Popcorn - My students favorite game.

Popcorn is probably the most popular center game I have in my classroom.  The students beg me to put in the rotation all year long.  I've seen a multitude of varieties of this game in other teacher's classrooms and in workshops.  It's sometimes called BAM! or Batman. I've decided to share how I use the game in my classroom.

How to play: 
The object of the game is simple - At the end of the game be the person with the most sticks to win.

Students sit in a circle and pass the popcorn bucket in a clockwise pattern. Each student takes a turn before passing the bucket. 

In a turn, a student will blindly pull a popscicle stick out of the bucket. They will read whatever is on the stick to the group.  If they read the word (or answer the math problem) correctly, they get to keep the stick. 
If they pull the DREADED popcorn stick out, they must put it and all the other sticks back into the bucket. 

The game is over when either time runs out or the students have each passed the bucket around an agreed amount of times.

I must warn you that this game gets VERY, VERY loud.  Students really get into it.  At any moment, you will hear cheers as they get it right, or you could hear moans and groans as someone finds a dreaded popcorn stick.

Store sticks by rubber banding them in groups.

 I have basically been able to create a popcorn game for so many concepts: sight words, phrases, long vowel words, short vowel words, addition facts, subtraction facts, greater than-less than, complete the pattern, money, shapes, time, and more.  I simply use the same popcorn container and just switch out sticks with whatever concept I am wanting my students to work on.