Supplies needed:

• A group of students

• A research topic

• A bean bag or hackey-sac

• A timer or stop-watch

Description:

This is essentially a synonym game that may help students to think of alternate terms or phrases to use in the search process.

First generate a class discussion on an either real or imagined research query.  Tell students to try and think of words or phrases related to that topic.  Get everyone standing in a circle and tell them we’re going to play ‘hot potato’.  Someone starts with the bean bag and shouts out a word related to the topic.  The bag is then tossed to someone else in the circle and that person has 5 seconds to come up with another word.  The bag gets tossed again and again, until all ideas are exhausted or there is a winner.  The instructor can act as the recorder and jot down all the keywords and phrases. 

Time needed in class:  5 minutes

Learning Outcomes: