The Treaty of Versailles Territorial Land Lost Game

This activity has been designed by Lesley Ann McDermott.

Here is her description:

I designed this activity for students to learn which land Germany lost in the Treaty of Versailles and who gained this land.  24 cards are printed, each showing one of the territorial losses or one of the countries/organisation which gained the land.  The cards are placed face down on a large table with music playing and students walk around the table. When the music stops each student must pick up a card and quickly find the country/organisation who gained the land.  I time how long it takes them and then check answers.  I usually do the activity 3 or 4 times, I then record the groups’ best time as a competition between classes. I found that this is a good reinforcing activity or revision game. 

Download

A WORD version of this activity and accompanying resources can be downloaded:

For a WORD version of this activity [ click here ]

For the resource cards [ click here ]

For the Spin PowerPoint [ click here ]

Resources

• 24 cards individually printed on A4 card/paper (laminated because paper tears in the enthusiasm to grab the cards)

• Pop music

• Mobile phone timer

Set Up

Turn cards over on one desk (I did this around a large group table where 8-10 students would sit)

The Activity

• Play pop music and 24 students walk around the desk where the cards faced down are placed. 

• When the music stops students must grab one card and try to match up the territory lost to the correct country.

• Time how long it takes for the group to organise themselves into matching the land lost to the countries. They must stand next to the correct card.

• When all students have grouped themselves quickly check.

• Stop the timer once you have verified they are correct.

If you have a group larger than 24 - print and laminate a couple of the coloured maps and the additional students could be experts for students to visit or helpers who work in pairs.

When you first play the game you could have the map on the board to help them

Timing – to see if they can do the activity quicker than the last time, I repeated the game 3 or 4 times.  Then recorded the groups’ best time and compared it with another class for a competition between classes. 

To further reinforce the game – students then used a jumbled version of the list on the board to write down what they can remember. 

Also have a SPIN PowerPoint to use in the plenary session.