Materials Needed:
Physical Game Virtual Game
Set of blue and red cards per pair ∎ 1 device per student
1 score card per student ∎ PowerPoint Template on each student device
∎ 1 score card per student
Directions:
Physical Game:
Students need to pair up and sit across from their partner. They should layout all their color cards face up in front of them. Without speaking students should pick one card they will answer questions about and record it on their Score Card. DO NOT HAVE THEM FLIP OVER THAT CARD. There is a chance they chose the same card as their partner so it should remain face up. Once both students have chosen their card they can begin gameplay. The object of the game is to guess their partner’s card before their partner guesses their card.
Partners will take turns asking each other “yes or no” questions to help try and narrow down on their partner’s card. History Example: “Is your card the date of a war?” If the partner said yes, they will flip over all cards that are NOT the date of war. If the partner said no, they would flip over all cards that ARE the date of a war. Once they have it narrowed down, they can attempt to guess their partner's card. The first person to guess the partner’s card wins. They will record a win or loss on their score sheet. Pick up their cards and go find a new person to play against.
Virtual Game:
The general idea of the game is the same however students won’t have physical cards laid out in front of them. Instead they will download the PowerPoint to their device and open it up. Then on the top bar they will click “Slideshow”, then “From Beginning” in the top left corner. This will open the game board. To “flip over” a card, they just click on it and the card will flip itself over and reveal a black box. They continue until the game is over. Then they will need to click the spacebar twice and restart the slideshow “From Beginning” again to play against a new partner.
FAQs and Tips:
Guessing your partner’s card takes a turn. Meaning, if I have it narrowed down to two options and say, “Is your card _____?” and they say no. My turn is over, and my partner has a shot at guessing my card and winning. I have to wait until my next turn to guess again.
If a student answers a question wrong, they automatically lose that round, and it will make the game impossible to continue. I tell students if their partner asks a question, they aren’t sure on to raise their hand and check with me before answering. If you can prevent wrong answers, it makes the game go smoother.
To really increase understanding, have kids reflect at the end of the game about what major differences and similarities were between cards.
You can make students choose a new card every game or allow them to pick the same one, since they are playing with a new partner they will be asking questions about a different card, most likely, each round.
To ramp up the rigor: Put BLACK words on the board. These are words they cannot use when asking their neighbors questions. Example: I black out all digits. They can’t ask their neighbor “Does your card have the number 3 on it?” 3 is a digit and that doesn’t actually help them understand the math.
REMINDERS: TO EDIT ANY OF THE TEMPALTES YOU WILL FIRST NEED TO DOWNLOAD THEM TO YOUR COMPUTER. NOBODY IS ABLE TO ALTER THE ORIGINALS AS THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE USE THEM. ALL POWERPOINTS ARE MEANT TO BE USED IN POWERPOINT AND NOT GOOGLE SLIDES.