Preparing for Petals Around the Rose

So, there's absolutely  no way today's blog post can compete with yesterday's post where I told you that I'm getting married to another member of the MTBoS.  But, I'm still excited about this post.  I'm excited about the fact that I can now just use the word "fiance" in blog posts.  I had such a hard time not using that word ALL summer long.  But, to tell you I had a fiance meant telling you I was in Australia, and I didn't think letting the entire world know that I was going to be out of the country for 10 weeks was the best of ideas...

Now, I'm back in the States and super excited about starting the school year off engaged!  We start school on a Thursday, so I've been trying to work on plans for the first two days of school.  I'm doing brain teasery type things on Fridays for Figure It Out Fridays, and I've decided to start off with Petals Around The Rose.  I blogged about discovering this game from Annie Forest earlier this summer.

I discovered the game.  Got quickly frustrated.  Told my then-boyfriend about the game.  He got frustrated.  Though, the next day he told me he had figured it out.  I'm super competitive, so this meant I *had* to figure it out, too.  I cracked the puzzle that same day, and I knew I wanted to use it with students at some point.  My fiance [It really is awesome to be able to use that word now!] has been using the game with his various classes when they have a few minutes left at the end of the period, and he blogged about one such experience here.  It's been so interesting to hear him share the various ways students have tried to solve the puzzle!

I've decided I want to make this game a big deal in my classroom.  So, I made membership cards to give students once they solve the puzzle and become members of the Fraternity of Petals Around the Rose.

Want to learn how to play?  There's an online version here.  Just remember - the name of the game is important!  


      
Students fill in their names, pledge to never reveal the secret of the game, and date the card.

I made two versions.  One has lines to cut.  These should be standard ID-sized cards.  The other just has blank space in between to make it easier to take them to the paper chopper.

Version 1:


Version 2:


I also made a Fraternity of Petals Around the Rose poster to hang in my classroom.  I made it to print on 11 x 17 inch paper, and I think I will let students sign their name on it when they figure out the puzzle.

Poster:

I've uploaded all of these files as editable Publisher files and non-editable PDF files.  If you want to edit them, you will need the free font, Grand Hotel.  Download files here.