60-Second Strategy: Quiz Quiz Trade

At St. Marys Area Middle School, health teacher Mackenzie Smith uses a low-stakes activity called Quiz Quiz Trade so often that she calls it an “anytime activity.” Because it’s so versatile, it can be used as a bell ringer, a way to gauge students’ prior knowledge, or a review activity. It also happens to be a great brain break, since it gets kids up and moving.

To get started, Smith hands out Post-it Notes. She gives students a prompt (for example, “Write three things you do to prioritize your mental health”) and sets a timer for a couple of minutes. After the timer goes off, Smith instructs students to find a partner (ideally someone not at their table group) and quiz their partner about what they wrote. The partner then quizzes them, and then they trade their Post-its. Students then move on to talk to several additional partners, exchanging Post-its at the end of each conversation.

“I think having them switch sticky notes forces them to pay attention a little bit more to what the other kids are saying,” says Smith. “It’s not just going through the motions of, ‘This is what I wrote.’”

To end the activity, Smith either asks students to share their favorite responses with the class, or collects the Post-its and randomly selects a few to read aloud and discuss.

She often uses Quiz Quiz Trade in health because of the sensitivity of some topics. Think pregnancy and reproduction, substance abuse, screen time, and mental health. Because students don’t write their names on their Post-its, they feel freer in answering the prompt.

It also exposes students to more and more answers from others who might have different experiences, which helps them see a variety of perspectives and ideas. When she’s using Quiz Quiz Trade as a review activity, this cross-pollination reminds students of everything they’ve learned, helping them prepare them for a test.

“I think the big thing for them is they get up, they get to move around, they also get to talk. Students like to talk, and [in contrast to speaking in front of the whole class] it’s in a low-pressure setting.”

A variation of this activity is known as Go, Go, Mo, or “give one, get one, move on.” Whatever you call it, it’s a great way to get kids up and connecting with each other.

For more low-stakes activities that build classroom community, read Daniel Leonard’s article for Edutopia, “22 Fun Ways to Spark Classroom Connections.”