Gamifying Argument Writing

Many opportunities to strengthen their ability to support claims with evidence and reasoning, to revise, to speak, and to listen - all while engaging in a game.

Through my desire to add gaming elements to my classroom, I came across an argument writing activity over the summer. The procedure was simple, too. (I thought I noted from where I found the activity but cannot find that now. I will update the post when I do find that again.)

After students had spent time finding evidence to support a claim and had crafted their reasoning/explanations to connect the evidence to the claim (We were focusing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.), students were ready to receive some peer feedback and strengthen their ability to support a claim.

Students were put into groups of three.  The goal was to move up the ladder - so to speak - and earn your way to the top by having strong reasoning to explain the evidence.

After the two students on the side each presented a claim supported by one piece of evidence with their reasoning, the middle student evaluated the strength of the others’ work based on a set of criteria.  The evaluator gave feedback to both students and declared whose they felt was stronger. 
Students then revised their reasoning based on the feedback.

The stronger work would move forward to be the evaluator at the next table, the weaker work would move down a table to compete again, and the evaluator would slide into one of the side chairs to compete at the same table.

I was able to give feedback to students as well, both after they presented and while they were revising.  When I noted students dropped a couple of places, I gave more feedback so that they could try to strengthen their work.

I had initially placed the students at tables so that students who had a greater command of supporting a claim had to move forward more tables to get to the top. Students who struggled more with this skill started closest to the top.  I reasoned that this gave all more of a fair chance to get to the top.

The results were great.  Students were very engaged and received much feedback.  Most students remained within one or two tables of where they started, except for those whose skills were the strongest.  They advanced forward the most.  The students seemed to appreciate both the competition and the feedback, which encouraged them to revise their work and improve.

I will certainly do this activity again, as I saw great benefits.  It may be able to be used in other ways with different skills or content.

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If you have gamify writing or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.

Creating Opportunities to Strengthen Connections With Students

Connecting with students is, obviously, an important part of teaching.  In addition, having an idea of the mindset their in as they’re supposed to learn can give a better sense as to why they may be struggling.

Enter Jacqueline Prester.

She shared about her “Daily Bell Ringer” which encourages students to share when they enter her class.  I viewed the post on her website and modified her templates.

Even though I’ve only been using it with my students for only a week and a half, I’m already seeing a great benefit which has reinforced my choice to introduce it.

Their comments have given me more insight into what’s going on in their lives. I’ve been able to connect with students about sports, hobbies, and even funny dreams in ways that I wouldn’t have been able to do before.  Students have also shared about struggles weighing on them: illness in their family, not looking forward to Thanksgiving, being nervous about a test that day, and others. Knowing about these things gives me a different lens to view the student as they are in the classroom.  I can more easily identify if those students are off, probably due to the baggage they bring into the classroom.

This check-in at the start of class gives me clarity as to who I should touch base with. As I’m noticing patterns about their sleep and eating habits, I’ve been encouraged to engage in conversations with students to see how I can better meet their needs. 

Some students have even taken the opportunity to ask how I am doing or about my interests and time outside of school.

Clearly, this tool has great benefits and has already proven to be a powerful way to strengthen relationships with students.

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If you have creative ways to connect with students or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.

Story Cubes Promote Student Thinking

Looking for a different way for students to think deeply about what they were learning while being creative, I turned to EDrenaline Rush by John Meehan.

Amongst the myriad of activities, John mentioned Rory’s Story Cubes. The cubes are intended to
inspire creative writing by having different icons that can be randomly put together.  For social studies content, they inspired students to think differently about their understanding.

I put the students into groups of three.  Each group randomly chose three cubes and decided together which icon from each die they would use. The groups had to use the three icons as inspiration to get across important ideas about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals).

The students hemmed and hawed about which icons they should choose. Discussion about the Global Goals ensued as a result.  Making my way around the room, I listened to students processing the content I wanted them to process. Through their discussions, they agreed upon statements they could make regarding the Global Goals.

Groups then shared their statements, referencing the icons that they used as inspiration. Wanting to hear what icons the different groups blended into their statements, students were engaged with each group’s sharing.

Seeing the level of engagement, the quality of discussion, and the creativity of the students in using the icons, I am excited to use the story cubes, again, as a way of engaging students in considering what they are learning.

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If you have used story cubes or other methods to engage students in processing information or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.

Like Magic Students Asked Questions

"What questions do you have about sustainable development?"

I had anticipated the silence.

I asked again, "What questions do you have about sustainable development?"

And I waited.

Finally, a hand.

The student asked the question, and I offered an answer.

Students watched as I tossed the student a poker chip.

Slowly, a few more hands raised, and after answering their questions, I tossed them a chip.

More and more hands raised.  Nearly every student in the class searched for a question (or several) to ask.

They had no idea what the chips were about, but they captured the students' attention. 

The result was that they were thinking and listening.

Making a simple ask and answer session a little game-like by earning the chips for asking questions (They earned a red one if they answered a question.) engaged the students in a meaningful way, getting them more personally involved and heightening their understanding in a meaningful way.

Magical little poker chips.....I'm going to use them more often.


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If you have methods to gamify class discussion or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.