Showdown

Showdown

Showdown is a very simple structure excellent for Mastery (knowledge, review, practice, comprehension questions, etc.). Students are able to answer questions without help. Teammates, then share, check, and coach. Remember the ‘hook’ of Cooperative Learning is student-student interaction over content. Teams each have a set of pre-prepared question cards face down in the centre of the table, for younger children these question cards can have helpers or indeed answers. The questions can be made by the teacher or by the students. Research shows if students are actively involved in creating questions as part of their own assessment procedures this is one of four major ‘drivers’ of achievement so teams can write their own questions or write questions to be passed to another team.

How it is done: Start with a pile of questions on each of the team tables. Student 1 - The ‘Showdown Captain’, for the first round, picks the top card and reads the question to the team. All team members simultaneously write their answer on paper or on answer boards. When all team members are finished and have given the 'ready' signal the Showdown Captain calls '1,2,3..showdown' and the team reveal their answers to each other. The Showdown Captain then congratulates with Specific Subject Praise those teammates with the right answer and leads the team in coaching for those with the wrong answer. The next student; Student 2 becomes the Showdown Captain for the next round. Then continue with Student 3 and so on.

Where it can be used: Ideal for getting pupils thinking about a topic that they might have not covered for a while, or Review: ideal to start a lesson by recapping what they remember about the previous lesson. Maths: graphs, Venn diagrams, any problems; 4 Rules, Real-Life money problems etc. Equivalent fractions, Characteristics of a shape. Grammar: correcting sentences, identifying parts of speech, punctuation. Science: naming parts of a plant, water cycle. P.E. Students can name muscle groups, bone structures, major body systems e.g. respiration. Music: recognising time signatures, transposing notes.

Social Skills: Social skills embedded in the structure Showdown would include: Taking Turns, Active Listening, Respecting others opinions, Good Coaching, Patience whist explaining to others, Leadership, and Praising.

Top Tip: Model the structure first, have teams note the aspects of good coaching; what does good coaching look like, sound like and feel like? TIP, TIP, TELL, RE-ASK!! Get teams or the class to choose a 'finished' signal. This can merely be thumbs up, or something more inventive. You may want to introduce a time limit with the class timer.