt, one shared wall, and a version that scales from kindergarten through senior year.
10–25 min5+ peopleIndividual
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Teacher prep · Do not project yet
Set the room up for success.
Materials
- Identical index cards
- Pens, pencils, and drawing materials
- Display wall
- Optional word bank
Before you begin
- Choose one safe campus-wide prompt
- Create one short instruction sheet per grade band
- Select a public display location and anonymous submission process
- Run the same prompt with staff before student rollout
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Teacher language · Do not project yet
What to say
“Everyone is answering the same prompt, but the support changes by age. The wall is anonymous, jokes are allowed if they are kind, and nobody has to explain or claim a response.”
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Teacher notes · Do not project yet
Keep it comfortable and useful.
Make room for everyone
- Offer scribing, dictation, AAC, word banks, drawing, typing, and private submission.
- Keep cards anonymous and visually uniform across grades.
- Avoid prompts requiring disclosure about home, family, money, identity, or trauma.
Watch out for
- Do not identify grade levels or authors on the display unless they choose it.
- Post kind jokes alongside serious responses so authenticity is not mistaken for required vulnerability.
- Moderate cards for safety without polishing away student voice.
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For students
Here’s what to do.
- 1
K–1: students choose three spoken words; the teacher scribes and students illustrate.
- 2
Grades 2–3: students write six words with an optional word bank and drawing.
- 3
Grades 4–5: students draft freely, then revise to exactly six words.
- 4
Middle school: students create three drafts and post the final card unsigned for a silent gallery walk.
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For students
Keep going.
- 5
High school: students create three drafts and add a private or optional one-line explanation of one word.
- 6
Staff complete the same prompt before rollout and post responses in the shared format.
- 7
Add cards to the display throughout the week and leave the wall up long enough to become part of the campus.
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Prompt 01
What I want this year to be
Take a moment to think. Passing or writing instead is always okay.
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Prompt 02
What you should know about me
Take a moment to think. Passing or writing instead is always okay.
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Prompt 03
What this school gets right about me
Take a moment to think. Passing or writing instead is always okay.
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Prompt 04
Something I have changed my mind about
Take a moment to think. Passing or writing instead is always okay.
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Prompt 05
What I am taking with me
Take a moment to think. Passing or writing instead is always okay.
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Prompt 06
What we are when we are good
Take a moment to think. Passing or writing instead is always okay.
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Wrap it up
One last thought.
- What patterns appear across the wall?
- Which six-word response made you pause without needing to know who wrote it?
- What does the campus seem to value or need right now?