What is it? A test prep strategy. Responding to student needs in the moment. A lot of fun. Worth the time and energy.
What it is not…Teaching to the test. (It only takes 15-20 minutes to play. You can give the passages for homework or do them for practice the previous day).
Why students love it? It gives a purpose for all the test prep practice beyond the obvious and makes it way more fun! They need fun around this time of year.
Quick details: Two teams face off after reading and answering multiple choice questions. Two students from each team challenge each other. Points are awarded and kids are happy.
Materials: Test prep books or any review questions that are multiple choice format, *red/green signals, *projector for questions and answers (*not necessary)
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A new test prep wave has come over my school…and it’s all because of ELA Game Show! Some teachers heard clapping, singing, chanting and general excitement in my classroom and wondered what we were doing so close to testing season. I let them in on a little secret…test prep as a game. Here’s how it all started.
A number of years ago I transitioned from primary grades into a state testing grade. I looped with many of my students–I knew their anxieties and strengths. I had never been through testing before and I was following the lead of veteran teachers on the grade who said they needed that “drill and kill” of standardized testing practice. I tried for a few weeks to buckle down and take a very serious stance on it–after all, it was there first test and mine too! As the days went on I realized no one was having fun. The questions and passages were hard for my students and they had no real reason to try besides “you need a good score for a good middle school.” I wanted to put some love and engagement into something that we couldn’t avoid. And ELA Game Show was born.
Thumbs up, thumbs down, red stick, green stick, red card, green card. It all works to promote engagement and accountability!
I dug out some popsicle sticks I had left from second grade and colored one side green and one side red. (Now I use green/red paper squares glued together.) I gave everyone a testing book/folder with a sticker on it. Purple for one team and green for the other. I let them meet and come up with team names. Then the fun started!
Students needed to build the stamina required for a (then) timed test. Long periods of time with extremely focused reading and writing was hard for some of my students to sustain. So part 1 of ELA Game Show was the “Prep Time.” What made them so engaged was of course the intrinsic motivation to do well, but it was also the extrinsic motivation of their teammates depending on them. That’s when the “Challenge Time” came in.
Logistics: The two teams face each other. The challengers face the teams and the screen where the question is being projected. This allows everyone to see what’s on the screen whether it’s the question or text as they debate.
During Challenge Time, two contestants face-off, one from each team. They find their multiple choice answer on a ring of ABCD cards and prepare to show their team. Teammates say, “1-2-3 SHOW IT TO ME, (STUDENT’S NAME)” and the answer is revealed. Students show green or red as an agree/disagree response. Then the other team gets a chance. This keeps everyone engaged and accountable.
The rules can get quite odd and complicated from there–only because I change them every year. But the gist is their team is depending on them to try their hardest to find evidence in the text that matches their response. If everyone on the team gets it right, double the points can be awarded. This year I added marking in the text the question number for an extra point.
I’ve taught general education, a special ed/general ed integrated co-teaching class and gifted and talented with this game. Each group loves it, yet needs a little bit of adaptation for it to be successful.
Why is it successful? Students MUST find evidence to prove their answer is correct. After the question is read aloud and answers are shown, a debate ensues if there are disagreements. Students go back to the text, share their thinking and I get the chance to track and create small groups in the moment and HEAR the students’ reasons for choosing an answer. In addition there are MANY teachable moments, both for test-taking (Ex. crossing out answers you know are incorrect) and for reading and writing (Ex. vocabulary strategies).
Variations and tips:
- Use with short response as well–challengers face off for an answer that ATQs (Answers the question) and evidence that supports. Our students have to use TWO text details, so that’s what we’re looking for. I’m the judge and one team is awarded the win for their response.
- Sometimes I grade all the short responses and award the team with the most points according to the rubric bonus points. It’s less exciting than the multiple choice, but important too! It’s also perfect for math and most subjects where test taking practice is needed.
- There are transition songs and good job songs and theme songs to keep things moving. Our transition song comes from my cheer days “Switch it change it, rearrange it” x 3 then a countdown 5-4-3-2-1 and we start the next question.
- Some teachers who have adopted this method have the teams meet before playing to compare answers and in some cases make much smaller groups. I like the independence of the Prep Time in my version, but this is smart too for peer coaching and discussion.
Students are so excited when A shoots and scores for 5 points (2 points because she got it right, 2 points because everyone on her team got it right and 1 bonus point for marking the question in the text)!
- Throw in a ball! This year my students are into basketball, so I made it interesting with shooting for double the points. It evens the playing field a bit and it’s definitely fun!
- My colleague, Ms. D, decided to use game show music instead of the chants I do–you know her students love it!
- The game show will be successful only if students know expectations and ways of responding to someone if they get the wrong answer or vice versa. Encouragement and understanding are key to this game. I encourage students to say why they got an answer whether it’s right or wrong and our community must see that the game is more than points, but really about doing the best you can and improving in the test taking genre.
Thanks for reading and following the No Frills Classroom!
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