Beach Ball Throw - Taskmaster

For the past four years, we've used the 'Backwards Video Task' as a team building task at the start of each year. It gets children working together and produces some imaginative and impressive outcomes. 

In the most recent series of Taskmaster, the contestants were given another video task I can see working well in the classroom. The contestants were given a beach ball and asked to film themselves in one location throwing the ball out of shot and then later film them self catching the ball in a new location. The winner of the task was the person who 'threw' the ball over the largest total distance. In school, I'd be looking for the group to ensure consistency by linking the throws and filming to make each throw and catch look authentic. 

Going to give it a go in September. We'll see what the children come up with! There's a planning sheet here that may be useful.

#Taskmaster - Estimate of Perimeter in...

Calculating perimeter can be a bit, er, repetitive.

Estimating can be a bit, er, repetitive.

And, Taskmaster have come up trumps again!

So, you've been studying perimeter. You've measured, you've done 2(A+B), the trundle wheels have been out, you've costed a new fence for the school field and more...

You've tried and tried to convince your class of the virtues of estimating, but they think you're just balmy.

Well, we like this task!

In the task the contestants have to estimate the perimeter of the caravan in baked beans. So, perimeter of the field in beans, the perimeter of the school hall in paper clips, the perimeter of a maths book in dice and so on...

Same learning, same objectives, but in a different way. Mix things up and get 'em thinking! Let us know how y'all get on...

#Taskmaster - Obscure [Noun] Miming Task

Yeah! Taskmaster strikes again.

So, here's how the task went:

- contestant was handed an envelope. In that, it said to write down as many obscure animals as possible;

- once the list was written, they were handed another envelope. This envelope disclosed that they needed to mime the animals for their team-mate to guess.

- result, amusing TV!

The clip below shows one of the attempts and comes with a language warning:

So, how could this be used in the classroom?

- Name obscure adjectives, adverbs and so on...
- Name features of a topic, eg rivers, space, Egyptians
- Name cities in the UK
- It's endless...

But, you can't do it too often. It relies on the person writing the list not knowing the next bit is coming.

 Image Credit: UKTV

Taskmaster used this as part of a comedy program. We're certainly not looking to mock or ridicule children. The skills here are: deep thinking to make the 'obscure' list, quick thinking when the task develops, ability to communicate without words and the ability to interpret - and, this person must also have the knowledge to know what's being described! 

Give it a go.

Synchronised Video Task from #Taskmaster

Ok, ok, maybe we should just start watching and enjoying TV instead of linking it back to the classroom. But...

Again, in the most recent series of Taskmaster there was a video task. The task was to perform something in synchronisation as a pair. We've previously used the 'Backwards Video Task' with some excellent outcomes and group/partner work.

In this task, pupils need to work as a three. Once to act as camera operator and the other two to perform something either mirroring or matching each other. This requires thought as a group to decide the act to perform, what each person will do and how they will remain in sync. In addition, linking it back to gymnastics; mirror or match?

#Taskmaster - Spot the Difference

Yep. Taskmaster came up trumps again!

The contestants came to sit at a table. On the table was a task and in front of them were a number of, apparently irrelevant, objects set out in a scene. The contestants were asked to blow up a balloon so that its circumference was the same as the length of an average cucumber (an interesting idea on its own!). 

Once the contestants had blown up the balloon to the what they thought met the task, they were asked what they thought had changed in the scene in front of them.

Basically, put someone in front of something and give them a task to focus on. Then, when that task is complete (and you've made a few changes to the scene), ask them what's changed...

See how your pupils get on. There will be surprises!

#Taskmaster - How Much Would You Give?

Yep, another one from the most recent series of Taskmaster!

Each episode, the contestants are asked to bring something. In this particular episode, they were asked to bring a sum of money. Whichever contestant brought the most money got to keep the lot.

Now, it's unlikely our primary-aged pupils will want to bring all their hard-earned pocked money to school, so we thought of a way round that...

We've created 10 fictional people and written how much is in each person's bank account. Split the children into groups of 4 or 5 and get them to decide how much of their money is going to go into the pot. Then, get them to share their decisions and see who would have taken the loot! The footballer? the teacher? how much, or little will the highest amount be? who takes risks and who doesn't?

