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Breakout EDU is one of our most popular kits. It goes out of the warehouse on a consistent basis and has done so since we first purchased these kits when Breakout EDU was founded in 2015. Breakout EDU has come quite a long way since then, moving from a free platform to a paid one; adding several locks and thousands of puzzles; and adding the digital component. One of the things Breakout EDU added in the past few years is their Expansion Pack. We’ve never really dipped our toes in that water until now! Learning Resources has just purchased 12 new Breakout EDU kits, complete with the newest expansion pack! Level up your experience with these brightly colored wheels and dice. These items feature unique symbols that allow educators to continuously add new challenges and hands-on elements. Your students' critical thinking and collaboration will be at an all-time high! The Expansion Pack works with a growing library of Digital and Kit-based games within the Breakout EDU Platform which you can find by searching “expansion pack” in the search bar.  So many teachers in our area know that Breakout EDU game design is an effective way to allow students to work at the top of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students even have the opportunity to create games, providing an opportunity to construct puzzles and think critically about academic content. This is infinitely more exciting and challenging than simply memorizing facts or completing worksheets.
With these new and exciting opportunities, are your teachers using Breakout EDU? If not, please reach out and we’ll make sure they are using this valuable game tool with their students. By: Alexandra Freer, CA BOCES Learning Resources
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Seventh graders at Randolph Central School were given a unique opportunity to participate in a year end activity that combined the activity of geocaching with the mind puzzles of a BreakoutEDU! Geocaching requires participants to use a hand-held GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) device to follow specific coordinates to an exact location. A BreakoutEDU activity has participants solve a number of clues to unlock several different types of locks as they work to open a box. Seventh grade teacher Erin McLure used combinations of these two different activities to prepare an afternoon of fun to close the year out.
Students were brought to Weeden Park where they were divided into groups of four different colors, and then separated again into smaller groups of five students. Each group was given a hand-held GPS, a writing utensil, and a clue sheet. They were given a set of coordinates and then worked together to enter them into the GPS and work their way to the destination. Once they found the cache, then needed to solve a riddle and figure out their next clue. Various thought provoking prompts were collected by Mrs. McClure from her other seventh grade colleagues to be given to the students. The grade level team also assisted in supervision and carrying out the activity. Once all the clues and riddles had been solved, and a final Mathematical problem completed, the answer enabled the students to receive a ‘cool’ prize that was a welcome relief from the war summer day. This unique experience was a tremendous way to combine elements of different activities that students had experienced throughout the year in a memorable activity that was enjoyed by all. By: Rob Griffith, CA BOCES Professional Development  An immersive learning game platform offered through CABOCES is called Breakout EDU. This concept takes the idea of an escape room, a recreational activity where teams work together to get out of a locked room, and turns it into a learning activity for students where they work together to open a locked box. The idea behind this activity is that students will use their brains to solve various puzzles to get inside the tightly locked box which has a number of various locks connected to it. These locks can be 3 or 4 digit combinations locks, directional locks, key locks, or even words locks requiring students to spell the correct word in order to open the lock. Various simulations and games are available on the BreakutEDU website, but teachers are also encouraged to build their own games for their students.
Math teacher Mrs. Mansfield’s recently gave her 7th grade students a Breakout challenge, and then added a twist. After having students work in two separate groups to complete the ‘Linear Equations vs. The Avengers’ Breakout game, she assigned a new task for her class. Working in small groups, each set of students was asked to create their own Breakout style activity for their classmates. Creativity was welcomed as students would create puzzling activities and mathematical challenges that their classmates would attempt to solve. Complete with an assessment checklist and rubric, each group received direction and instruction, and will conduct and share their activities in a few weeks.
By: Rob Griffith, CA BOCES Professional Development
A relatively new education innovation that has come to the CABOCES region is called Breakout EDU. This concept takes the idea of an escape room, a recreational activity where teams work together to get out of a locked room, and turns it into a learning activity for students where they work together to open a locked box. The idea behind this activity is that students will use their brains to solve various puzzles to get inside the tightly locked box which has several various types locks connected to it. These locks can be 3 or 4 digit combinations locks, directional locks, key locks, or even word locks requiring students to spell the correct word to open the lock. Various simulations and games are available on the BreakutEDU website, but teachers are also encouraged to build their own games for their students.  The end of the school year brought with it opportunities for students at Gail N. Chapman Elementary to participate in Breakout EDU and work together to open the box. The 2nd grade and 4th grade classes worked to find missing birthday presents and solve a chocolate mystery in the Breakout games they participated in at the end of the year. The challenge of breaking into the box was a mix of frustration, cheers, and ultimately success. The added difficulty of getting into the box in a limited amount of time brought motivation and challenge that pushed the students to use math strategies, geography, and chronological reasoning and thinking to accomplish the task. Congratulations to the students who didn’t give up, and who were able to proudly say “We Broke OUT!”.
Teachers appreciated the new experience that Breakout EDU was able to provide for their students, and are already discussing ways to incorporate the games into instruction for next year. By: Rob Griffith, CA BOCES Professional Development |
