Comparing Class Quiz Games

Hi!  I am Sherri Miller of The Techie Chick and I am thrilled to join the amazing team of teachers on this blog to be able to share with you some technology integration ideas, tips and tricks.  As a former elementary teacher teaching 2nd and 3rd grade, I have been a technology specialist (ITRT) working with Pre-K through 8th grade for the past 10 years.  I LOVE my job helping teachers and students use technology in the classroom to learn and grow! Today I want to share some awesome technology tools with you...

Class Quiz Games are a fun and engaging way to review for a test! This post compares 4 different games/assessment tools to help you choose the right one.

One of my favorite tools to share with teachers is class quiz games.  These are great for formative assessments and a good way to help students review before a test… like those SOLs that are coming soon!  There are several great ones out there in cyber land, each with different options and capabilities so I don’t really have a favorite.  It truly depends on your content and purpose in deciding which one is best.  I also like to change them up just to give students a variety.  Below is a quick overview of four quiz games and then a chart comparing them. 
Socrative:  This one has been around for a few years, so it’s an oldie but a goodie.  I like that it allows for several question types (multiple choice, true/false or short answer) and that quizzes can be projected and teacher paced or assigned for student paced.  When student paced, they can even skip a question and come back to it before submitting.  The team game mode with Space Race is a fun way for kids to review.  All students play on their own device and it randomly assigns them to teams.  One pro of Socrative is that it’s a great system when needing longer questions. 


Kahoot!:  Students love Kahoot!  This is more fast-paced as students only have a maximum of 30 seconds to answer and more points are awarded for correct quick responses.  Questions and answers do not show on the student device.  The questions are projected and students answer on their device by choosing the correct color block that corresponds to the answer.  It’s a competitive game since students see their rank among their peers as they play and the top 5 point leaders are shown after each question.  This game is only for multiple choice questions and works well with facts or quick computation, such as addition or multiplication facts. Team play is new and has just been added. I also love that you can search the public Kahoots and edit ones you find for your own needs. 


Quizizz:  Quizizz is a little newer on the scene and is very similar to Kahoot!  One main difference to Kahoot! is it can be teacher or student paced and you can set longer than 30 seconds for each question.  Another key difference is students see the questions and answers on their device so this game doesn’t have to be projected.  Questions can also be randomized.  Quizzes have the “homework” option which will keep games open for up to 2 weeks.  There are several options with this system including turning off the timer and leaderboard which encourages students to take time and not to race through a question. 


Plickers:  Plickers is a great alternative if you don’t have student devices available.  Each student gets a printed card with a QR type code displayed.  A question is projected and students hold up the card and rotate it in the correct direction for their multiple choice answer.  The teacher then uses a mobile device (phone or tablet) to scan the cards around the room and collect responses.  After scanning responses, the teacher shares a graph of the results for discussion. 

All of these quiz games are a fun and engaging way to review.  Below is a chart that compares them.  Click HERE to download the pdf version of the chart.

Class Quiz Games are a fun and engaging way to review for a test! This post compares 4 different games/assessment tools to help you choose the right one.
Have fun playing!


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