march madness

IT’S REVIEW SEASON.

march madness

Review With Purpose. March isn’t about cramming. It’s about clarity. This month, we’re sharpening what students already know — focusing on the standards that move the scoreboard and running the right plays at the right time.

START

Strategic. Focused. Intentional. Are you ready to run the right plays?

The Four Quarters Framework

This is not four separate initiatives. This is one continuous cycle you repeat weekly. Mindset → Target → Build → Run → Adjust.

4th

3rd

2nd

1st

QUARTER

QUARTER

QUARTER

QUARTER

Create the Right Questions

Target the Right Standards

Run the Plays

Core Philosophy

Deep Thinking Wins.

Build Smart Reps.

Move the Scoreboard.

No New. Only Sharpening.

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OVERTIME

Question resources

Non-gmas teachers

GMAS Teachers

MagicSchool

• Multiple Choice Quiz/Assessment
• DOK Questions
• Text Analysis Assignment

Eduaide

• Assessments & Questions Section

Diffit

• Leveled Question Sets

Brisk

• Quiz
• DOK Questions

Brisk

• GMAS ELA Multiple Choice Items
• GMAS ELA Peer Revision Task
• GMAS ELA Multimodal Writing Task
• GMAS Social Studies
• GMAS Science Item Generator
• GMAS Mathematics Item Generator

Back

FAST BREAK

Focus: Fluency and vocabulary

Use When

• Spiral review
• Vocabulary reinforcement
• Careless mistake patterns

Best Question Types

• 2–3 Multiple Choice
• 1 Short Response
• Vocabulary-in-context
• Identify the mistake

Activities

• TOUR OF KNOWLEDGE
• POSITIVE PINGS
• PLAY IT-SAY IT!
• 3-2-1 TEST REVIEW

Instructional Focus

• Retrieval practice
• Precision
• Fluency

Ran the play? Now check the scoreboard. It’s Overtime.

TOUR OF KNOWLEDGE

3-2-1 Test review

POSITIVE PINGS

Play it-Say It!

OVERTIME

Back

full court press

Focus: Stimulus dissection, distractors, reasoning

Use When

• High-weight standards
• Stimulus-heavy items
• Wide answer spread

Best Question Types

• Multi-step problems
• Stimulus analysis
• High DOK questions

Activities

• each one teach one
• Toss a Question
• Rock & Roll Item Review
• Triad trades

Instructional Focus

• Big idea identification
• Distractor analysis
• Error pattern awareness

Ran the play? Now check the scoreboard. It’s Overtime.

each one teach one

toss a question

rock & roll item review

triad trades

OVERTIME

Back

half court offense

thought bubbles

Focus: Evidence of learning through explanation, justification, and visible thinking.

Use When

• You need proof before moving on
• Students are getting answers right but you’re unsure if understanding is solid
• You want students producing thinking, not just answers

Best Question Types

• Questions requiring written justification
• Constructed response or short explanation prompts
• Compare/contrast concept questions
• Multi-step reasoning tasks

Activities

• thought bubbles
• team-two-one
• high-five summary

Instructional Focus

• Visible reasoning
• Concept precision
• Transfer of understanding

team-two one

Ran the play? Now check the scoreboard. It’s Overtime.

high-five summary

OVERTIME

Back

sixth man

Focus: Reinforcing general test-taking strategies across all subjects, so students perform at their best on any assessment. Non-GMAS teachers are not reteaching standards. They are strengthening test performance habits.

EDUCATED GUESSING

ELIMINATE & JUSTIFY

FINISH THE PLAY

READ & RESTATE

QUALIFIER AWARENESS

TIME & STAMINA

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You may not teach the tested standards, but you absolutely teach tested habits.When students read carefully, eliminate wrong answers, manage time, finish every step, and check their work. They are building performance skills that transfer to every test.

Back

OVERTIME

IF: Most Students Chose the Same Wrong Answer

Adjust the Play.

After running your questions, study the scoreboard What did the data reveal? Choose the strategy that matches the error pattern. What pattern did I see?

• Same wrong answer → Fixer Upper

• Wide spread → Make the Case
• Careless errors → IQ slapdown
• Stopped too early → pick up the slip up
• Mixed concepts → Always/Sometimes/Never

Adjust tomorrow’s instruction. Overtime isn’t panic. It’s precision.

