It worked for me: key stage 2 cameos

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Effective teaching strategies at key stage 2: Call my bluff

This well-known panel game may not be instantly familiar to key stage 2 children but they will certainly enjoy this activity, which has been devised by the Hampshire Local Education Authority History Centre. A brief introduction to the mechanics of the game will be necessary.

Let’s start with a specific example to illustrate the general technique. You have just introduced the children of a year 5 class to the ancient civilisation of Greece. To help them understand the different forms of evidence historians use to build up a picture of that fascinating society, you have shown images of buildings that survive and have told or read stories of myths and legends and looked at images from ancient pots that illustrate scenes from such myths. Gradually the children get a feel for time and place and link the geography of Greece and its islands to the plots of the various legends.

It is now time to get a feel for daily life in ancient Athens. The emphasis here is firmly on getting the children to work out what they can for themselves. They clearly need some background, hence the introductory sessions, but don’t give them too much. It is important not to allow children to wallow in ignorance for too long, but it is also crucial that you do not dull the edge of their curiosity. Putting the children in the position of detectives trying to piece together the various clues is a crucial part of the learning experience. If children are always given information from textbooks without ever being given a chance to work things out for themselves then it will be very hard for them suddenly to learn how to enquire for themselves. The ‘Call my bluff’ game is a deliberate attempt to encourage creative thinking. By giving children a mystery picture and no anchoring caption from the textbook, they have to really think imaginatively about what it might be.

This doesn’t come easy for some, so a little bit of practice is useful. At the Hampshire History Centre they do this as a whole-class activity first. They start with a picture with some clear action and then see if the children can pick up the clues as they are revealed. They do this by covering an OHP copy of the picture and then slowly slipping the cover down by degrees. Like so:

As more of the picture is revealed the children spot all the detail. When they see the whole picture they do not tell the teacher what they think it shows but talk to their neighbour.

Revealing the picture gradually

This releases some free thinking unhindered by the fear of getting it wrong. They do this for a minute or two at most. They then play ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’. The children are given four options as to what the picture might show, as follows.

Option A The man in the middle has just been out hunting with his dog in the woods around Athens. He took his father-in-law, the man on the left, with him as he knows the best places to hunt. On his return, he is asking his wife to give the dog a drink of water.

Option B The man in the middle has knocked on the door of this lady’s house on his way to war and has swapped his dog for a drink of wine for himself. He cannot take his dog to war with him.

Option C The man is off to war, but first he needs to keep the gods happy so he has asked his wife to pour wine into the bowl as an offering so the gods make sure he returns safely. He is about to kiss his wife good-bye so her father is looking away.

Option D The man has just been practising javelin throwing for the next Olympics to be held in Corinth. He took his dog with him and his wife is now giving it a drink. The man to the left is her father, who keeps her company during her husband’s long training sessions.

Next, a vote is taken. When the children have voted, go through each option in turn explaining how the clues might be used and employing a question-and-answer routine to draw out the children’s own thinking. When this has been done, without saying explicitly which answer is right, ask the children if they want to change their mind. Then ask for a couple of volunteers to come to the front and use the OHP to explain, with reference to the clues, why they think their version is correct. This should give them the experience they need to cope with four possible views.

Another practice run using a different picture might help. Again use the slow reveal, but this time try to get the children to come up with ideas for what is happening. That way, they are learning how to be creative with a bit of prompting from you.

This is in fact a long-jump competition. The man in the centre is making his jump; the man on the left, also naked, is a fellow competitor. The shapes that look like letters are words of encouragement. The man on the right is the judge. We know it is a long-jump competition because of sticks that mark the distance of other jumpers at the foot of the picture. Unlike today’s event, in Ancient Greece it was a standing leap, hence the iron-shaped weights the competitor holds to give momentum.

Picture of long-jump competition

Now to the ‘Call my bluff’ game itself

There are two versions:

Version 1

They have chosen a simple scene from the marketplace of Athens in the fifth century BC. It is not too complex and should give children some confidence to tackle it.

Scene from the Athens marketplace

You might want to display a colour OHT to draw attention to key features, but perhaps only if the children are experiencing real problems. Children to play in teams of three (no more than three because that makes it very hard to be imaginative and some will soon feel left out). In teams the children have to come up with three different explanations as to what they think the picture shows. When they have done this, they play against another team of three whose job it is to guess who has got it right. Clearly you will want to model good persuasive speaking here. This in itself promotes not only imagination and creativity, but also good speaking and listening skills.

Once the teams have played each other you tell them as a class what the right answer is. Did anyone get it right? What did the groups go for as alternatives? Using the OHP, you have a good chance to debrief, explaining how the clues lead you to the correct answer.

Version 2

Roasting jack Greek voting balls Greek water clock

This version uses objects as an alternative to pictures, but the principle is the same. Teams of three are each given a different object. They have to come up with three different explanations of what the object is, making them as convincing as they can. Not all three examples will be used, however. The reason for this is that you have the right answer for each object. You visit each team of three when they have had a few minutes to come up with their own and secretly tell them what the right answer is. They can then eliminate their weakest definition. Give them a few minutes to decide who will now give which definition and then they can play either against one other team or all the teams can play at the same time. The latter allows all teams to be fully involved and you can keep scores for each guess. To encourage cooperation, you could give teams four points if they all agree and get the answer right, but only one point for each correct answer if they choose to split the vote. In that way they are encouraged to come up with just one view and again practise a different sort of persuasive talking. You may be wondering where the artefacts come from. The Hampshire History Centre’s ‘Ancient Greece’ artefact collection contains several suitable mystery objects. They also have a collection called ‘Mystery objects’, which are mainly Victorian.