Positive Pings

Purpose

Students are assigned a specific question or task based upon the number of positive “pings” they score.

Materials

• Cups
• Ping pong balls
• 3 questions or tasks

Instructions

1. Organize students into groups of 3 or 4.
2. Provide each group with a large plastic cup and 6 ping pong balls.
3. Taking turns, students bounce ping pong balls off the table and into the cup as many times as they can in 1 minute. (Elect a scorekeeper to count the group’s pings.)
4. Based on scores, assign each group a specific question or task such as:

   Score	Questions	Tasks	Text Responses
   0-8	Question #1: Justify the correct answer and explain how you got there.	Task #1: Describe, illustrate, and provide an example of __________.	Task #1: Summarize what the text said in your own words.
   9-15	Question #2: Analyze and interpret the visual (or genre) and explain why it is important.	Task #2: Sequence the events of __________ into logical order.	Task #2: Find three important facts/details from the text and justify why they are the most important.
   16+	Questions #3: Find an answer choice that represents a mistake, summarize the mistake, and explain how to avoid it.	Task #3: Compare and contrast __________ and __________.	Task #3: Make an inference from the text. What does it mean if you “read between the lines?”

5. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.

Classroom Management

• Model or role-play how to appropriately bounce ping pong balls into the container, how to quickly retrieve the balls to continue tossing, and how to keep score.
• Extension Idea: Students hold up 1, 2, or 3 fingers representing the task they had, form new groups with each number represented, and cross-train/teach each other on their varying questions/tasks.

Differentiation

• Promote access by allowing students to preview the questions or allowing the use of student/teacher notes.
• Promote access by offering a brief audio recording of content or providing visual representations of content.
• Promote response support by offering a word/idea bank or providing response/thinking stems.

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:
  • Summarize what you learned in the activity.
  • Draw a conclusion about why this content is important.
• Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems (English/Spanish) to frame their responses, if needed.