IF: Students Stopped Too Early

IF: Answer Selection Is Widely Spread

IF: Concepts Are Being Confused

IF: Careless Errors Dominate

Back

TOUR OF KNOWLEDGE

Purpose Students analyze concepts, assessment questions, stimuli/visuals, or text passages aligned to important concepts through a group rotation activity. Materials

• Tour of Knowledge stations (7-8 different posters)
• Markers (same color for each group member)

Instructions

1. Organize students into groups of 3-4.
2. Assign each group a specific color and give each group member a marker in their assigned color (to help groups keep track of which station they’ve already visited).
3. Put 7-8 posters around the room representing various concepts, assessment questions, stimuli/visuals, or text passages.
4. Give groups 3-4 minutes at each station to discuss the prompt and record what they know. Each student should add at least one idea, word, fact/detail, visual, connection, etc.
5. At the signal, groups rotate to the next Tour of Knowledge poster, analyzing the information presented and adding new ideas.
• Have students add a check mark beside the information they agree with.
• Have students write a question mark beside any ideas they think may be incorrect.
• Have students add new ideas, sketches, facts, words, or connections.
6. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Predict how one test question might have many different stimuli.
• Evaluate which stimuli or prompt was the most difficult and work with a peer to learn it better.

Target the Right Standards

Decide WHAT to Review

Now you select your focus for the week. Step 1: Open the testing blueprint Step 2: Review Beacon or recent CFA data Step 3: Identify ONE of the following:

• A high-weight standard
• A high-performing standard (easy points)
• A recent, fixable gap

Choose 3-5 standards max. If it cannot improve in 2–3 days → It does NOT make the cut.

GMAS BLUEPRINTS

POSITIVE PINGS

Purpose Students are assigned a specific question or task based upon the number of positive “pings” they score. Materials

• Cups
• Ping pong balls
• 3 questions or tasks

Instructions

1. Organize students into groups of 3 or 4.
2. Provide each group with a large plastic cup and 6 ping pong balls.
3. Taking turns, students bounce ping pong balls off the table and into the cup as many times as they can in 1 minute. (Elect a scorekeeper to count the group’s pings.)
4. Based on scores, assign each group a specific question or task such as:

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Summarize what you learned in the activity.
• Draw a conclusion about why this content is important.

5. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.

ROCK & ROLL ITEM REVIEW

Purpose Students analyze complex test questions in six different ways to determine mistakes in content and thinking. Materials

• Assessment question(s)
• Dice (or a virtual die)
• Rock and Roll Item Review handout (projected)
• Rock and Roll Item Review template
• Rock and Roll Item Review template – ELA comprehension

Instructions

1. Organize students into thinking partners and provide each pair with a die (or virtual die).
2. Present students with an assessment question.
3. Student pairs take turns rolling the die and analyzing the question based on the task associated with the number rolled:
• 1 = state the concept or big idea
• 2 = explain the importance of the visual/genre
• 3 = communicate your plan for answering
• 4 = select the worst answer choice (justify)
• 5 = determine the distractor (justify)
• 6 = determine the correct answer (justify)
4. Students continue rolling the die until they have completed all the activities for each assessment question.
5. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.
6. Students summarize what they learned in writing and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Template 2

Template 1

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Predict how to avoid a careless mistake about this concept.
• Analyze the Rock and Roll Item Review game board and change one of the prompts.

QUALIFIER AWARENESS

100% words (usually false):

• always, never, none, every, all, entirely

Middle-range qualifiers (often true):

• usually, often, sometimes, generally

Classroom Application

• Students circle extreme words.
• Practice identifying traps with qualifiers.
• Discuss why “always” and “never” are risky.