A bit of estimating, a bit of guess work, a bit like Top Trumps. A great oracy opportunity to discuss people's thoughts and choices.

#Taskmaster - Draw the Median Duck

Yep, another idea from the fantastic Taskmaster on Dave.

 Image credit: screen capture of Dave TV Channel

This one is about averages. Get a group of about five children together and ask them to 'Draw the median duck'. 

Once they have all drawn their ducks, measure each one from beak to tail. The person closest to the median wins. Do you draw large, small? What's everyone else going to do? Who knows! It's similar to Spoof, in that thinking about the likely actions of others needs to be thought about. 

NB: Guess what! It doesn't have to be a duck. IT could be anything!

#Taskmaster: 5 Letter Word Game

Yay! Taskmaster is back on TV. Yeah, it inspired us, again!

This time it was Series 4, Episode 3. On this occasion, it was the final task that we were most interested in. The contestants stood side-by-side and were told that music would be played. In turn, they needed to say a five letter word when the music stopped. If someone couldn't say a word or repeated a previously said word, they were out. Each time the game restarted, the number of letters in the word changed (2 letters was surprisingly hard). 

Image credit: UKTV - awaiting permission

- Group of children stand up.

- Give them a number of letters in a word (e.g. 5).

- Play music.

- Each time the music stops, the pupils, in turn, say a word with the required number of letters.

- Repeat or fail and you're out.

- Change number of letters.

 Enjoy!

 

Slow / Fast Motion Video Task

Again some inspiration from the TV series Taskmaster. We've had success in the past with the 'Backwards Video Task'. In the most recent series, the contestants were asked to film something that when sped up or slowed down made it more interesting or amusing.

Again like before, use it as a group work and/or ICT task. Both iMovie and Movie Maker allow speeding up or slowing down a clip and apps can be purchased to do the same too.

Taskmaster: Prepositional Phrases

A third addition to our ideas for the classroom that have come from the television program 'Taskmaster'. 

This time, linked to English, and grammar in particular. Watch the video below:

The task set was along the lines of, "Place the gym balls on the yoga mat that's on top of the hill. While most contestants carried the balls up the hill to the mat, Richard Osman went up, brought the mat down and then place the balls onto it: balls on the mat that (was) on top of this hill. Room for interpretation in the prepositional phrase? Greg Davies thought so. 

Can you set you children a similar task and look for scope within the prepositional phrases involved to carry out the task in 'their own way'?

Taskmaster: Pizza Oracy

We've written before about using ideas from 'Taskmaster' in our classroom. We've picked up another idea...

Our school is currently focusing on improving oracy amongst our young people. We (adults, at home in our own time) enjoyed watching this task on Taskmaster. 

Could see it, and similar, working well in the classroom. The children couldn't ring an actual pizza delivery company (or could they? or even Skype...), but they could work in pairs. It could also be run with other scenarios and 'banned' vocabulary. The video clip below is from the program and, unless we missed something, it's safe for a primary classroom:

If you come up with you own versions, please let us know...

The Backwards Video Task

Last year, we wrote about 'Television - Beaming Ideas into your Livingroom!' We'll, the TV watching has come up trumps once again... 

While watching Taskmaster on Dave, I saw the following task being carried out by the contestants (audio not appropriate for a primary school classroom):

The concept is brilliant. Film something, that is impressive when watched in reverse. Below is the video we came up with...

As part of our start of year; group work, English teaching and getting to know equipment activities we gave the children in Year Five this same task. They worked in groups, thought about and planned their video before then going through the technological steps to complete the task.

An example of the planning sheet is below and some of the finished examples can be viewed here.

 

For our implementation of it, we used iPad devices to film, iMovie app to edit and Reverser - Backwards Video Maker with Reverse Cam app to reverse the video. If we find other ways of reversing videos, we'll update this post.

@PrimaryIdeas that's brilliant! Really glad to have helped in some way...

— Alex Horne (@AlexHorne) September 7, 2015