Template:  click here
Canva Title:  click here (830px wide x 166px tall)
Canva Progress Loading:   click here (405px wide x 61px tall)
Canva Question Cards:  click here (405px wide x 205px tall)

*Note:  Sizes for headers and question cards can be changed based on your needs!  If you want larger question boxes, resize the cells on the activity first, then create task cards that support those resized cells. 

How this works:  As students answer questions (in any order), words in the silly phrase will begin to appear.  AFTER all of the questions have been answered, the correct answers will turn green and the score will appear.  Students can then go back and correct their incorrect answers to get the correct silly phrase.

Sheet 1:

• Add a title (text or image)

• All of the questions (text or images) to their appropriate locations

• Directions

Check to make sure that all of your answers are correct – change the font if you want, the colors, the size, etc. Where the silly phrase is being exported, you can change the font, fill, color etc. Make sure the font is large enough but not too large that the whole phrase doesn’t appear.

Sheet 2:

• Add in your correct answers – if there is only 1 correct answer, you can leave “aa” etc OR change it to gibberish – DO NOT LEAVE IT EMPTY

• The word order tells you the order of the words for the phrase – for example question 1 relates to word 2

• Change the words to the correct words – then add in incorrect words (I usually try to do opposites)

• The “spacing” you can modify/adjust as you see fit.

• If you want to change the “score loading” card, replace it with a new one in cell J17

• If you want to change the color of the progress monitoring bar that appears after all of the questions are answered, change the hex code in cell J18

Finishing Details:

• On sheet 2, click the check box in J16.  This will turn everything white.  For extra protections, you can highlight the entire spreadsheet and make the columns super wide and the rows super skinny.  

• Go to Data → and choose Protected Sheets and Ranges.  You will click the + to add a sheet or a range.  You’ll need to click the tab that says Sheet and choose Sheet2 if it is not already chosen in the drop down.  Click Set permissions and then Show a warning when editing this range.  Click done and then hide the tab. 

• On Sheet1, we will follow very similar protections.  Go to Data → and choose Protected Sheets and Ranges.  You will click the + to add a sheet or a range.  You’ll need to click the tab that says Sheet and choose Sheet1 if it is not already chosen in the drop down and click the checkbox that says except certain cells.  Click the grid, then holding down command/control, you’ll need to choose all of the answer spaces.  Click Set permissions and then Show a warning when editing this range.  Click done.

⚠️A Quick Reminder About Sharing!
When you share your creations on social media, please do NOT include the Google Sheets URL or let it show in any screenshots or videos. Even a quick glimpse of the link means anyone can access (and steal) your resource for free – yikes!  Keep your hard work protected and just show the activity in action without revealing the URL.

BONUS: Silly Phrase Printable Scavenger Hunt Activity

This printable version keeps the same logic as the Google Sheets Template, but moves it off the screen and into a classroom hunt.

• What’s the same? Each question is still tied to a single word, and the final phrase appears only when every answer is correct. The word order (e.g., “Question 1 supplies Word 2 in the phrase”) matches the original template, so nothing changes in your planning.

• What’s new? Instead of typing into a sheet, students circulate around posted question cards, choose between two answer options, and write the matching word on their worksheet. When all blanks are filled, they slot the words into the numbered phrase grid to see the goofy line. Wrong answers place the wrong word, so students naturally go back, re-check cards, and self-correct—mirroring the instant-feedback feel of the Sheets version without any tech.

How this scavenger hunt works:

Prepare the Question Cards (Slides 1-6)

• Each slide has two cards.

• On every card replace the placeholders:

  • Question – type your prompt or insert an image.

  • Answer Option 1 and Answer Option 2 – type two possible answers.

  • Word 1 and Word 2 – type the word you want in the silly phrase and a wrong-word decoy.

• Be sure the correct answer is paired with the correct word.

• Do not change the question numbers since they will let students know where to put the words in the phrase.

• Print the cards and post them around the room.

Prepare the Student Worksheets (Slides 7-9)

• Personalize the title.

• Leave the work area blank; students will show how they got their answers there.

• You can resize the spacing if less/more is needed for each question.

• Leave each “Word: ________” line blank; students will fill these in.

• At the bottom you’ll see two rows of six blanks. A small number under each blank tells students which question’s word goes there (for example, a “7” means Word from Question 7).

• Only change these numbers if you delete questions or rearrange word order.

How to run the Scavenger Hunt

• Print one set of recording sheets per student (or pair or group).

• Post the question cards around the room.

• Students visit cards in any order, answer the question, and copy the matching word onto their worksheet next to that question.

• After all questions are answered, students transfer each word into the numbered blanks to reveal the silly phrase.

Optional Tweaks

• Fewer than 12 questions – delete the extra question cards and remove their numbers under the phrase blanks.

• More than 12 questions – duplicate the question slides and the student recording sheets to add the extra questions and add new phrase blanks with the corresponding numbers.

• Different word order – edit the tiny numbers under the phrase blanks so they match the new mapping.

• Fonts and colors are fully editable—just keep the “Word:” lines and question numbers intact.

That’s it! Print, post, and enjoy watching your class race to piece together a brand-new silly phrase.

CLICK HERE to access your template – editable in Google Slides (feel free to download your Google Slide as a PowerPoint if you prefer to edit using PowerPoint).

Need help with this lesson? Email Lisa at lisa@helloalgebra.com and include the workshop and lesson name so we can help you as quickly as possible.