Brain in the Game
Purpose
Students access content by getting their Brain in the Game (knowing how to start) as they analyze a complex assessment question.
Materials
Instructions
- Pair students with a partner.
- Project the assessment question.
- Students get their Brain in the Game as they work through a complex assessment question with their partners:
- Analyze the question’s visual stimulus (chart, table, picture, word problem, genre, etc.) by completing this statement 6-8 times, “If this visual (genre) could talk, it would tell me ____________.”
- Identify 3-5 important vocabulary terms in the question and describe them to each other.
- Predict what the assessment question might be about by summarizing the “big idea.”
- Using a movement and discourse strategy such as Musical Mix-Freeze-Group, have pairs compare, discuss, and justify their responses.
- Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.
- Students answer the assessment question, justify responses, summarize what they learned, and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.
Classroom Management
- Model the tasks with a simple, fun question before using academic content.
- Ensure each student has partner.
Differentiation
- Promote access by allowing students to process questions with a supportive peer/adult.
- Provide response support by providing sentence stems to frame responses, allowing text-to-speech support as needed, and/or allowing for speech-to-text or word prediction support if using a digital version of the Brain in the Game template.
- Access language supports by proficiency level ->
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:
- Compare the stimuli (visuals) in 2 questions. How are they the same? How are they different?
- Justify that there are different ways to start answering assessment questions.
- Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems (English/Spanish) to frame their responses, if needed.
Read the video transcript
Brain in the Game is a simple plug and play strategy students can use to learn from their mistakes. You start by pairing students with a partner and projecting an assessment question. Students get their brain in the game as they work through a complex assessment question with their partners using these prompts. Next, have students move around the room and pair up with new partners to compare, discuss, and justify their responses. Finally, have students summarize what they learned and what mistakes they can avoid in the future. Save and share this with a colleague.
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