Bringing Geography to Life with Mystery Skype

Super Stars greeting our partner class. 

As part of our unit on North America, our Rocketeers have participated in several Mystery Skype Calls this quarter. These kinds of calls involve guessing the location of the classroom we are talking to through a series of yes/no questions. Although the directions are simple enough, the challenge lies in the work that occurs behind the scenes. As our call takes place, so do several Skype Jobs. Here is a quick list:

Question Keepers consulting with Map Keepers. 

• Super Stars- These two students are responsible for answering the call, greeting our partner class, asking our series of questions, along with answering questions from our partner class. 
• Question Keepers/Runners- These students are in charge of keeping track of the questions being asked by our class, responses given to our questions, and writing any new questions that our Logical Reasoners or Map Keepers may come up with. 
• Map Keepers- This group is in charge of marking maps and using atlases based on the clues given. They also assist in creating questions throughout the call.
• Logical Reasoners- This group is responsible for putting all the pieces together by taking the clues given and either composing new questions or deciding what question to ask next. 
• Class Tweeter- This student is responsible for composing live tweets while our call is taking place. This student can ask questions and summarize key points of our call. 
• Reporter- This student is in charge of capturing the call as it happens by summarizing key points, reactions, responses, etc. on a word processor. 

Logical Reasoners picking their brains. 

Our Map Keepers hard at work!

  Have a look at a call with our 3rd graders below.

If your class is interested in trying out a Mystery Skype call with our Rocketeers, please leave us a comment below!