Technology

Power Point Jeopardy

32 Comments

First of all, thanks for the good feedback on my instructions for a comparison/contrast graphic organizer. I have used this particular graphic organizer many times since I learned how to make one, and after I’ve taught it to the students, all I have to do is instruct them to make a comparison/contrast organizer. Some of them even do it on their own without prompting if they think it will help them with their assignment. Also, students have reported using them in other classes.

When I taught middle school, I had a colleague that taught us how to create a Jeopardy game using MS Power Point. It was extremely useful, especially for middle school. I thought I would share this “how to” with you. I think it can be adapted for any subject.

  1. Open MS Power Point.
  2. Select the blank slide format.
  3. Choose your color scheme. I went with our school colors.
  4. Go to “Insert” and select “Table.”
  5. Make a table with six rows and five columns.
  6. Drag the corners of the table until it is the size you want it to be.
  7. On the top row, type the names of your categories.
  8. In each row underneath, type the point values. Your slide should look something like this (click for larger view). Don’t worry if your point values are not underlined. This will happen when you hyperlink your slides.

  9. Select “Insert” and choose “New Slide.”
  10. Create a text box by selecting “Insert” and “Text Box.”
  11. Type the question for the first category and point level.
  12. Repeat steps 8 through 10 until you have exhausted questions for the first category.
  13. Repeat steps 8-11 for each new category until you have written 25 questions.
  14. Go back to slide two, which is the first question for the first category.
  15. Select “Insert” and “Picture.” Select “AutoShapes.” Choose the shape you like. I use the little house, because it reminds me to click it to go back “home.” Your slide should look like this:

  16. Select the picture. It should have a little square around it with round dots at the corners and edges — dragging the corners or dots will help you adjust the size of the picture if you like.
  17. Select “Insert” and “Hyperlink” or press CTRL-K.
  18. Select the radio button that says “Hyperlink to” and select “First Slide” from the drop-down menu.
  19. Copy the button by pressing CTRL-C or right-clicking the button and selecting “Copy” or selecting “Edit” and “Copy” from the toolbar.
  20. Paste the button on slides 3 through 26.
  21. Now go back to slide 1.
  22. Select the text for first point value in the first category.
  23. Select “Insert” and “Hyperlink” or press CTRL-K.
  24. Select “Place in This Document.”
  25. Select Slide 2.
  26. Repeat steps 22 through 24 for each slide; be sure to link the point values to the correct questions. For example, your third slide should be linked to the second point value in the first category.
  27. Test your slide show by selecting “Slide Show” and “View Show” or pressing F5. Make sure your point values are linked to the proper questions and make sure each AutoShape links back to Slide 1.
  28. You’re done!

Unofortunately, you’ll need to keep a paper with the answer key near you or else making this game will be a lot more complicated than it already is. I would suggest that when you need to make a new Jeopardy game that you just open your first game and edit it. It will save time. You can download a sample game I created to play with. It isn’t editable, but it will give you an idea of how the show should function and look. Of course, it goes without saying that this is great for test review — and it’s fun.

If any of the instructions are unclear or if you need help, just contact me.

Related posts:

The Free Library and DailyLit
UbD Educators Wiki

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32 thoughts on “Power Point Jeopardy”

  2. My pleasure, Mike. There is a company that was at GISA yesterday that hawks this equipment designed to do the same thing for $500! Making a Power Point is so much cheaper.

  5. Pingback: huffenglish.com » Build Your Own Jeopardy
  7. Pingback: huffenglish.com » Phrases Jeopardy

  8. i made a slide. except when i tried it, it does different stuff. example: category, ELA then it talks about baseball which is a different category what do i do. please email me at

  9. I was wondering, I have prepared a powerpoint for law enforcement and was provided a jeopardy game to use at the end of the power point, do you know of any copyright issues I need to know, and if so, is there anyone I may contact to see if it's ok to continue using the game? thanks, any info is much appreciated.

