Let’s Make a DOK 1!

(From Chapter 9: “Let’s Make a DOK!” featured in Deconstructing Depth of Knowledge: A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning by Erik M. Francis)

In 2016, I wrote a blog that compared the demand and expectations of Webb’s DOK Levels to popular television shows. I called it “Let’s Make a DOK!”, a play on the title of the classic game show Let’s Make a Deal! The name has a double meaning, since we can adapt the format of game shows into our classroom to develop and deliver DOK teaching and learning experiences that are not only educational but also energetic, enriching, and enjoyable.

In this blog series, I will compare the goals and expectations of each DOK Level to the format of a familiar television genre. I will also establish and explain with examples how these shows can be emulated in the classroom and engage students in an active DOK teaching and learning learning that’s academic, affective, and authentic..

DOK 1: The Game Show

The expectations of a DOK 1 teaching and learning experience are like those on a TV quiz / game show such as Jeopardy! or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? On these shows, the host runs the game, provides the information, poses the questions, or presents the tasks. The questions and tasks are difficult rather than complex because they demand the contestants recall and restate or reproduce information or procedures correctly from memory. The contestant who can answer the most questions correctly or complete the most tasks successfully either wins a prize or the game.

DOK 1 quiz / game shows are difficult yet simple. The experience is either easy or hard depending on the amount of time and effort it takes the student to recall information or recall how to do something. However, there’s only two ways the students can respond in a DOK 1 “quiz show”: correctly or incorrectly. There’s no need to explain or express (DOK 2), justify or verify (DOK 3), or explore or extend (DOK 4) their learning. They can either answer correctly – or don’t. That’s what makes the experience simple.

However, DOK 1 “quiz shows” are engaging ways to assess and build students’ foundational knowledge and functional understanding. They also offer a great way for students to remember what they need to know, understand, or do to demonstrate proficiency or perform successfully. However, it’s not the details, facts or information themselves that they will remember. It’s the engaging experience of playing the game that will trigger their memory and transfer their learning to another experience – be it a curricular activity or an assessment

Suggestions for DOK 1 Quiz Shows

• Jeopardy! A difficult yet simple game that only requires students to recall information to answer correctly. The teacher presents a factual statement as a clue. The students must respond with a question that asks who, what, where, or when. This experience will not only assess and build foundational knowledge. It will also teach students how to ask questions to acquire foundational knowledge and functional understanding.  
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? A game in which the questions increase in difficulty but not in complexity. Students are presented multiple choice questions that demand them to recall information to answer correctly. The multiple choice questions become harder as they advance to the next level. Students do not have a time limit to answer. They also can engage their classmates by polling the class or “phoning” (asking) a friend to help answer the question. They can also ask for a 50/50 where two of the options are taken away, leaving behind the correct answer and a distractor. This experience teaches students how to address and respond to multiple choice questions, which is the type of questions they will mostly encounter on standardized assessments.
• Family Feud: Another game that only requires students to recall information to answer correctly. However, this is more of a collaborative or cooperative experience. The students are split into two teams. One member of each team faces the other in a face-off as the teacher reads the question off the game board. The team that buzzed in with the correct answer receives control of the board and has the option of playing or passing control to the other team. The team that has the control tries to reveal all of the correct answers to the question before receiving three strikes. If the team receives three strikes without clearing the board, control is passed to the other team. The team that now has the control is able to give one answer in the hopes that it is found on the board. If it is, the team gets points. If it’s not, the original team gets the points. Go through this seven times. The team with the most points wins the game. A great way to assess and build background knowledge in an active and cooperative manner.
• The Hollywood Squares: Another great collaborative and cooperative experience for assessing knowledge and teaching dichotomous decision making. Organize 9 students into a tic-tac-toe formation (3 rows across x 3 rows down). Each student in the tic-tac-toe has a flipchart or digital screen with an “X” or an “O”. Split the rest of the class into two teams – Team X and Team 0. Have the students “pick the square” with a specific student. The teacher asks a factual question, and the student in the “square” must recall information to answer correctly. The team must decide if they agree or disagree. If the answer is correct, the student flips the chart or activates the screen with the winning team’s letter. If not, the student in the “square” flips the chart or activates the screen with the other team’s letter. A great way not only to assess and build background knowledge but teach collaboration and how to respond to dichotomous questions (e.g., true / false). You could also have other staff members in your district or school be the 9 “celebrities” in the tic-tac-toe boxes who respond to the questions and have the students agree or disagree with their responses.
• Are You Smarter Than a 5th (or Whatever) Grader? This is a fun way to show others how much your students have learned. Have an adult such as a district or school administrator, another teacher, a parent, or a prominent member of the local community be the contestant. Have the adult pick a category of a subject your students have studied. Ask them questions about the key concepts, content, and skills your students are learning at their grade level or from a range of grade level leading to theirs (e.g., if they are in 5th grade, ask questions about key concepts, content, and skills students learn in Grades K-4).  See if the adults can recall information or recall how to perform procedures to answer correctly. The questions should become progressively harder. If the adult answers incorrectly but the student can, they must say, “I am not smarter than [the grade of the students].” If the adult cannot answer the question, they can “drop out of school”. This is an great way to engage adults both within and outside the school to participate and witness what the students have learned. It might also be a great teaching and learning experience for when you are being observed or evaluated by your administrator or instructional coach. Instead of having them sit there and observe your class, have them participate actively.

DOK 1 “quiz shows” are very challenging not only intellectually but also socially and emotionally. Be cognizant and sensitive if students become too stressed if they feel like they cannot answer correctly. Remind them the point of the experience is not to “win” the game. It’s to develop as well as demonstrate their learning.

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Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S., is an international author, educator, presenter, and professional development provider with over 25 years of experience in education. He is the author of Inquiring Minds Want to Learn: Posing Good Questions to Promote Student Inquiry (Solution Tree),  Deconstructing Depth of Knowledge: A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning (Solution Tree), and Now That’s a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning (ASCD). Erik is the owner of Maverik Education, providing professional development, guidance, and support on how to plan and provide teaching and learning experiences that are standards based, socially and emotionally supportive, and student responsive. He is also consistently ranked as one of the World’s Top 30 Education Professionals by the international research organization Global Gurus and the Top 10 Global Thought Leaders in Education by the organization Thinkers360. 

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