Tag Archives: groups

Two Lies & A Truth

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  1. Prepare two false statements about a topic and one true statement.
  2. Read the statements out loud to the students or write them on the board.
  3. Ask the students to  identify the true statement.
  4. Discuss the true statement to determine why it’s true.
  5. Discuss the false statements to determine why they are false.
  6. Ask how the false statements could be re-written to be true.

If you want to turn this into a Main Activity, create and discuss a few examples as a group. Then, put students into pairs or groups and have them create their own. Each group presents their three statements to the class and leads the discussion as listed above.

Example Two Lies & A Truth Question: Right Angles

  1. Right angles are bigger than obtuse angles but smaller than acute angles.
  2. All right angles are congruent
  3. Parallel lines form right angles

Which statement is true?
2. All right angles are congruent. Why is that true? Congruent angles are the same size and degrees. All right angles are 90° so all right angles are congruent.

Which statements are false?
1. Right angles are bigger than obtuse angles but smaller than acute angles. Why is it false? All right angles are 90°. Obtuse angles are larger than 90° and acute angles are smaller than 90°. How could you fix this statement? Just reverse “obtuse” and “acute.”

3. Parallel lines form right angles. Why is it false? Parallel lines never cross. Angles are formed where two lines cross. How could you fix this statement? Rather than Parallel lines, Perpendicular lines form right angles when they cross. 

Super Tic-Tac-Toe

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  1. Draw a 3×3 grid on the board. Put a post-it note in each square with a problem written on it.
  2. The group is divided into two teams: Team A & Team B.
  3. Team A selects a teammate to be the first scribe* for their team. The scribe can only write what their team tells them to write. The team tells the scribe which square to choose.
  4. The scribe writes the problem on the board and the team directs them what to write to solve the problem. Meanwhile, Team B is watching and can challenge Team A if it sees an error or if the scribe has written something without their teammates telling them to.
  5. If the problem is completed correctly, Team A gets an X or O for the square. If the opposing team notices an error, it steals the square. Repeat the same process for the other team.
  6. Once a team gets 3 in a row, they win.

* A new scribe is chosen for each turn.

Problem Relay Competition

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  1. Assign students to small groups of 3-5 people.
  2. Give each group the same practice problem.
  3. Have students take turns solving ONE step of the practice problem, then hand it off to the next person in their group. What’s the academic advantage of this? In handing the problem off, the next student has to review what the students before them did, therefore reviewing the steps/process to solve this type of problem.
  4. Whichever team solves the practice problem correctly first wins.
  5. The winning team then teaches the class by walking through the process/steps and solutions on the whiteboard.
  6. Repeat with the next problem. You might even switch up the teams for fun.