During block days at Lansing High School, LHS English teacher Brandi Atha builds in short “brain breaks” to help students reset and refocus during longer class periods. One activity that has quickly become a favorite in Freshman English is Tapple, a word game similar to the popular board game.
Students are given a category and must quickly name something that fits while choosing a letter from the circle. For example, if the category is things found at a school, a student might grab S and say scissors or B and say bookbag. Other categories included snacks and teacher names.
Recently, one group of students enjoyed the activity so much that they kept playing even after the brain break ended. Jeremiah Foster-Brown, RJ Thomas, Caleb Njoku, and Aiden Edwards started creating their own categories and challenging each other to keep the game going.
It was a great reminder that students can still have a lot of fun with a simple game, and sometimes the best part is seeing them engaged and laughing together without a screen.