"Are YOU the troll?"

A logic game in kindergarten based on The Three Billy Goats Gruff!

This week Miss Hurley read The Three Billy Goats Gruff to our kindergarten classes and then played a game with them that encouraged critical thinking.  This is how it worked:

• The students were shown a set of fours cards.  Each one features the picture of a character from the story (the small billy goat, the medium billy goat, the large billy goat, and the troll).
• Four students were invited to stand at the front of the room, facing the class.
• Each student was given a character card with the instructions to look at his/her own card, but not to show it to the class!
• Students in the class were challenged to figure out which child is which character by making guesses, such as, “Amanda, are you the smallest billy goat?” or “Alex, are you the troll?”  The students are reminded that they need to pay attention to the answers to their classmates’ questions so they can figure out the characters.
• The student holding the card who was addressed would deny the guess (“No, I’m not!”) or confirm the guess and turn the card around for the class to see. 
• The game continued until all four characters were identified! 

The children really enjoyed the game, and I was impressed by how well they listened to each other.  For example, if a student already denied being the smallest billy goat, the class knew they needed to ask a different student that question.  Or, they needed to ask the same student if she was a different character.  By listening to each other they were able to figure out which student was which character pretty quickly!

It's so much fun watching the students as they uncover the hidden characters.  They get so excited when they've guessed correctly, especially when they've found the troll.  Now I'm wishing I had video to show you, too!