I’ve used Jeopardy as a teaching tool on countless occasions already and, thus far, my students have yet to get sick of it. In fact, they’ve come to look forward to it and have even requested it. It can easily be scaled to any age group or level of ability, can be adapted to any subject or topic and, especially great, the students can even get involved in the creation of games or, if advanced enough, can build their own.

Okay, so, I think we’re all fairly familiar with Jeopardy as a game. It began as a game show, of course, but has been translated into board games, video games and I’m sure anything else you can think of. What I’m referring to, however, is an online Jeopardy game builder called Jeopardy Labs.

The site is free to access, though you will have to create an account using an email and password, and it should be noted that any games you create appear to be added to their database and made available to all other users. For that matter, if you don’t want to create your own game you can search for a pre-made one using topics or themes as keywords. I haven’t had much luck with this approach, however, and prefer to simply build my own game, specific to mine and my students’ needs.

So here’s how you can use Jeopardy as a teaching tool: Once you’ve accessed the Jeopardy Labs site, select Create a Jeopardy Game. You’ll then be asked to create an account, which simply involves entering a password. You’ll then be presented with a blank screen made to resemble the Jeopardy game board, with five category columns and five question rows, though these will be blank aside for the scores, from 100 to 500 per column.

First, name your game. This can be as general or specific as you wish. I’ve done some that were just a blend of unrelated topics, while the most recent one I created was for Black History Month, far more thematic and specific.

Next, you’ll need categories for your game. The standard number of categories is 5 but you can add or remove columns to allow for more or fewer categories. I have personally never used fewer than four categories or more than five. Categories I’ve used in the past have been as general as “Movies and TV Series” and as specific as “Countries I have travelled to”.

The key here is keeping in mind that you’ll need five questions per category and that you’ll need questions of a varying degree of difficulty. Again, the standard is to use five questions for each category, with the easiest question worth 100 points and the hardest worth 500, with 200, 300, and 400 in between. You can, however, add and remove question rows. I’ve seen games that used nine rows, with points from 100 to 900, but this would involve a lot of work. It is also possible to change the point value for each question if, for some reason, you wanted the easiest question to be worth 112 and the hardest 673, for example. Personally, I tend to stick to the default five questions per each of five categories. This keeps things simple and consistent.

Once you’ve chosen and entered your categories the real work begins. This is where you’ll need to enter all your questions and answers. If you’ve stuck to the default 5 by 5 you’ll have twenty-five questions and answers to come up with (I may be an English teacher but I can handle math, too). To enter a question and answer simply select the box. This will open the question and answer window. Enter your question on the right and the answer on the left. You’ll see that you can add media to either or both the question and answer. For example, I’ve often used images, such as flags or photos of celebrities. For images found using Google, however, note that you’ll need to copy and paste the image link and not the image itself. Also, it seems Jeopardy Labs doesn’t support images that include transparency. Otherwise, it’s pretty easy to use images. It is possible to use videos, as well, but this can only be done with the premium version of the game, so I’ve never tried. I simply keep the relevant video open in a separate tab and play it when needed. But, honestly, I very rarely use audio or video.

Now, when writing your questions, be sure to be as clear as possible. You don’t want any questions that may have multiple correct answers, unless you plan to include all these answers. Vague questions can lead to some pretty heated arguments with some students; many of them take this kind of competition quite seriously.

It’s also up to you if you wish to use the Jeopardy way off framing thee question as an answer and vice versa. For instance, on the game show, the “question” will actually be written as “He wrote Romeo and Juliette” while the “answer” is to be given in the form of a question: “Who is William Shakespeare?” You can even insist that students respond in this manner, withholding points if they fail to do so, just as they do on the game show. However, I’ve found that even my more advanced students get confused and annoyed with this method and so I haven’t used it much, preferring to stick to a more traditional question and answer structure.

You can also make your questions multiple choice by writing all choices in the question box following the question itself. This can be useful with less advanced students.

