In scholastic quiz bowl competitions, the questions are as important than the answers, because a player can't answer a muddled question. Good questions equal good games.
Nothing frustrates quiz bowl players as much as a confusing question. Players look at their coaches, wondering if they should risk an answer on a poorly worded question. Coaches frown at each other, wondering if the poor word choice is worth tossing the question. Soon someone buzzes in and gives a possible answer, only to find that the question was misleading. The question is tossed, time is wasted, and everyone wonders, "Who wrote these questions?".
Even though any question that has limited answers is technically a closed question, in the world of quiz bowl, a closed question has two answers, such as yes/no or true/false. These questions should be avoided because if one team answers incorrectly, the other team will automatically get it correct. This is frustrating because it amounts to gaining an unearned point.
In a classroom quiz bowl competition, teachers have more flexibility with questions. It is good practice for students to follow standardized rules so they are not confused during official play on an scholastic quiz bowl team.
Questions need to be short and pointed. Long questions or questions that include unnecessary detail are harder to understand. An example of differences in phrasing can be found in these two questions: "George Washington is famous for having wooden teeth. However, his false teeth were not actually made of wood. What were his teeth actually made from?" and "What were George Washington's false teeth made of?".
Players might buzz in with the incorrect answer of "wood", but they also might buzz in with the correct answer of "bone". Quiz bowls are competitions of knowledge, not competitions of focus.
Questions Should Require One Answer
Embedding questions is akin to asking trick questions. Consider the above question regarding George Washington. If the question was, "What were America's First President's false teeth made of?", it is short, but actually requires players to answer two questions: "Who was America's first president", and "What were the false teeth made of?".
In the case of America's first president, the answer is obvious and looks like it is enlivening the game, but it is hard to draw the line on what is obvious in embedded questions. It is best to stick with one question per question.
Competitions can go more quickly if the players are able to predict the line of questioning. Having questions on specific themes, like "American Presidents" and "Rivers", helps players focus and feel more confident about their question-attack strategies.
Themes can be playful, such as "Words Starting With M" or "Places on The Globe That Are Not America". If there must be a general knowledge category, warn players with a theme name such as "Anything Goes" or "Potpourri". With enough well-written questions, it is possible to avoid catch-all categories.
Once a teacher develops a library of good questions, it is easy to recycle them every few years. Other teachers, coaches, even teams are excellent sources for questions that are written with quiz bowl games in mind. Questions help set the tone of the game. Easy questions make for an easy games, challenging questions make for challenging games, and a well-done questions make for well-done games.
Showing posts with label quiz bowl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quiz bowl. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Use Quiz Bowl and Academic/Scholastic Bowl Competitions in Class
Many secondary schools have official academic teams, and being on a scholastic bowl team is a rewarding experience. However, not every student can be involved in extra-curricular teams. Quiz bowl is an excellent gifted classroom experience, because all students can participate in all steps. Everyone gets a chance to buzz and shine individually, but there is the security of working together in an setting that encourages healthy competition.
Setting Up A Classroom Quiz Bowl
Having a real buzzer set makes all the difference, because students can answer in a split second and the buzzer will indicate who really did buzz in first. Buzzers can be found by searching for “quiz system buzzers”, “lock out buzzers”, or “player recognition systems”.
Arrange the desks to face the person asking the questions, not the opposing team. An outlet needs to be accessible for the buzzer set, and a scoreboard (such as a white board) should be visible.
You'll need students to fill these roles:
* Score-Keeper (allowing everyone can see the score)
* Questioner/Judge
* Team A Team B
* Audience/Substitutes
To prepare students for joining future bowl teams, one might create teams similar to competitive teams by sorting students into groups of four, and having two groups of four complete against each other.
Mixing quiet and outgoing students works well. A team needs some cautious players and some risk-taking players. Sometimes kids shine in brain training games but are too shy to speak out during competitive games.
Creating Questions
It is tempting to just open a box of Trivial Pursuit cards, but it is best to get quiz bowl questions from research. Students enjoy researching questions and answers, and question libraries grow quickly.
Questions need to be open, meaning they are not multiple choice or yes/no. Usually, questions are written on a theme, such as “Award-Winners”.
It is important that the required answer is clear. The question, “Which states border Utah?” is less clear than“Which six states border Utah?”.
It is important to establish if teams are allowed to discuss answers before buzzing. In Scholastic Bowl competitions, discussion is limited to written portions of games, but classrooms have flexibility.
Read the question, and allow ten seconds for a response. Only accept the first answer. If the answer is correct, the team gets a point. If it is incorrect, the opposing team has a chance to answer. Incorrect responses do not penalize a team in competition, but in a classroom competition removing points for incorrect answers can heighten the competition, if necessary.
After ten questions, students are substituted with other students, so everyone gets to play and everyone has a stake in the building scores of the two teams. This makes watching more engaging and allows for odd number populations to play. One team just has fewer substitutes.
Taking Grades
Grades for participation or sportsmanship are obvious; it would be unfair to take grades for performance, as more than one person might know the answer. The only “performance” grade that could really be measured would be the ability to press a buzzer, which is not an especially academic task.
Shy students who are not ready to risk buzzing in are usually willing volunteers to keep score or read questions, thus allowing everyone to be involved on classroom quiz bowl days.