Likely Issue:

• Systematic misconception
• Mixed up concepts
• Stopped too early

Same Wrong Answer

PLAY-FIXER UPPER

Purpose Students analyze the reason they missed an assessment question. Materials

• Graded assessment
• Fixer Upper handout (printed or projected)
• Fixer Upper template
• Notebook paper (if handout is projected)

Instructions

1. Return a graded assessment to students.
2. Organize students into thinking partners.
3. Working together, partners use the Fixer Upper template to organize their ideas for correcting 1-2 test questions they missed by analyzing the following:
• Foundation: What is the foundational topic of the question?
• Stimuli/Visuals: Why is the stimulus/visual (or genre) in the question important?
• Words: What are the important 3-5 words in the question and what do they mean?
• Learning/Thinking Mistake: What mistake did you make (guessed, stopped too early, mixed up concepts, careless mistake, etc.)?
• Fixer Upper Plan: How will you correct your mistake next time?
4. Have students find a new partner, describe their fixer mistake, and explain how they corrected it.
5. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.
6. Students summarize in writing what they learned and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Template

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Apply the mistakes others made to your own work. Explain how you made similar mistakes or how you avoided those errors.
• Justify the correct answer.

Likely Issue:

• Rushed
• Arithmetic slip
• Misread question

CARELESS ERRORS

PLAY-iq slap down

Purpose Students analyze or practice assessment questions by determining the worst answer, the distractor, and the correct answer through a slap-down game. Materials

• Assessment question
• Notebook paper or index cards to create response cardsndout is projected)

Instructions

1. Provide students with an assessment question.
2. Students create a set of response cards based on the type of question:
• Multiple Choice – create A-B-C-D cards
• Drag and Drop – create cards with drag options
• Inline Choice – create cards with the inline response choices
• Hot Spot – create cards over the hot spot options
• Multipart – create A-B-C-D cards
• Multiselect – create answer cards
3. Organize students into thinking partners.
4. Round 1: At teacher’s signal, students slap down the WORST answer, justify with their partner, and pick up their cards. Teacher clarifies.
5. Round 2: At teacher’s signal, students slap down the DISTRACTOR answer, justify with their partner, and pick up their cards. Teacher clarifies.
6. Round 3: At teacher’s signal, students slap down the CORRECT answer, justify with their partner, and pick up their cards. Teacher clarifies.
7. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.
8. Students summarize what they learned in writing and note how to avoid those mistakes in the future.

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• What was the main cause of mistakes on this question?
• Predict another way this question might be asked.

see it in action

Likely Issue:

• Vocabulary confusion
• Operation confusion
• Similar skill mix-up

confused concepts

PLAY-brain in the game

Purpose Students analyze three statements associated with a concept and make inferences about which two are true and which one is false. Materials

• Assessment question

• Brain in the Game template
• Notebook paper (if handout is projected)

Instructions

1. Pair students with a partner.
2. Project the assessment question.
3. Students get their Brain in the Game as they work through a complex assessment question with their partners:
• Analyze the question’s visual stimulus (chart, table, picture, word problem, genre, etc.) by completing this statement 6-8 times, “If this visual (genre) could talk, it would tell me ____________.”
• Identify 3-5 important vocabulary terms in the question and describe them to each other.
• Predict what the assessment question might be about by summarizing the “big idea.”
4. Have pairs compare, discuss, and justify their responses.
5. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.
6. Students answer the assessment question, justify responses, summarize what they learned, and note how to avoid mistakes in the future. what they learned and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Template

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Compare the stimuli (visuals) in 2 questions. How are they the same? How are they different?
• Justify that there are different ways to start answering assessment questions.

READ & RESTATE

• Restate the question in your own words
• Read everything carefully

Classroom Application Before any task:

• Students underline key words.
• Students restate the directions.
• Students identify what is actually being asked.

Likely Issue:

• Guessing
• Weak stimulus analysis

stopped too early

PLAY-pick up the slip up

Purpose Students analyze three statements associated with a concept and make inferences about which two are true and which one is false. Materials

• Pick Up the Slip Up statements (3 statements; 2 are true and 1 is a “slip up” that represents a common mistake)
• Notebook paper, sticky notes, or note cards

Instructions

1. Organize students into thinking partners.
2. Students create A-B-C cards and place them on their desks.
3. Present 3 statements or examples.
4. Instruct students to:
• “Think!” (Students think about which statement is the “slip up” or mistake.)
• “Hover!” (Students hover their hand over their ABC cards showing they are ready.)
• “1-2-3, Pick Up the Slip Up!” (Students grab the letter of the slip up and hold it high.)
5. Students justify slip up responses with their thinking partner. (I think this might be the slip up because _____.)
6. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.
7. Students summarize in writing what they learned and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Infer how to rewrite one of the false statements into a true statement.
• Create/Develop your own Pick Up the Slip Up statements and play the game with a thinking partner.

