Set the tone of your class by engaging students right off the bat! Try using one of the “Guess Who? Games“, especially if you teach a food, fashion or child development class. These games get them thinking creatively, communicating and moving pretty quickly. Not only will you set the stage to the type of classroom you will run, but it let’s them know that your teaching style is probably very different than most typical classrooms!

Set

• Show students the game or picture of the game “Guess Who?” and ask how many remember playing this when they were younger. My guess it that most students will be familiar with it.
• Explain that this is an adaptation of that game. In the original game, you were only allowed to ask yes or no questions to narrow down your answers. In this version, students create the clues and share them one at a time while mingling with peers. Answer options will be a “name bank” on the board or screen and students earn more points the earlier they can guess who the person is on the other end of the interview. If the person is guessed correctly with the first clue, then they earn 3 points. If the second clue yields them the correct answer, then they earn 2 points and if it takes the third clue to answer correctly, 1 point is earned. If the final answer is incorrect, then ZERO points are scored.
• The person with the highest number of points in the end wins! Prizes are optional, but what they don’t realize is that they have started researching, thinking critically and creatively, making educated guesses, communicating, moving and probably having a lot of fun in the process! Before they know it, the period will be over and you got to observe the dynamics of your class immediately!

Materials

• iPad or Laptop
• Projector & Screen (optional)
• Guess Who? Game (affliliate link) or Picture (optional)
• Index Cards
• Prizes (optional)

Directions

• NOTE: The first page on each game is for the TEACHER ONLY. Once you decide which verson of the game you are playing, then cut apart the names, shuffle and randomly place in an envelope or container for students to randomly select. Be sure to inform your students that they MUST keep their person a SECRET for this to work. As students select their person, write down the number they’ve been assigned so you have a master list. Give students a numbered index card to write their clues and their name on once researching has begun.
• Introduce the game to students, explain what they will be doing once they receive their secret person. First, they will research their person very discreetly so others cannot see. As students learn about their person using reliable biographical sources, they will create 3 clues that start vague and get more specific. Prompts and suggestions for what to include are included. Clues need to be written in a way that is not too obvious, but yet challenging. Go over the SAMPLE clues with them for a specific person which will depend on the version being used.
• Once clues are written on the index cards, students will turn them into the teacher until game time.
• On the day that the game will take place, write a word bank of names on the board or on a screen without the numbers. This is like a cheat sheet to help students narrow down their answers. Students will be giving an answer tracker sheet to keep track of their guesses as each clue is revealed. Once the class is finished, go over the answers and have students keep track of their points.
• This will be an introduction to important people who have contributed to and influenced the fields of cooking, food prep, culinary dishes, fashion trends, iconic styles, clothing and accessories and theorists who have studied children and their behaviors in order to make contributions to education, psychology and pediatrics. In many cases, you’ll most likely be referencing these individuals in the courses you teach so students will have an idea of who they are!

Attachments

• Guess Who Game Visual
• Famous Chef’s Guess Who Game Version (PDF)
• Fashion Designers Guess Who Game Version (PDF)
• Child Development Theorists Guess Who Game Version (PDF)