OUTCOME: Students will be able to describe reasons for their guesses. They will know what to look for when trying to discern truth in what they are told. They will create false definitions to go along with real ones. They will be judged on initiative, participation, cooperation, and (creativity).
CONDITIONS: This lesson should take one class period of one hour; if the homework is assigned, this could serve as another full period.ACTIVITIES:
| TEACHER | STUDENT |
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¨ Talk about how we make guesses. How do we think it through? Why do we guess one thing rather than another? Tell the students that they are going to make an "educated guess" and then explain why they made that particular guess. ¨Write one word on the board. Hand out 5 slips of paper with definitions on them. Only one of these definitions is the correct one. Instruct students that they are to try to guess which one is correct. The student who guesses correctly must also be able to explain why he chose that definition in order to get the "prize". Give small prizes (piece of candy, pencil) to the one who correctly guesses. ¨ Continue with more words. ¨ You can also continue this lesson by assigning homework: bring in 1-4 words with four definitions for each one, only one of which is correct. Then use these student-generated words to play the game again. |
¨ Look at your slip of paper. Does this sound right? Why? Can you imagine using this in a sentence? ¨ The real trick to this game is to think.Listen carefully to the other definitions. Whichones can you easily discard. Then how do you make a final decision? |
MATERIALS: 5-10 sets of slips of paper with a word and 4 bogus definitions, 1 real one.
MODIFICATIONS/ACCOMMODATIONS: Make the words fairly simple. Let the students play in pairs. Give prizes for the most interesting reason for choosing a definition.
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: Life Skills’ Rubric and teacher observation.
STANDARDS: Contra Costa County Lifelong Standards: The student uses a variety of critical thinking strategies. Benchmarks: Identifies the qualitative and quantitative traits (other than frequency and obvious importance) that can be used to order and classify items. LCCE: Competency - Making adequate decisions; Sub-competency - Develop and evaluates alternatives.