see it in action

thought bubbles

Purpose Students provide evidence of learning by connecting ideas through thought bubbles. Materials

• Notebook paper

Instructions

1. Students write the lesson’s topic (text title, big idea, etc.) in the center of their paper.
2. Throughout the lesson, students add Thought Bubbles when new learning occurs. Thought Bubbles may show connections to:
• Important words
• Important facts or details
• Previous lessons
• A visual
• A skill
• Steps in a process
• Brainstorm/braindump ideas
3. Students trade Thought Bubbles, share ideas, and add 1-2 new bubbles to their paper.
4. Analyze students’ Thought Bubbles and clarify/verify as appropriate.

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Trade Thought Bubbles with a friend and evaluate which idea is most unique or profound.
• Summarize your Thought Bubbles by writing 2 sentences that capture the ideas on your 2 best bubbles.

each one teach one

Template

Purpose Students collaborate to coach each other about complex words, visuals, problems, questions, texts, or assessment items. Materials

• Each One Teach One handout (4 assessment questions, each on a different color paper)
• Each One Teach One assessment questions template

Instructions

1. Organize students into groups of 4. This is their home group.
2. Assign each student a different word, visual, problem, Think It Up question, text excerpt, or assessment question.
3. Students get up and find others with the same topics/tasks. They huddle together to think, talk, and prepare to teach their topic/task by answering questions such as:
• Topic/Words: How can we summarize and teach this?
• Visual: If the visual could talk, what would it tell us?
• Practice Problem: What is it about? How can we solve it?
• Think It Up: How can we explain and justify our answer?
• Text: How can we summarize the most important parts?
• Test Item: How can we justify the correct answer?
4. Students return to their home group of 4.
5. Each one teaches one about their assigned topic or task.
6. Repeat steps 3-4 until each student has taught the assigned 4 topics or tasks.
7. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.
8. Students summarize what they learned and note how to avoid mistakes about these topics/tasks in the future.

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• What generalization can you make about all 4 questions or concepts?

3-2-1 test review

Template

Purpose Create student ownership in analyzing graded assessments and help teachers prioritize which items to review. Materials

• Graded assessment
• 3-2-1 Test Review template
• Notebook paper (if handout is projected)
• Sticky notes

Instructions

1. As students think through each item on a computerized test or quiz, they write the question number on a piece of paper and code each question with a plus, check, or minus symbol. (Students place symbols directly beside each question on a paper test.)
• + easy question ✓ medium complexity question – really difficult question
2. After students receive their graded test (computerized tests may be accessed electronically to view coding sheets), they analyze their responses to think, talk, and write about strengths and mistakes using the 3-2-1 Test Review template. Note: Students who scored a 100 select 3 difficult questions, 2 tricky questions, and 1 weird question.
3. Facilitate students mixing around the room to discuss and coach each other on their “3s” and “2s.”
4. Collect and organize the “1” questions on the sticky notes, select 3-4 to review with the whole class, and use a strategy like Make the Case or IQ Slap Down (in OVERTIME) to help students discover and correct their learning mistakes on these targeted questions.
5. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.
6. Students summarize what they learned in writing and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• What learning strategies will you apply to correct a mistake you (or others) made?
• Summarize what you know better after the activity.

hive-five summary

Purpose Students prove they understand a concept by creating a detailed summary. Materials

• High-Five Summary – Elementary template
• High-Five Summary – Secondary template
• Notebook paper

Instructions

1. Students draw their hand on a sheet of paper.
2. Students record the following ideas in their “high-five” hand:
• Thumb: big idea of the lesson/unit
• Pointer: 3 important words
• Middle: visuals or text titles
• Ring: something important
• Pinkie: something confusing
• Palm: one-sentence summary
3. Have students get a partner and share their summaries, revising their original responses as appropriate.
4. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.

sec Template 2

elem Template

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Sequence your summary into steps. What comes first, second, third, etc.?
• Make an inference about how this concept might be assessed.

TIME & STAMINA

• Budget time based on point value.
• Don’t spend too long on low-value items.
• Come back to difficult questions.