There really is no limit to how you construct your questions. I typically use topics the students enjoy, playing the game as a reprieve from typical classwork, but it can certainly be used to teach everything from literature to grammar. For example, the question can be a sentence with a missing word and the students must fill in the blank. Similarly, the question can be an incorrectly written sentence and students must provide a corrected version. Another idea would be to provide a sentence written in a particular tense and ask students to provide the sentence in another tense. Ask for synonyms of particular words, or antonyms, or idioms based on a provided definition. Anything you’re covering in class can be applied to the Jeopardy Labs game with some thought and creativity.

Once you’ve entered all your questions and answers simply save the game. This will create a URL for your brand new game. I always copy and paste the URL into an email and send it to myself for ease of access. Remember that internet access is needed not only to create the game but to play it as well.

When playing the game I tend to have my students break into teams. The game is defaulted to three teams but, once again, you can add or remove teams depending on the number of players. Students should select a question by naming the category and points. So, the first student may select “Movies for 200 points”. This allows them to focus on particular categories and also choose their point values strategically. To select a question, you simply click on the chosen point box which will reveal the question. Once the student has answered, press space bar to reveal the answer. Then press escape (Esc) to return to the game board. You’ll see that the chosen box is now blank and can no longer be selected. If the student answered correctly be sure to give their team its points. Simply press the + sign and the game will add the correct number of points to that team’s score card.

One thing to decide before beginning the game is whether or not an incorrect answer results in a loss of points. For example, if a team selects “Movies for 200 points” they’ll get 200 points if they get it right, but should they also lose 200 points of they get it wrong? This is up to you. I usually ask my students how they want to play and they typically prefer to have a wrong answer result in zero points rather than a loss.

Another thing to decide: If a team answers incorrectly do the other teams get a chance to answer. I usually play it this way, so that if team one gives an incorrect answer, team two gets a chance and then team three and so on until a correct answer is given or all teams have attempted but failed, at which point I reveal the answer.

With more advanced students I also tend to come equipped with a little extra information to supplement those questions that are more difficult, obscure, or maybe a bit of a trick question.

It’s also important to agree ahead of time on the amount of time allowed for answers. I occasionally even use a timer that rings when the time is up, though more often than not I simply give them what I feel is a reasonable amount of time. I’ve never tried it but it would also be possible to play the famous Jeopardy jingle while they think through their answer.

I’ve found that a typical game of twenty-five questions takes between forty and fifty minutes to complete, though this can obviously vary.

Now, as mentioned, it’s also possible to have students create their own games, which can be a lot of fun. Most recently my classes have been broken up into five teams for the game, and so I have each team choose a category, which they keep to themselves, and come up with five questions and answers for their chosen category. To ensure no two teams choose the same category I allow the most recent winning team to choose their category first, then the runner up and so forth, though I’m careful not to give away what any one team has chosen as their category. It’s more fun and more challenging if the categories are revealed just before the game begins.

Obviously, using this method, teams are not permitted to choose questions from their own category. So, with five teams and five categories, each team will be able to choose from four categories. Another option is to add your own sixth category, bringing the number of available categories back up to five.

Interestingly, some of my students have begun creating their own games and emailing me the link for approval. They especially enjoy including categories specific to their themselves, such as “My favourite foods” or “My family”.

The one instruction I give them, however, is to ensure that their questions are meant to challenge but that an answer is still possible. Students often will immediately try to think of impossible questions, viewing stumping the other students as the ultimate goal. For this reason I always review all questions before allowing the game to be played. This also allows me to check that questions are well formulated and answers are accurate. Again, some students can get quite upset if they feel a question is unclear or unfair.

I’ve found this Jeopardy game to be an invaluable teaching tool, have recommended it to many other teachers already and have yet to find a class that didn’t enjoy it. Take a look at it and give it a try yourself, and feel free to let me know how you used it and how it went.