Parallel & Perpendicular Lines: Transcription Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Transcription Tic-Tac-Toe is a learning game that uses reading, writing, speaking, and listening, all in one activity! It is part of a group of strategies called sheltered language strategies.

Sheltered language strategies are teaching strategies that focus on teaching academic vocabulary at the same time as academic content. These types of strategies have been researched and shown to improve student learning, especially for ELLs. When students participate in this activity, they are explicitly required to interact with both academic language and content at the same time.

The process of transcription involves listening to verbal input and producing writing based on the information that is heard.

Example:

Player #1 will say (reading from their Transcription Script) "Write the equation of a line in slope-intercept form that is parallel to the line y=7x +2."

Player #2 will listen and then write (recording on their answer sheet) y= 7x + (any number other than 2).

HOW TO PREPARE MATERIALS FOR TRANSCRIPTION TIC-TAC-TOE

Students work in teams of 2. One person is Player #1 and the other person is Player #2.

Step 1: Print the Transcription Script for Player #1 back-to-back with the Transcription Tic-Tac-Toe Answer Recording Sheet for Player #1. Do the same for the two documents for Player #2. Each student gets their own copy of each of the two sheets.

Step 2: Print copies of the Transcription Tic-Tac-Toe Board.

Option #1: You will need one copy per team per round. There are enough questions for 3 rounds, so print 3 copies per team.

Option #2: Laminate copies of the Transcription Tic-Tac-Toe Board and have student teams write on the laminated boards with dry erase markers. You will need one board per team.

Option #3: Have students use a white board to play the Tic-Tac-Toe game.

Option #4: Have students use a piece of regular notebook or printer paper to draw in their own Tic-Tac-Toe grid.

HOW TO PLAY TRANSCRIPTION TIC-TAC-TOE

Students work in teams of 2. If there is an odd number of students in your class, consider allowing a group of 3 in which two students share the role of Player #1.

Player 1 begins and reads question 1 from their Transcription Script to Player 2.

Player 2 listens to the the instructions and writes the answer on their own Answer Recording sheet. Player 2 is allowed to ask Player 1 to repeat the question as many times as is needed and reasonable.

Player 1 checks Player 2’s answer using Player 1’s answer key.

If Player 2 answered correctly, they get to play first on the Tic-Tac-Toe board by putting an ‘x’ or an ‘o’ in a space of their choosing. If Player 2 answered incorrectly, they lose a turn.

Repeat the process with Player 2 now reading question #1 from their Transcription Script to Player 1. The first player to get three x’s or three o’s in a row wins that round. If neither player gets three in a row, that round is considered a tie.

Continue switching roles back and forth, playing a new round once the previous round is completed or until all of the questions have been used.

If students are able to, they can create their own similar questions and continue playing once they have used all of the questions that are provided.

1 PDF file.