Textra, Textra

I am a believer in walking the talk. So I wanted to use a textra game to teach about textra games. Here's the result.

Purpose

To recall basic information about textra games.

Participants

Any number, divided into pairs

Time

Minimum: 15 minutes
Maximum: 40 minutes
Best: 20 minutes

Supplies

  • Textra Games, a 2-page handout (70k PDF)
  • Paper and pencil for note taking
  • Index cards for keeping score
  • Timer
  • Whistle

Flow

Distribute the handout to all the participants. Tell the participants that there will be a quiz on the contents of the handout and encourage them to read it carefully. Suggest that they should take notes, underline key words, memorize important facts, and make up their own questions. Announce a 5-minute time limit and start the timer.

Pair up the participants. At the end of the assigned time, blow the whistle. Ask each participant to find a partner and sit (or stand) facing her. If one participant is left over, you become the partner.

Assign pages. Ask each partner to toss a coin. The winner owns the first page of the handout, and the other participant owns the second page. Ask one partner to hold up the handout so that each of the two pages faces the partner who owns the page. Each partner also takes an index card to keep track of the points earned by the other person.

Begin grilling. Ask partners to take turns asking questions about the content on their page of the handout. The other player gives an immediate answer. If the answer is correct, the questioner makes a mark on the scorecard to award a point to the other player. If the other player gives an incorrect answer or does not answer at all, the questioner shows the relevant part of the handout to give the correct answer.

Continue playing. Monitor the group as they take turns asking and answering questions. Encourage the partners to match the nature of the question and its difficulty level. For example, if one partner asks a difficult question with a two-part answer, the other partner should ask a similar question from his or her page of the handout.

Conclude this round. Blow the whistle after 3 to 5 minutes. Ask the partners to add up the points awarded to other player, write the total score on the index card, circle it, initial it, and give it to the other player.

Review the handout again. Explain that participants will have an opportunity to ask questions from the other pages. Suggest that they review the handout to get ready for the second round. Give the participants a 3-minute time limit.

Get set for the second round. Ask the participants to walk around and find a new partner who owned the other page during the previous round. As before, ask the partners to sit or stand facing each other and hold their handouts in such a way that they can see the new page.

Repeat the grilling procedure. Ask the partners to use the same procedure as before for asking questions, answering, and scoring points. Suggest that the partners exchange their scorecards and use the other side for keeping track of the points for this round. At the end of a suitable time period, ask the partners to complete their scorecards.

Determine the winner. Ask the participants to add up their scores from the two rounds. Congratulate the highest scoring individual or individuals.