Classroom Application

• Run timed mini-sets.
• Practice skipping and returning.
• Reflect on pacing decisions.

triad trades

Template

Instructions

1. Organize students into triads.
2. Present each triad with a different assessment question and a handout.
3. TRIAD TASKS – Triads work together to complete all 3 sections of the handout:
• Top: Triads write their assigned assessment question at the top.
• Middle: Triads analyze the stimulus and answer the questions.
• Bottom: Triads write their justification for the correct answer and summarize a mistake to avoid.
4. Triads cut apart their paper and each student keeps 1 part.
5. When all triads are ready, students mingle around the room trading papers 5 times.
6. Students then mingle to find new triads to match their new paper: #1 the item, #2 the stimuli analysis, and #3 the correct answer justification/mistake to avoid.
7. Students discuss the question and the responses with their new triad, challenging or adding new ideas to make the responses and justifications stronger.
8. Observe students’ thinking and clarify/verify as appropriate.

Purpose Students are organized into triads to deeply think, talk, and write about an assessment item. Materials

• Assessment questions (1 for each triad group)
• Triad Trades template
• Scissors
• Notebook paper (if not using handout)

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Sequence all the questions in the order of the ones you understand most to those that are most challenging.
• Develop a plan for better understanding the 3 questions at the end of the sequence.

PLAY IT-SAY IT!

Instructions

1. Organize students into thinking partners.
2. Have students create response cards and hold them in their hand like playing cards.
3. Examples:
4. 5-7 important terms, concepts, historical figures, characters, formulas
5. Steps in a process (one step on each card)
6. Different genres, literary devices, or reading comprehension skills
7. Present a statement and allow students a few seconds to match the statement with one of their cards.
8. Say, “1-2-3, Play It!”
9. Students slap down the response card they think matches the prompt.
10. Say, “Say It!”
11. Students shout out their answers, all at the same time.
12. Students justify to their thinking partner why they slapped down that card by completing this response stem: “I may not be correct, but I think the answer is ______ because ______.” Allow students to change their minds after talking.
13. Observe students’ thinking and verify/clarify as appropriate.
14. Students turn to their partner and finish this stem verbally or in writing: “The correct response was ______ because ______.”

Purpose Students infer which response best matches a prompt and justify their thinking. Materials

• Index cards
• Prompts, statements, or descriptions that correlate with the various response cards

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Sequence the response cards in order from the ideas you know best to those you know least. Get a friend to coach you on the one you know least.
• Generalize what all the cards have in common.

see it in action

FINISH THE PLAY

• Don’t leave blanks.
• Complete problems fully.
• Check every answer.
• Simplify answers.

Classroom Application

• Require students to complete every step.
• Run “Complete the Last Step” drills.
• Reflect on where they typically stop too early.

Core Philosophy

Set the Mindset Before You Plan

Before touching a standard or question:Ask yourself:

• Am I introducing anything new? → If yes, stop.
• Am I trying to reteach the year? → If yes, narrow it.
• Am I focusing on what moves the scoreboard? → If no, refocus.

Then commit to:

• Fewer questions (3–5 deep problems > 20 rushed ones).
• Deeper analysis (Review must include thinking, discourse, and analysis).
• Clear strategy (We prioritize what moves the scoreboard).

• Data-driven decisions (We use data to respond — not panic).

This quarter takes 5 minutes of intentional thinking. March is not about cramming. It’s about clarity.

Create the Right Questions

Build Smart Reps

Now generate 3–5 strategic questions using your tools: Rules for question creation:

• 3–5 total questions
• Must align directly to chosen standard
• Must include at least one higher-level (DOK 2–3)
• Must allow for explanation or discussion

Do not print 20 questions. Do not default to device-only practice.

question resources

overtime

Running the play is not the finish line. Overtime is where growth happens.

After you’ve run your strategy, pause and ask:

• What pattern did I see?
• Where did students struggle?
• What kind of error dominated?
• Is this a misconception or a careless mistake?

Overtime is not reteaching the year. It is making a small, strategic adjustment.

