Let Students Say Anything to Prove Their Understanding

 WHEN CAN YOU SAY ANYTHING?    

     After Thanksgiving dinner, I convinced eight of my female relatives to sit down to a game of SAY ANYTHING by NORTH STAR GAMES.  The ages ranged from 16-95.  The game took minutes to teach, and when the ladies were finished with the first game, they all wanted to play again.  SAY ANYTHING is a party game that offers quick access to fun and laughter, but I also think that it has the potential to offer great insight into a student’s understanding. 

     I will use it in my rhetoric course and my English course.

WHY?

     Here is how you play:

• A player reads a question off of a card.
• Other players write down the answer that they think the READER will choose as the best.
• The reader secretly picks a favorite.
• The players all have two chips with which to indicate which answer they think the reader will choose.
• The reader reveals his choice.
• Scores are recorded.
• The next player becomes the reader.

HOW I WILL USE IT IN SCHOOL?

     In rhetoric, special emphasis will be put on the players lobbying for their own answers by using rhetorical techniques and concepts that the class has covered.

     In English, students will answer questions in the manner that they believe a prescribed character that they have studied would  answer.  Students will be expected to defend those answers based on their knowledge of the character they are portraying.

DISCUSSION WILL ENSUE…

when the reader (or teacher) does not think that a character would not respond in a way presented by a player.  This will provide great review fodder and an opportunity to talk about how authors reveal characters’ personalities.

Animals Lawyers in a Wacky Town: A Perfect Excuse to Use Rhetorical Terms

The Legendary Animal City Lawyer--Sea Dracula

I teach a rhetoric elective that attempts to point out many of the ways in which argument shows up in our lives. After about a month’s worth of foundational notes, I usually begin using various activities to reinforce the learning. Often, these activities take the form of mini-larps or small role playing games. The other day I used Sea Dracula as a vehicle for the students’ practice of rhetorical terms and techniques.

Sea Dracula is a two page role playing game by Jake Richmond and Nick Smith. A mix of absolute silliness and lighthearted surrealism, it pits players against one another as talking animal lawyers in a quest for the most lawyers points. These points are gained by one’s performance in a crazy court case that involves insane cross-examinations and impromptu dance-offs. The witnesses even recite an oath penned by Vanilla Ice. The game is high energy and highly unpredictable. There are moments when everyone playing is dancing wildly.

My students laughed heartily throughout our entire court case in which they attempted to prosecute the suspects of the murder of one Buffalo Cosby, a manimal found in a pool of blood and lime gelatin.

I knew that this nutty little nugget of a game would engage them.

We were able to play the game as it is written except for adding one additional way to gain lawyer points. Students could gain bonus lawyer points by using prescribed rhetorical terms during their courtroom scene turns. Students simply announced which rhetorical technique they were about to use, and then they would use it correctly within the context of their statement. Admittedly, this is not much different from the old English class assignment where one is told to used prescribed vocabulary words correctly in original sentences, but perhaps this task is old because it works.

I know that before we finished playing Sea Dracula I heard one of the students say, “I think this is really helping me understand these words.”

BRINGING RHETORIC INTO THE SHADOWS

     A couple of days ago, I was teaching from Thank You for Arguing, my favorite rhetoric book.  I was extolling the power of telling stories as a way of changing an audience’s mood. This particular class had been taking quite a bit of notes, so I felt it was time to engage the students in a group activity that might reinforce these words about persuasion and narrative. I decided to play Shadows  by Zak Arnston. It’s a storytelling game that I knew I could quickly teach a whole class, and I was so pleased with the results that I have since used it in a test prep elective that I teach and recommend it for any sort of character education course.
     Shadows is a game in which the players play and narrate themselves and their “Shadows” through the world. This Shadow is some invisible being or monster that is pleased with nothing more than getting its respective player in trouble.  Take a look at how easy the rules are in this game:

• The players find themselves awakened by something startling.
• The players tell the game master what they want their character to do given the situation.
• The players roll one die which represents themselves and one that represents their Shadow.
• If the “good” die wins, the players’ desired outcome happens.
• If the Shadow die wins, the players must narrate how their Shadows gets them in trouble.

    There is a little more to it, but that is the game in a nutshell.   My emphasis in the rhetoric class was about providing intriguing detail in one’s story, but it is fairly obvious how such a game could be used for kids to reflect on right and wrong and issues of character.  There is a lot of possibility packed into this free, little game.