What is the Quiet Game?
While there are various versions, the premise of the game is
the same. A leader is selected from the class and sits (or stands) in the
coveted position of authority. Fellow classmates sit criss-cross applesauce in
an area rug or remain seated at their desk.
The student leader then chooses the quietest fellow student
by pointing. Without a single word spoken, the chosen student becomes the new
leader and sits in the position of power.
The game has grown in popularity because it is easy to play, cost efficient, safe, and can be
played almost anywhere. Bathroom lines are also a popular place to play.
Instead of students sitting in the classroom, they are lined along the hall
wall leading to the bathroom. The leader stands a few feet away from the line
and points to the quietest classmate signaling that they were chosen for being the
quietest. The leader returns to his or her place in line.
Adaptations can easily be made in the case that students
continuously choose their “best” friend. Cliques are easy to spot if you are on
the lookout. In the event of boys choosing only boys and girls choosing only
girls, you can immediately invoke the gender rule: boys must choose a girl and
girls must choose a boy. This is most prevalent in the earlier grades when
cooties pose an immediate, but imaginary threat.
 |
| Cootie |
Cootie (n.) An invisible germ that is typically passed to the
opposite gender. Elementary playgrounds are nesting grounds for cooties. In
case of infection, a friend can inject the infected friend with a cootie shot.
Criss-cross Applesauce (adj.) Describes a way kids sit when
bottoms are on the floor and legs are bent at the knees.
Why We Play the Quiet
Game
Imagine
spending upwards to six hours in room filled with as many as thirty small
children five days out of the week. You are also expected to be chirpy and
happy. Oh, and you would be “actively monitoring” every child’s move.
Your lunch
consisted of a bag of microwave popcorn you grabbed from the teacher’s lounge
and a four hour old coffee because you were up with a teething baby until two
in the morning and didn’t make your lunch.
During your
interactive read-aloud, you feel your bladder ready to explode. You curse under
your breath. What will you do? How do you manage a room full of children
while you go to the restroom?
And so you
do what is familiar. You do what is safe. You begin the Quiet Game. You remind
yourself that it will only be for a few minutes. It is a game that your teacher
played when you were in elementary school, and the teacher before your teacher,
and back and back and back.
You return
to class and breathe a sigh of relief that the room is still standing. You do
not see blood. There are no broken bones. You take a moment to affirm your
students and seamlessly return to the story.
By the end
of the school year, the Quiet Game is second nature to you and your class. It’s
convenient and easy to enforce. Most likely you have never given it a second
thought until now.
While there is no hard evidence, I suspect the Quiet Game was invented by a parent on an arduous
road trip. It was a ploy to get the kids to stop talking and so it was
strategically titled a “game”. Of course, all children know in their heart that
there is nothing fun about the Quiet
Game. I have personally never heard any student or my own children beg, Can we
play the Quiet Game? Please? Pretty please?
Every teacher has a breaking point. Maybe
it’s the fifth chorus of “The Wheels on the Bus” or the song “Let it go!” sung
over and over again. We are only human. And so we demand that the class play
the Quiet Game knowing full well who will “win” and which children will “lose”
because of an intentional fake fart, or fake cough that sends the class into a
fit of giggles.
Research
conducted at the Marzano Research Center @MarzanoResearch found a significant
gap between a disadvantaged child and a child born into a professional family.
The gap begins at birth. By three years of age, an advantaged child has learned
twice as many words as a child in poverty. They also found that children in
poverty have fewer books, technology, and often live in single parent
households.
The gap is
perpetuated by other factors that go hand-in-hand with poverty. Poor health,
hunger, lack of sleep and the inability to concentrate are just a few very real
things children in poverty deal with every day. Think about how you feel when
your stomach is growling or the feeling of exhaustion after sitting up with a
sick child into the wee hours of the night. I don’t know about you, but I can
barely concentrate if I haven’t slept or I feel hungry.
One thing we
do know for sure, without intervention, the gap continues to grow. By the way,
“time-out” or assigning detention to a student is not an intervention. It is a
punishment.
Talking is
important. Talk has the ability to change brain chemistry and build neural brain
networks. Yes, the brain can be rewired with meaningful talk. Just as food can
satisfy tummy cravings, talk that is child-centered and intentional can increase
concentration and spark creativity.
Several
years ago I was able to attend a professional development session led by Eric
Jensen, author of Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to
Kid’s Brains and What Schools Can do about it. Isn’t that a great title for
a book? I was like a sponge soaking up all that I could because he was
describing the kids in my literacy classroom.
One of my
hats as a literacy coach was to teach a reading intervention class to students
who were reading two or more years below grade level. In fact, at the beginning
of the school year I could predict my students just by glancing over student
addresses. I knew that one set of apartments housed our poorest students and I
also knew of the trailer park where the other students lived. Guess what? A
large percentage were my students!
While
listening to Eric Jensen, I took notes like crazy and couldn’t wait to get back
to my classroom. I had to try out his ideas about how talking and movement
improved learning. I also learned that memory games helped students be
productive in their studies. Now I say “games” because they were stress-free.
The brain functions best without stress. I also learned that snacks helped, as
well.
Eric also spoke on the importance of student-centered talk to create classroom community and build self-esteem. He taught us fun and effective memory games to support concentration.
And so I began to ask "what if" questions. What if...teachers created opportunities for unstructured talk and play during the school day? What if...we replaced a game that rewarded silence and celebrated talk?
What if We Did This Instead?
Here are some super duper easy ways to celebrate talk:
- Play
soft music and instruct children to
move about the classroom. When the music stops, find a partner. Each student
shares with their partner the book they last read or are currently reading.
Students keep sharing until the music starts. (If you need to keep the noise
level down, interject, “tip toe, or move like a butterfly).
- Choose a leader and whisper a phrase into his/her ear such as "the goofy giraffe jumped rope with the playful platypus." The leader whispers the secret phrase into the ear of the next child. When you say the game is over, the last child who heard the secret message repeats it out loud. (Initial phrases may be adapted to match maturity level).
- A
category is chosen like “transportation.” A leader begins by naming something
that fits the category, like train or bike. Students touch their nose and
remain seated if they can add a new item to the category. The leader chooses
someone who hasn’t been called on and they name a new item. If they get stuck,
they can call on a friend to help. This is also good for bathroom lines.
· Crumple
a piece of Kleenex and set it under a document camera. Invite students to say
what they see. (This is the same concept as looking for animal shapes in the
clouds). There is no right or wrong answer.
I encourage
you to challenge yourself to make ONE small change by replacing the Quiet Game
with an activity that celebrates talk instead of rewarding silence.
Confession Reflection:
- Why is talk important? How can talk nurture a classroom community and celebrate diversity?
- What are some other ways teachers can invite talk into the classroom?
- How can administration empower teachers to invite unstructured talk into the classroom without penalizing or interpreting as misbehavior?
It wasn't my idea to
have a Christmas in July party, but it happened. Imagine. Red house lights blinking
in the heat of the summer. Jingle Bells blaring from the stereo. A lamp
post adorned with mistletoe and topped with a giant red bow...and a Christmas
tree, tinsel and all, sitting in my driveway. 
