Yes, No, Maybe So

Purpose

Students categorize and defend answer choices as “yes” (correct), “no” (incorrect), or maybe so (potentially correct response).

Materials

• Assessment question
• Sticky notes

Instructions

1. Organize students into home groups of 4. Within each group, assign each student a letter A-B-C-D.
2. Present an assessment question without revealing the answer choices.
3. Designate the 4 corners of the classroom as A-B-C-D.
4. Ask students to write their letter on a sticky note and move to their assigned corners to huddle with other students who have the same letter.
5. Provide each group with only 1 answer choice. (Group A is provided with answer choice A; Group B is provided with answer choice B, etc.).
   NOTE: For non-multiple choice responses, students are simply provided 4 different possible answers.
6. Student huddles discuss and determine if their assigned answer is a:
   • Yes – the answer is correct (write a justification on the back of their sticky note)
   • No – the answer is incorrect (write the mistake represented on the back of their sticky note)
   • Maybe So – the answer could possibly be correct (write a question about what additional information is needed to confirm if it is correct or not on the back of the sticky note)
7. Students go back to their home groups.
8. Students explain their responses, justify, challenge and debate, and come to a consensus.
9. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.

OPTION

1. Present a statement to students.
2. Students play rock (no), paper (maybe so), scissors (yes) to represent their answer choice.
3. Students justify their responses with a partner.
4. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.

Classroom Management

• Role-play appropriate/inappropriate ways to move in and out of the expert huddles.
• Role-play the rock, paper, scissors responses (if using the option).
• Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because correcting mistakes is a sign of intelligence!

Differentiation

• Promote access by partnering with a supportive peer/adult and using notes/journals/visual supports.
• Provide response support by allowing a peer to scribe the expert group’s justifications for their Yes, No, Maybe So responses.

Think It Up!

• Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:
  • Make an inference about which learning mistake the majority of other students might make and how they could avoid that mistake.
  • Compare/Contrast this question to another assessment item about the same concept. What are the similarities? What are the differences?
• Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems (English/Spanish) to frame their responses, if needed.