Teacher Appreciation Jeopardy

Famous teachers, teachers on screen, education history, supplies and staff room lingo, for a Teacher Appreciation Week lunch. Free to copy, with phone buzzers.

6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone

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Every clue on this board

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Famous Teachers

$200
Anne Sullivan taught this deaf-blind girl to communicate.
Who is Helen Keller?
$400
This Italian doctor developed a child-led teaching method, and thousands of schools carry her name.
Who is Maria Montessori?
$600
This New Hampshire teacher was chosen for NASA's Teacher in Space program and died aboard Challenger in 1986.
Who is Christa McAuliffe?
$800
This Greek philosopher tutored the young Alexander the Great.
Who is Aristotle?
$1,000
Before politics, this future president taught Mexican American children at a school in Cotulla, Texas.
Who is Lyndon B. Johnson?

Teachers on Screen

$200
Ms. Frizzle drives this magical vehicle.
What is the Magic School Bus?
$400
Quinta Brunson created this mockumentary sitcom set at a Philadelphia public school.
What is Abbott Elementary?
$600
In Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams plays this English teacher who stands on his desk to see the world differently.
Who is John Keating?
$800
Edward James Olmos played calculus teacher Jaime Escalante in this 1988 film.
What is Stand and Deliver?
$1,000
Michelle Pfeiffer plays former Marine LouAnne Johnson in this 1995 film.
What is Dangerous Minds?

Education History

$200
Founded in 1635, Boston Latin is the oldest of these in the United States.
What is a public school?
$400
This 1954 Supreme Court decision ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
$600
This Massachusetts reformer is called the father of the American public school.
Who is Horace Mann?
$800
This 1972 law, known by its title number, bars sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funds.
What is Title IX?
$1,000
This German educator opened the first kindergarten in 1837.
Who is Friedrich Fröbel?

Tools of the Trade

$200
Giving a teacher one of these is a classic way to say thanks.
What is an apple?
$400
A pencil's lead is actually made of this form of carbon.
What is graphite?
$600
This pencil number is the one standardized tests ask for.
What is No. 2?
$800
Crayola's first box of crayons, in 1903, held this many colors.
What is eight?
$1,000
Old chalkboards were made from this dark rock, which is why some people still call them by its name.
What is slate?

The Week Itself

$200
Teacher Appreciation Week is held in this month.
What is May?
$400
National Teacher Day falls on this day of Teacher Appreciation Week.
What is Tuesday?
$600
This first lady urged Congress to create a national day for teachers in 1953.
Who is Eleanor Roosevelt?
$800
The National PTA and this organization, the country's largest teachers' union, promote the week.
What is the National Education Association?
$1,000
Honored at the White House, one teacher each year since 1952 has received this title.
What is National Teacher of the Year?

Staff Room Lingo

$200
A short warm-up activity waiting on the board when students walk in.
What is a bell ringer?
$400
Left on the desk before a day off, these tell a substitute what to teach.
What are sub plans?
$600
The IEP in special education stands for individualized this.
What is education program?
$800
On an in-service day, PD stands for this.
What is professional development?
$1,000
In the 2001 revision of Bloom's taxonomy, this skill sits at the very top.
What is creating?

Final Jeopardy — Before They Were Famous

Before Carrie was published in 1974, Stephen King taught English at Hampden Academy, a high school in this state.

What is Maine?

How to run this board

Teacher Appreciation Week usually means a catered lunch and a mug, and this board gives the staff room something to do while they eat. Categories cover famous teachers, teachers on screen, education history, the supplies of the trade, the week itself, and the acronyms and lingo every staff room speaks.

It is written for teachers rather than about them, so the Staff Room Lingo column assumes people who have sat through an in-service day. Principals and PTA volunteers can run it at a staff meeting with everyone buzzing from their own phones, and the Final, about a famous novelist's first job, tends to surprise the English department.

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