Last week I shared the Citizen Journalism Quest my students are working on this fall. One of the requirements during this adventure quest is for students to choose a nonfiction book to read independently. Students will refer to their independent reading books for content knowledge as well as craft structure presented throughout the text. I have added a Reading Bingo for a Sidequest as part of the entire adventure quest.
In video games Sidequests come in a variety of forms, and completing sidequests generally brings reward to the player such as additional equipment or abilities, areas to explore, supplemental plot related details, or fun unlockables. Gamasutra breaks down some dos and don’t of designing side quests on their blog.
For the Non Fiction sidequest I created Bingo. Students have a choice to complete one row or column for 125 XP (Experience Points) or students might choose to complete the entire board for a total of 500 XP. This is the second sidequest offered throughout the Citizen Journalism adventure quest. The bingo tasks are short and require students to use technology and critical and creative thinking to complete. Some are simple and fun like take a selfie with your reading book or design a ten question quiz on Kahoot. Others tasks include creating a book trailer and writing a review on a class Padlet. In thinking about Universal Design for Learning, this sidequest offers flexibility in the ways students access material, engage with it and show what they know.
The Teaching Factor 