Quick Control Card: Mark the Right Box

Ten numbered cones, each with a letter, are used to learn the control card while jogging. It warms students up and prevents the most common school orienteering mistake: writing in the wrong box.

How to play

1. Card walkthrough: name at the top, each box has a control number, and the letter goes in its own box, not the next empty one (2 min).
2. Round 1: jog to cones 1 through 10 in order, writing down each letter (3 min).
3. Round 2: reverse order, 10 to 1, on the second row of the card (3 min).
4. Round 3: the card sets the order (3, 7, 1, 9...); find each number without skipping boxes (3 min).
5. Partners check against the teacher's answer key (1 min).

Rules

• Write standing still next to the cone, never while running.
• Don't move or cover any cone.
• If two people arrive together, share the cone from opposite sides.
• If you use the wrong box, cross it out and write next to it; no erasing.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students with low vision: big black letters on yellow and a card with enlarged boxes.
• Fine-motor difficulties: say the letter to a partner who writes it, or circle letters on a pre-printed card.
• Injured students: walk the rounds with fewer cones.

Learning goals

• Use the control card accurately and in order.
• Stay focused while warming up.
• Check your own work against the key.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 10
• control cards: 30
• pencils: 30

Teacher tip

Tape the letters inside the cone so they can't be read from far away. If you have orienteering punches, use them; if not, the letter is enough.

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