Hot Potato!

Are you fed up with trying to find ways to tackle the “ask and answer” question standard ?

Is teaching your students to ask and answer higher order questions taking up too much planning time?

If so, I have the solution for you!

Hot Potato is a Discovery Education SOS strategy that is designed to not only challenge students to ask and answer higher order questions, it also promotes a spirit of fun competition!

Providing students an opportunity to think critically and ask higher-level questions of each other in a fun environment leads to a more engaged classroom. “When students formulate questions, they become actively involved in learning” (Marzano, 2007).

Generating questions or hypotheses allows students to examine their thinking regarding knowledge being learned. This process stimulates major changes in their understanding (Marzano, 2007).

Procedure

• Students will read or watch assigned material.
• They will generate at least 2 questions about the material using Bloom’s Taxonomy question stems
• The class is divided into two teams.
• Teams will earn points based on the level of the question and accuracy.

Procedures Continued

• The game starts when a member of one team throws a soft toy to a member of the opposing team!
• The receiver can either answer the question or use their team as a lifeline.

Bloom's Taxonomy

The Rules

Student Samples

In Action!

Quotes

• “I loved this strategy!”
• “When are we playing again?"
• “I want to write harder questions next time!”

This strategy can be used in any content area! In science, it was used in conjunction with the Dynamic Earth unit; however, it can be used with any unit! Differentiation is a breeze with Hot Potato! Teachers can differentiate the content by using leveled articles, the process by allowing students to work together, or the product by assigning the number and type of questions produced!

Students enjoyed the competitive aspect of the Hot Potato strategy! They effectively used the 4 C’s of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Discovery Education uses the 4 C’s to guide students to make connections, ask questions, identify key concepts, and contemplate changes/consider the application of what they’ve learned.

Untitled Slide

The Hot Potato strategy encourages students to develop higher level questions. Not only do they have to come up with the question, they also need to know the answer. This puts some of the responsibility of learning on the students, and they take more pride and ownership in the process

Students gain a deeper understanding if they formulate the question and determine the answer, rather than just answering teacher-generated questions.

Ready to add this strategy to your tool box?

You can find the Hot Potato strategy on Discovery Education under SOS Strategies! Start challenging your students to be critical questioners today!