Prove It

I have spent the last couple of days reviewing how to play "Prove It" and thinking about what it will look like in my classroom next year.  In a nutshell, "Prove It" is testing strategy practice in a game format that kids love.  It should be played for twenty minutes each day, with ten minutes being spent on language arts and ten minutes on math.  All you need are individual whiteboards for each of your students.  The game actually has two levels two it.  In 1.0 the focus is on students being able to explain how to solve a problem.  In 2.0 the emphasis switches to proving why one answer choice is correct and the others are incorrect.  As part of the game, students are taught specific testing strategies which they will use when demonstrating how to solve a problem or in offering proof.  For example, students are taught that there are only three types of language arts questions that they will ever be asked:  Answer Now (It is not necessary to go back and look at the passage.), Find and Compare (They are to compare their answer to a part of the passage.), and Read Again (They must reread the whole passage.)  The game in its entirety, along with the strategies is explained by Coach B. in webcast 506.  You can find it by going to www.wholebrainteaching.com and looking under goodies, followed by wbt tv.

I would like to share with you the notes that I made for myself regarding implementation of "Prove It" for next year.  I do have some experience with this game, because I did have the opportunity to play 1.0 with my students at the end of last year.  However, I did not have the opportunity to teach all of the strategies or introduce the game the way that I would have liked to; therefore, what you are about to read will definitely be a work in progress.  It is my tentative plan with notes to myself on how to implement "Prove It".  I am prepared to modify it as needed throughout the school year.  If any of you experienced Whole Brain teachers have any suggestions for me, I would really appreciate it.  After all, everything I am doing this year is definitely a work in progress.

Prove It 1.0

1.  Place question on the Elmo along with four answer choices.  Cover the answers.  Remind students that the key to testing is figuring out how to solve the problems.  

2.  Give students one to two minutes, depending on the problem, to "Solo Solve".  (Students will work independently to solve the problem, using their whiteboards to show their work.)  Students will then be given one to two minutes to "Partner Solve".  (Using "Teach Okay" students will turn to their partners and explain how they solved the problem.)

*Key Point:  If a student finishes early during "Solo Solve", he is to teach his tennis shoe how he got the correct answer.  Also, do not wait on slower students.  The goal would be for them to show their work on their whiteboards, but if they are not able to, this would be a goal for the Super Improvers Wall.

3.  Reveal the answer choices, which are labeled A, B, C, and D.  (I have chosen to wait until after students have solved the problem to reveal the answer choices, because I want the students to focus on the process, and not just choose an answer.  If this doesn't work the way that I hope, I will reveal the answer choices when I show the problem.)  Students write the letter of their answer choice on their whiteboard, and place turn them "boards to chest".

4.  I will then say, "Eyes shut.  Count of three, show me.  1, 2, 3."  Students will then, keeping their eyes shut, flip their boards around revealing their answers.  On the whiteboard I will have written the letters A, B, C, and D.  I will draw a line above each letter indicating the approximate number of students who chose each answer.  I will not be counting.  It is all an estimate.  For example, if the majority of the class chose "A" and only a few chose "B", I would draw a long line above "A" and a very short line above "B".  If nobody chose "C" or "D" I would leave them blank.  I would then call "Eyes Open," and students will open their eyes and look at the results.  This usually results in a lot of cheering or groaning.

5.  Points are then awarded by me in the following three categories:  effort, answers, and penalties.  One to three points per question can be awarded for effort and answers, but this is all at my discretion, and there should be no real rhyme or reason as to how I go about awarding the points.  For effort I am looking at how hard the students worked alone and with each other to find the correct answer.  For answer, I am looking at how much of the class got the problem right.  Penalty is the only category in which negative points are awarded.  If students got off task, lost focus, or argued, one penalty point would be awarded for each offense.  Remember, there is only one rule:  Keep the ref happy, and I am the ref!

6.  Keep a record on the board of all points earned during the week.  On Friday students will receive one additional second of Mind Soccer for every point earned.

Note:  In the beginning of the school year all of my language arts questions will be "Answer Now".  In approximately late October students will be introduced to "Read and Compare" and "Read Again" questions in the following way:

1.  Begin by having students identify the type of question that it is.  They will not be solving.  They will only be focusing on how to solve (HTS) by reading questions and identifying the question type.  For example, on their whiteboards under HTS, students would write Find and Compare.  Do this for a couple of weeks with multiple examples.

2.  After students are able to identify the question type, focus on teaching strategies to solve, based on the question type.  I would teach each question type separately.  Students will have already had a lot of experience with "Answer Now" questions, since that is what I will begin the year with.  They would now be ready for "Read and Compare".  For "Read and Compare" students must underline their proof.  This is easy to do, because the answers to these types of questions are always right there in the text.  They can also be referred to as "In the Text" questions.  For "Read Again" questions, teach students to break the passage down into sections, read each section, and "Talk About It".  I teach my students to draw lines between each section and number them.  If they are able to talk about the section, they are able to continue reading.  If they can not talk about it, they must go back and read that section over again.  For this type of question students will not find proof, but they will find clues.  That is because the answer is not usually written down.  These can also be referred to as "In My Head" questions.  To distinguish between proof and clues, I will have students double underline the clues.

3.  Sometime around Christmas break, I will mix up the three types of questions.  Under HTS on their whiteboards students must be able to identify both the question type and the strategy that they used to answer the question.  Students will have copies of the passages, so that they can actually show their strategy (underlining etc.).

Prove It 2.0

I would introduce 2.0 whenever I felt my students are ready, but my goal would be early February.  This game is played much like 1.0, but the focus switches to proving why an answer is right or wrong.  Students will write the letters A, B, C, and D on their boards.  During "Solo Prove It" the goal would be for all students to have something written by each letter (Proof as to why the answer is right or proof as to why it is wrong.)  During "Partner Prove It" the students would explain their thinking to their partners.  The rest of the game would remain the same.  The Super Improver Wall could once again be used to motivate students to record proof on their whiteboards.

*Key Point:  Spend time teaching the students the differences between strong proof and weak proof.

I am very excited about giving this model a try next year.  I will keep you posted on how it goes and any changes that I have to make.