I just recently read about a game to practice numbers from Martina Bex. It is called when you know, you know. It is kind of a game of trivia mixed with number practice. It holds the interest of competitive students as well as scholars and those students who like a good challenge. The game intrigued me, but like most games I read about, I needed to find a way to make it work for the ASL classroom.
As the game’s title states, what you know, you know is in fact a game of questions that require a number as an answer. It is a great way for students to see the language in action. The teacher uses the target language to provide a question, and the students answer by providing a number. The person closest to the answer without going over gains a point.
This is great for birthdays (think celebrity or classmates birthdays), important dates, statistics, percentages, or any topic that requires the answer to be a number.
Face-to-Face
In a face-to-face environment, students would watch the teacher sign the question then write the answer on a small whiteboard.
In small groups:
– Students play in groups of 2 – 4
– Teachers pose a question requiring a number as the answer
– Groups discuss then write their guess on a whiteboard
– One student walks the answer to the front of the classroom and leaves it there facing backwards (we don’t want to see the answer)
– The teacher flips each answer over one at a time and talks about it (Do you think it is correct? Why?)
– Award a point to the team that was closest to the answer without going over
Online or Hybrid
If you work in an online or concurrent teaching environment, you can still play. You just have to get creative. Utilize tech tools readily available to you like a Google Doc or Google Jamboard (I used Jamboard).
In a digital environment:
– Students play individually
– Set up a Jamboard (or tech of your choice) by creating a sticky note for each class member
– The teacher poses the question
– Students type on their sticky note their guess
– The class discusses the guesses
– Award a point to the person closest answer without going over
I also added another layer to this game online by having students write the topic and the number guess. So if you are working online, you can award 2 points. One for the closest number and one to everyone who gets the topic correct.
Here is an example of facts about deafness. Turn them into a question and have students start guessing.
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