Explore 7 Decline of the Roman Empire review games designed by a teacher to engage students and reinforce curriculum. When students are having fun, they forget they are reviewing, making games a great way to practice Social Studies.

• Keep students on their toes with FRAZZLED, where every answer can reveal points, help the opposing team, or uncover a bomb that resets the score to zero.
• BUMP gets teams racing to answer correctly, then gives them a chance to score points by knocking other teams off the platform.
• GRUDGEBALL turns review into a battle where correct answers earn cannon shots to sink opposing teams before they sink you.
• The TERRIBLE Game makes review wonderfully terrible as teams answer questions, uncover unpredictable scores, and use positive and negative points to get closest to zero.
• SCOOT gets students out of their seats and moving around the classroom as they rotate from desk to desk answering task cards.
• TRASHKETBALL™ gets teams racing to answer correctly, then rewards them with shots at the trash can to score points.
• The BIG TERRIBLE Game keeps the whole class involved as up to eight teams answer together and watch their scores swing above and below zero.

When it’s time to review, a little competition can go a long way toward getting students focused, participating, and having fun. Students who normally sit back during review often jump into the action, working with their teammates and getting caught up in every question and result. Over time, that excitement carries beyond the game itself, as students start preparing because they want their team to have a better chance of winning next time.

Games may feel like fun to students, but research shows they can be serious learning tools, with measurable benefits for achievement, retention, and engagement. See the research.