  11. Thanks for this! When you actually play the game, can you make it so the dollar values disappear once someone picks that box? Otherwise it is unclear which boxes have already been played.

  12. Hi, thank you for providing this wonderful jeopardy game instruction. I think I was in the right direction until I needed to insert hyperlink and use radio button to say first slide, but unfortunately, I don't have the radio button from the drop down menue and I can't further my game. Would be able to help me? I use mac at home, but at work I/we have windows.

    Thank you again-

    Nafisa~

  13. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with a large Jeopardy type display board. I've already printed my display cards, category headers and all. THEN I found your post on how to build with Powerpoint. And it WORKS! Now I'll just have to buy a projector and screen! But I also need to ask the same question that Jake did….how do you make the dollar values disappear after the question has been answered? That would make it confusing. There must be a way? Thanks in advance for any answers!

    Donna

  14. Never mind! I realize now that the dollar value text changes color after you click it and go to the question. This is just as good as disappearing! LOL! Thanks again so much. This is wonderful!

    Donna

  15. Anyone else who happens by and has the same question as Jake and Donna, the hyperlinks should change color once they've been clicked so you know that you have already played that question.

    If you have the same question as Nafisa, try looking in Insert, Shape, and look for the buttons that look like a house, a question mark, an arrow, etc. Those buttons, once inserted, will link to various pages. The arrow will link to the next slide, but the one you want is the home button, which will link to the first slide.

    Roger's question was about copyright. I am not sure that this game necessarily violates copyright. I would consider it fair use.

  16. I recently changed from a PC to a MAC and moved my Powerpoint docs. Everything converted perfectly except for the fact that the slides don't change color once they have been used. Is there a way that I can fix this?

    1. I'm not sure, Nicki. I didn't encounter the same problem. Maybe you could try selecting the text and looking at your options for hypertext. There may be something in the settings in your Mac version of PowerPoint that you need to change so that the hyperlinks change color.

  17. I have a variation version of PowerPoint Jeopardy that has the answers built in. I am trying to find out the procedure use to either blank out or modify the Text in the dollar value boxes on the main screen after you have hyperlinked to the question and answer screens. Can you tell me how this is accomplished in your Jeopardy PowerPoint file?

    1. If you go into PowerPoint, you can select the text, and then if you right-click, one of the menu options is hyperlink. If you select that option, it gives you the option to link that text to another page (slide) in the document, which is how I link them.

  19. Hi Dana!

    I really enjoyed how you explained how to do this. However, I test out my hyperlinks and now they have all changed color. How do I get them back to the color they started out as? Thanks!

    1. Sarah, they should change color. That's how you know you've clicked on it in the game; however, if you close the PowerPoint and reopen it, the links should again the color you want.

  20. I saw the jeopardy sample game provided above. I understand all the steps on how to create a Jeopardy game. The one thing I can't figure out is: how do you make the number on the board change colors once you've clicked on it?

    1. It should do that automatically, but if it doesn't, you should be able to change the properties of the hyperlinks by opening Format, Theme Colors, and then making sure the colors for Hyperlink and Followed Hyperlink are different colors (default is blue for Hyperlinks and purple for Followed Hyperlinks.

  21. Did you get an answer to your question?, because I have the same question. How do you get the dollar value to change colors or dissappear once you've clicked on it?

  24. I followed all your steps and have the slide done, etc. However, I cannot seem to Hyperlink my slides to the first page – I have a Mac and using MS 2004 – and I type in "slide 2" etc. It doesn't seem to work – any help?

    1. You don't need to type in "slide 2." Select the text that you want to turn into a hyperlink, then go to Insert, Hyperlink (or press command+K). Select "Document" (it's in the middle of the three choices labeled Web Page, Document, and E-mail Address.) Under the part that says "Anchor," select "Locate." Choose the slide you want to link to (i.e. First Slide, Second Slide, etc.).

  25. we need help for jeopardy because we dont know how to drag the questions into the clumns on our table.$$$

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