The Set Up
1. The Box: One breakout box with 6 locks on it. I used a word lock, a directional lock, two 3-digit locks, a 4-digit lock, and a key lock. I put bookmarks in the box along with a "We Broke Out" sign.
2. The Tables: Our classes are large so I needed 6 teams in order to get the kids into groups of 5 or fewer students. Each of the 6 tables in the library had a large mailing envelope and a pencil on it. On the outside of the envelope were basic instructions and a list of stations to visit in order. Inside the envelope was a clue sheet that they would see only after traveling to 6 stations and picking up information. There was invisible ink written on all but one of the clue sheets.
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| Each team has one of these envelopes on their table |
3. The Stations: Students traveled to 6 stations in the library to pick up information and to do a task. My stations were
- Circulation Desk
- LibraryTrac (a laptop where students use LibraryTrac to sign in)
- Computers
- Creative Space
- Nonfiction
- Fiction
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| Students picking up information at one of the 6 stations |
At each station I had an envelope with identical slips of paper in it. The slips of paper gave all the library information I would normally give in orientation. The tasks were simple and some of the information gathered contributed to their ability to open their locks. Teams took one piece of paper at each station and ended up with six papers in the end.
The Game
As classes came in I had the ELA teachers distribute the students evenly between six tables to form six teams. (Teams of 2 or 3 are ideal but it worked with teams of 5 also.) I told the students that the library is a place for inquiry and problem solving and that they had a challenge to complete. My story was that someone had locked all the bookmarks in the box and we had 20 minutes to break in or no bookmarks today. I explained that it was not a race between teams, but we only won if all the groups got their locks off. I told them what kinds of locks were on the box and that each team would open one lock. I then pointed out that their team envelope had a list of stations on it in order. Each team was told to travel together to each station and take out a piece of paper from the envelope there. They were instructed to read it aloud then do the task on the paper before moving to the next station. After they collected all 6 papers, they could return to their table with their papers and open the envelope. Each envelope had a clue to opening one lock. At that point they had to solve a puzzle or realize that they needed a "tool" which was a UV flashlight to read the invisible ink.
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| Colored envelopes went one to a team, smaller envelopes were placed at the various stations around the library |
Summary
I ended up doing this activity with 24 classes of seventh and eighth graders. In every class students were engaged and no class (even the ESOL students) got fewer than 4 locks off. Some groups worked harder than others, but no groups in any class gave up and quit trying. Many classes succeeded in breaking out. After seeing the game in action, I decided to do something different with my sixth graders only because they are new to the school and I wanted a little less chaos on their first visit. I plan to do a breakout with them on their second library visit.
My documents are here. You can see the labels for the outside of the envelopes, the handouts for the stations, and my notes sheet of how each lock was solved. Feel free to borrow and modify to suit your library and let me know how it goes.
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