Using the ‘Would You Rather’ Game for Reasoning and Reflection

Most people are familiar with the game Would You Rather. In it, you’re given two options and must choose one, like “Would you rather have pizza or tacos for dinner every night forever?” But beyond a brain break, this simple decision-making game can be transformed into a versatile learning tool—teachers can use the game to encourage reasoning and reflection by bringing new perspectives to class material. Posing quick, fun, critical thinking questions can be useful in all stages of instruction, from gauging students’ background knowledge on a topic while kicking off a new unit to wrapping up a section with a dipstick question assessing what the class has absorbed. 

For instance, in math, it can serve as a warm-up activity: When starting a unit on the metric system, asking students if they would rather run 10 meters or 10 yards can help teachers assess their familiarity with these measurements. Before reading a novel in language arts, for example, teachers can gather information on student preferences by asking if students prefer digital or traditional books. During science lessons, the game can introduce experiments or units, posing a binary question like “On the savanna, would you rather be able to camouflage yourself or run fast?” In social studies, teachers can assess understanding of historical events by asking students to choose between two events they could witness—for example, the Boston Tea Party or Paul Revere’s ride—and encourage them to explain their choices. The game can even help with social and emotional skill building, helping students become more self-aware by posing choices like which of two coping strategies works best for them.

In every subject area, the Would You Rather game provides a versatile framework for fostering reasoning, encouraging reflection on content, and exploring complex topics—in a matter of minutes. Find more examples in fourth-grade teacher Peggy Grabish Clark’s article for Edutopia, “How ‘Would You Rather’ Questions Can Support Higher-Order Thinking.” 

Editor’s note: This summary was written with support from Edutopia’s custom AI tool, which prioritizes information from our archive of educational content.