true or false?

Our second and third graders are getting into some True and False activities in their workbooks this month, so I started doing a simple warm up game to introduce them to the concept.

Simply put a bucket of marbles in the center of the group (or any small objects that you have a lot of will do).  Then, make a true or false statement about yourself or someone in your family.  For example, I might say, “My mother’s name is Maria”.  Then, ask the students to take a guess if your statement is True or False.  When everyone says what they think, tell them the answer, and then those who guessed correctly can take a marble from the bucket.

I really enjoy this activity because it gives us a chance to talk about things we might not normally talk about in class and learn new things about each other.  Also, I really like to toss out some statements that might challenge the children’s views of certain things.  For example:  “I can’t use chopsticks” usually gets a big unanimous “True!” and an even bigger unanimous surprise when I say the answer is, “False”!