Page 268 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

lucas chap 07 11/20/02 12:29 PM Page 257
Engaging and Energizing Learners 257
the strips and place them in a bowl, bag, box, or other receptacle from which you can
randomly draw them later. You will need separate sets of clues for each round of the
game that you will be playing because of the number of teams you have.
Have participants form two small groups of six to eight learners. If you have more
than 16, but fewer than 24 participants, you may want to form four small equal sized
groups. Designate one team as “X” and one as “O.” If you have four teams, you will need
to play two rounds of the game using two teams each time. Project the tic, tac, toe trans-
parency onto the screen. Give all players a hand clapper, bell, whistle, or other noise-
making device and tell them that if they know the answer to a clue they must sound off
first in order to have a chance to attempt to provide the answer for their team. Randomly
select a helper (see Chapter 6) who will write in the Xs and Os on the transparency or
flip chart that you created.
When ready to begin, toss a coin or otherwise randomly decide which team has a
chance to answer first. Randomly select a numbered clue from the pile and read it aloud.
Any player on the selected team can sound off with his or her noisemaker and then
attempt to answer the clue. If he or she is incorrect, any member of the opposite team
gets to sound off and attempt to answer. Keep going back and forth until someone pro-
vides the correct answer. You may want to reward those who answered correctly with
candy or an inexpensive prize.
As you proceed, have your helper place either and X or O, depending on which team
the participant represented, onto the tic, tac, toe transparency in the appropriate num-
bered box that corresponds to the number on the strip of paper with the clue. Continue
this process until one team has three team symbols (Xs or Os) on the tic, tac, toe board.
Reward the winning team, then continue reading each of the remaining clues, for which
any participant on either team can sound off, attempt to answer, and be rewarded for
correct answers.
Once all clues have been read, start round two, if there are other teams.
Reward your helper and winners and have everyone give a round of applause. You
may want to give everyone a small piece of candy as a reward.

Color of Knowledge

To prevent the embarrassment caused by your calling on a participant who does not
know the answer during a review you can use colored paper strips. Create a set of col-
ored strips from construction or other heavy paper for each participant. You will need
one red, green, and yellow strip in each set. On a flip chart page or other writing sur-
face in front of the group, list what each color represents: green = I know the answer;
yellow = I think I know the answer; and red = I do not know the answer.
As you ask questions pertinent to session content during a review, each participant
should quickly pick up and display the appropriate colored paper strip. You can then
call on someone from either the green or yellow group.
Using a color coding system allows you to gauge general knowledge about topics,
determine which participants are “getting it” and which are not, and will prevent you