Run the Plays

Choose a strategy based on your goal:

• Fast Break → Quick precision
• Full Court Press → Deep analysis
• Half-Court Offense → Evidence of Learning
• Sixth Man → Cross-Curricular Support & Skill Transfer

Then:

1. Present 1 question at a time.
2. Require explanation.
3. Discuss distractors.
4. Identify error patterns.
5. Capture what students will remember next time.

This is the instructional core of review.

Teach the Questions Deeply.

team-two-one

Purpose Students prove they understand a concept by answering a question as a team, answering a question with a partner, and answering a question independently. Materials

• 1 team question, 1 pair question, and 1 individual question (questions, tasks, problems, or texts)
• Notebook paper

Instructions

1. Organize students into teams of 4.
2. Present a question for the Team to solve collaboratively.
3. Ask for pop-out responses and clarify/verify justification for best responses.
4. Present the next question for Two students (pairs) to solve collaboratively.
5. Ask for pop-out responses and clarify/verify justification for best responses.
6. Present the final question for individual students (One) to answer independently.
7. Collect and evaluate Team-Two-One responses and adjust instruction as appropriate.

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Change one part of the final question stem and make an inference about how the correct response should now change.

toss a question

Template

Purpose Students collaboratively practice and analyze assessment items, focusing on stimuli, terms, error patterns, and distractors. Materials

• 6 different assessment questions
• Toss a Question handout (projected and printed)
• Toss a Question template

Instructions

1. Organize students into 6 different groups.
2. Give each group a different assessment question (handout).
3. Student groups collaborate to analyze and write a response addressing 1 part of each question:
• Round 1: Analyze the stimulus and explain why it is important.
• Round 2: Identify and describe 3-5 key terms.
• Round 3: Predict the big idea.
• Round 4: Justify the best answer.
• Round 5: Justify the worst answer.
• Round 6: Predict a careless mistake and how to avoid it.
4. At the end of each round and at the teacher’s signal, groups crush their questions and toss them to the next group.
5. Groups analyze, collaborate, and complete the next task with their new question.
6. At the end of round 6, groups review their original question to determine the best response.
7. Provide the correct responses, encourage discussion about other possible answers, and clarify misconceptions as appropriate.
8. Students summarize what they learned in writing and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Evaluate which question was the most difficult to analyze and explain why.
• Infer which round was easiest for you and which round was most difficult; explain why.

EDUCATED GUESSING

(When Needed)

• Frequency of occurrence
• Middle number strategy
• Umbrella strategy
• Never leave a blank

Classroom Application

• Teach elimination before guessing.
• Practice identifying “umbrella” answers.
• Reinforce never leaving blanks.

ELIMINATE & JUSTIFY

• Eliminate answers you know are incorrect.
• Anticipate the answer before viewing options.
• Pay attention to qualifiers (“always,” “never,” “except,” etc.).

Classroom Application

• “Eliminate Two” before selecting.
• Identify qualifiers in prompts.
• Predict the trap before solving.

Likely Issue:

• Guessing
• Weak stimulus analysis

WIDESPREAD ANSWERS

PLAY-MAKE THE CASE

Purpose Students defend or prosecute answer choices as correct (innocent) or incorrect (guilty). Materials

• Assessment question

Instructions

1. Present students with an assessment question.
2. Organize students into groups of 4 and allow them time to analyze the question as a team (home group):
• Analyze the stimulus (or genre) – If this visual could talk, it would tell me _______.
• Analyze the vocabulary – Three important words in the question are _______, _______, and _______ because _______.
1. Analyze the topic – This question is mainly about _______.
3. Assign each student a potential answer choice.
4. Students move to huddle with their expert group in different corners of the room to determine if their answer choice is …
• Correct or “innocent” by explaining why it is the correct response OR
• Incorrect or “guilty” by explaining why their answer is the incorrect response
5. Students return to their home group and have 1 minute each to Make the Case by defending innocent/correct answers and prosecuting guilty/incorrect answers.
6. Students deliberate and come to a consensus about which answer is innocent (correct).
7. Observe students’ prosecution and defense arguments and clarify/verify as appropriate.
8. Students summarize what they learned, sketch a related visual stimulus, and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Think It Up! Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:

• Predict which answer choice most other students may have mistakenly chosen and how this error could be avoided.
• Infer which errors were careless mistakes and explain how to correct them.