Impact in on Gifted Children
Gifted classrooms are important resources to gifted children; these are the classrooms where they find understanding teachers, friends with similar abilities, and challenging environments. Using quiz bowl sets to create gifted classroom cooperation and competition is a worthy activity for the immediate experience. Additionally, following rules similar to established scholastic bowl rules allows students to easily move into the world of academic bowl in junior high and high school, a time when gifted education is often replaced by AP classes. By participating in established academic teams, gifted students can continue to enjoy cooperation and competition.
A quiz bowl buzzer set is an excellent investment for a gifted classroom, because students enjoy competition, benefit from new challenges, and build skills for future opportunities.
Setting Up A Classroom Quiz Bowl
Having a real buzzer set makes all the difference, because students can answer in a split second and the buzzer will indicate who really did buzz in first. Buzzers can be found by searching for “quiz system buzzers”, “lock out buzzers”, or “player recognition systems”.
Arrange the desks to face the person asking the questions, not the opposing team. An outlet needs to be accessible for the buzzer set, and a scoreboard (such as a white board) should be visible.
You'll need students to fill these roles:
* Score-Keeper (allowing everyone can see the score)
* Questioner/Judge
* Team A Team B
* Audience/Substitutes
To prepare students for joining future bowl teams, one might create teams similar to competitive teams by sorting students into groups of four, and having two groups of four complete against each other.
Mixing quiet and outgoing students works well. A team needs some cautious players and some risk-taking players. Sometimes kids shine in brain training games but are too shy to speak out during competitive games.
Creating Questions
It is tempting to just open a box of Trivial Pursuit cards, but it is best to get quiz bowl questions from research. Students enjoy researching questions and answers, and question libraries grow quickly.
Questions need to be open, meaning they are not multiple choice or yes/no. Usually, questions are written on a theme, such as “Award-Winners”.
It is important that the required answer is clear. The question, “Which states border Utah?” is less clear than“Which six states border Utah?”.
It is important to establish if teams are allowed to discuss answers before buzzing. In Scholastic Bowl competitions, discussion is limited to written portions of games, but classrooms have flexibility.
Read the question, and allow ten seconds for a response. Only accept the first answer. If the answer is correct, the team gets a point. If it is incorrect, the opposing team has a chance to answer. Incorrect responses do not penalize a team in competition, but in a classroom competition removing points for incorrect answers can heighten the competition, if necessary.
After ten questions, students are substituted with other students, so everyone gets to play and everyone has a stake in the building scores of the two teams. This makes watching more engaging and allows for odd number populations to play. One team just has fewer substitutes.
Taking Grades
Grades for participation or sportsmanship are obvious; it would be unfair to take grades for performance, as more than one person might know the answer. The only “performance” grade that could really be measured would be the ability to press a buzzer, which is not an especially academic task.
Shy students who are not ready to risk buzzing in are usually willing volunteers to keep score or read questions, thus allowing everyone to be involved on classroom quiz bowl days.
Impact in on Gifted Children
Gifted classrooms are important resources to gifted children; these are the classrooms where they find understanding teachers, friends with similar abilities, and challenging environments. Using quiz bowl sets to create gifted classroom cooperation and competition is a worthy activity for the immediate experience. Additionally, following rules similar to established scholastic bowl rules allows students to easily move into the world of academic bowl in junior high and high school, a time when gifted education is often replaced by AP classes. By participating in established academic teams, gifted students can continue to enjoy cooperation and competition.
A quiz bowl buzzer set is an excellent investment for a gifted classroom, because students enjoy competition, benefit from new challenges, and build skills for future opportunities.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Using Quiz Bowl in a Gifted Classroom
Gifted classrooms give students opportunities to work and play with their similarly-paced peers, and one activity students love is quiz bowl competitions.
Many secondary schools have official academic teams, and being on a scholastic bowl team is a rewarding experience. However, not every student can be involved in extra-curricular teams. Quiz bowl is an excellent gifted classroom experience, because all students can participate in all steps. Everyone gets a chance to buzz and shine individually, but there is the security of working together in an setting that encourages healthy competition.
Setting Up A Classroom Quiz Bowl
Having a real buzzer set makes all the difference, because students can answer in a split second and the buzzer will indicate who really did buzz in first. Buzzers can be found by searching for “quiz system buzzers”, “lock out buzzers”, or “player recognition systems”.
Arrange the desks to face the person asking the questions, not the opposing team. An outlet needs to be accessible for the buzzer set, and a scoreboard (such as a white board) should be visible.
Creating Questions
It is tempting to just open a box of Trivial Pursuit cards, but it is best to get questions from research. Students enjoy researching questions and answers, and question libraries grow quickly.
Questions need to be open, meaning they are not multiple choice or yes/no. Usually, questions are written on a theme, such as “Award-Winners”.
It is important that the required answer is clear. The question, “Which states border Utah?” is less clear than“Which six states border Utah?”.
Rules and Procedures of Game Play
It is important to establish if teams are allowed to discuss answers before buzzing. In Scholastic Bowl competitions, discussion is limited to written portions of games, but classrooms have flexibility.
A quiz bowl buzzer set is an excellent investment for a gifted classroom and for gifted children, because students enjoy competition, benefit from new challenges, and build skills for future opportunities.
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