Breakouts are huge right now, but they are also a bit intimidating for teachers to create and implement. Just programing the locks for each kit has caused me anxiety. How would I find the time and patience to set all the locks? How would I reset everything in time for the next class? A digital breakout with Google Forms is the perfect solution. Read on for ideas and resources to create clues, and step-by-step instructions on how to set up a Google Form with locks and different pages.

Create Your Breakout Google Form

I started to write this out as part of the blog post, but it was too difficult to explain in words. Instead I made a 10-minute video that walks you through each step from start to finish to create your locked Google Form.

Click the image below to check it out at YouTube.

Choose 6-8 Topics You Want to Cover

Breakouts are really fun, but I also wanted to make sure mine was relevant to a subject beyond just team building. I created one for Macbeth (click here to check it out at my TpT store) and the first step was deciding what content to focus on.  I finally settled on iambic pentameter, the Globe, Gunpowder Plot, theme, and Shakespearean insults. I had a few more ideas, but I couldn’t figure out how to make the clues work.

In the end I only went with five topics since I expect students to spend about 10 minutes on each topic. I suggest having a few extra ideas from the start so you can easily drop the ones that are too difficult to turn into clues.

Create Your Clues

Click here for a one-stop-shop list of FREE websites and apps to creatively make clues for your Breakout.  This is where I found the ticket and text message generator listed below. Lots of ideas and resources and they’re all free!

Fake Concert Tickets

I used fake concert tickets to help teach about the Globe. I made theater tickets for a handful of Shakespeare’s plays and included as much factual detail as I could: the name of Shakespeare’s theater group (both groups!), correct dates for the plays, admission fee for the pit versus bench, and even location of the theater and Hampton Court Palace for their performance for King James I. As students analyze the tickets for clues, they can’t help but learn all of these details about the Globe and the plays.

I turned them into clues by hiding directions in quotes from the plays. Students need the right set of directions to open the lock. You could also have clues hidden in event codes, the names of events, or additional comments on the tickets. Click here to make up your own.

Fake Text Messages

When I saw the text message generator, I knew I wanted to use that for Shakespearean insults. I sorted through to find a few dozen insults from various plays – ones I knew the students would enjoy. I looked for a common theme in some of the insults and created a clue from there. I also like the idea of having students manipulate the clues, so I cut out all the comments and have the students reorganize them in the correct order. The correct order will give them the answer to the clue. Here’s an example of what it looks like when the students first begin the Breakout. 

You can use this to have students order events or quotes for a text, identify different characters by the quote, or you can hide a message in a text message that students need to sort through. For mine, I included letters on each text that spell a word when correctly lined up. The word is the key for the digital lock. Click here to make up your own.

Podcasts

The website 5minutehistory.com is perfect to introduce students to a topic and have them pull information for a clue. As the title implies, it is not in-depth and can be heard in just five minutes. I used this for the Gunpowder Plot and had students get various names as the key to the digital lock. To give it the feel of a puzzle, I used the same letter for each name I wanted: the mark, the mole, the mastermind, and so on. It took some extra time, but I did not want this to feel like a worksheet in any way.

I also like this website because you can listen, read the transcript, or both. The more choice the students have the better.

Posters

Have you tried Canva.com yet? You need to if you haven’t. It’s free and you can easily create engaging posters to display around the room as clues. I used this with theme to create something similar to movie posters. I used three different stories that all have the same theme as Macbeth in order to introduce the theme.

You can hide clues in posters or create a handful of posters that all have some sort of similarity that is the clue.

Rebus Clues

Made easy using www.myrebus.com. Here is an example of what you can do with rebus clues.

Could you figure it out? It says “Look under the teacher’s chair for a clue.” And then I would have an envelope with a clue taped under my chair. Going this route you would want to do a different location for each group so they don’t catch on to what is happening.

Number Clues

Want to incorporate some math into your clues? Try this website (click here) where I was able to quickly make the worksheet below. You could designate certain answers as the key for the lock.

Regardless of the subject you are teaching, this is a good option if you are short for clues. In groups of students, it’s likely one or a few enjoy number problems like this one!

Celebrate Students’ Success

I’ve seen a few different ways to do this. I like to include a certificate for an ice cream from the cafeteria for each Breakout winner, but I also like to document their success for a more intrinsic motivator. I’m attaching here a few free Breakout celebration posters students can pose with for pictures. You can post the photos on a bulletin board, include them on a school web page or Instagram account, or just let students take selfies to document their awesomeness.

Have Fun!

Creating activities like this one has actually helped me evade the elusive teacher burnout. Sure, it’s more work for me than creating a worksheet or even a gallery walk. But I enjoyed unleashing my creativity, and my students had a blast while they were learning and collaborating! An awesome lesson never fails in helping me out of a slump.

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