Einstein’s Riddle

The original can be found here. Teacher’s Notes Pre-Lesson This is a modification of Einstein’s Riddle and it is adapted for ESL classrooms. The original can be found here.

The Chinese live in the first house Teacher’s Notes Pre-Lesson 1 The Chinese live in the first house On note cards, write down a hint on 15 different note cards. These will be given to individual students later in the lesson. The hints are on the next slide.

The 15 Hints/Clues Teacher’s Notes Pre-Lesson The Chinese live in the first house The Chinese live next to the blue house The family living in the house in the center drinks milk The Koreans live in the red house The Filipinos keep dogs as pets The Australians drink tea The green house is to the immediate left of the white house The green house's owner drinks coffee The person who dances has birds The owners of the yellow house paints The family that sings lives next to the one that keeps cats The family that has horses lives next to the family that paints The family that reads drinks juice The Japanese write The family that sings has a neighbor that drinks water

Teacher’s Notes Blackboard Table Options Connections 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 1 2 3 4 5 Nation Color Drink Nation Color Drink Hobby Pet Hobby Pet Prior to class, spend some time to organize the blackboard (3 minutes). Create a table for students to solve, a list of options, and a list of connections for students to reference.

What is a riddle? A riddle (谜) is a question or statement that requires cleverness to answer.

What is a hint/clue? A hint/clue (暗示) is a small piece of information to help you solve a problem.

Read the instructions: Teacher’s Notes What is a Riddle? Read the definitions of a riddle and hint, and ask the students to repeat chorally. Explain that today, they’ll be solving a riddle but to do so, it will require teamwork and communication. Read the instructions: Chorally repeat the instructions to Einstein’s Riddle with the class and reference the different houses, colors, etc. on the blackboard.

There are five houses in five different colors. The five owners each have a different nationality, drink a different beverage, have a different hobby, and keep different pets. Who has the fish? Einstein’s Riddle

Teacher’s Notes Outline: Explain that prior to starting, you will do four things in order to clarify the instructions and your expectations. Hand out the hints to 15 different students Ask the students holding the first three hints to read. Listen and write down any information from the hints on the blackboard. Students will choose one leader and explain the roles of every student and how their role is important to solving the riddle.

Leader (1) Hint Holders (15) Solvers (40) Einstein’s Riddle Leader (1) Hint Holders (15) Solvers (40) Asks questions Listens to student’s answers Writes on the blackboard Stimulates student’s understanding Read hints clearly and loudly for the class to hear. Answers questions asked by the leader. Solves the riddle. Listens to all the hints. Asks clarifying questions. Solves the riddle.

Teacher’s Notes Leader: The leader must come to the front of the classroom and is responsible for facilitating discussion among the students to solve the riddle. They are also responsible for writing down relevant information on the board as students tell their hint. Some questions that a leader may consider. Who has clue number (1)? Could you please read it for the class. Excuse me, I didn’t understand. Could you speak louder? I didn’t understand that word. Could you please spell it? Why do you think that is the correct answer? Does anybody know the next step to take? Would it help if I read the connection hints again?

Teacher’s Notes Hint Holder: The hint holders are responsible for clearly communicating the hints to the leader so that they may accurately write them on the blackboard. If the leader or another student does not understand what they are saying, it is the hint holders responsibility to repeat more clearly and loudly. They should also consider rephrasing to help with understanding. If they know the answer to one of the blocks on the table, they should raise their hand, say their answer, and explain why they think it is the answer.

Teacher’s Notes Solvers: The solvers make up the majority of the class and as their name suggests, they are primarily responsible for solving the riddle based on the clues and under the direction of the leader. They should take notes on paper at their desk and ask questions for the leader if they do not understand a certain hint or answer. As with the hint holders, if a solver knows the answer to one of the blocks on the table, they should raise their hand, say their answer, and explain why they think it is the answer.

Teacher’s Notes Blackboard Table Options Connections 1. Chinese = 1st 2. Chinese ] [ blue 3. Milk = Center 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Nation Chinese Color blue Drink milk 1 2 3 4 5 Nation Chinese Color Blue Drink Milk Hobby Pet Hobby Pet Run through the first three clues with the students. Ask the holders of hints 1,2, and 3 to read them aloud and write down the information on the blackboard. Start with options -> connections -> table

Teacher’s Notes Before beginning: Ask the students to choose or elect a leader. It should be somebody with strong communication skills. Ask them to come to the front of the classroom and lead the discussion towards solving the riddle.

House 1 House 2 House 3 House 4 House 5 Nation Color Drink Hobby Pet SOLUTION Einstein’s Riddle House 1 House 2 House 3 House 4 House 5 Nation Chinese Australian Korean Japanese Filipino Color Yellow Blue Red Green White Drink Water Tea Milk Coffee Juice Hobby Paint Sing Dance Write Read Pet Cats Horses Birds FISH Dogs

Teacher’s Notes Blackboard Table Options Connections 1. Chinese = 1st 2. Chinese ] [ blue 3. milk = center 4. Koreans = red 5. Filipinos = dogs 6. Australians = tea 7. green] left[white 8. green = coffee 9. dance = birds 10. yellow = paint 11. sing] [cats 12. horse] [paint 13. read] [juice 14. Japanese = write 15. sing] [water Nation Chinese Koreans Filipinos Australians Japanese Color blue red green white yellow Drink milk tea coffee juice water 1 2 3 4 5 Nation Chinese Australians Koreans Japanese Filipinos Color Yellow Blue Red Green White Drink Water Tea Milk Coffee Juice Hobby dance sing paint read write Pet dogs birds cats horse fish Hobby Paint Sing Dance Write Read Pet Cats Horses Birds Fish Dogs Here’s what the blackboard should look like after the class has solved Einstein’s riddle and the class leader has marked down everything on the blackboard.

Teacher’s Notes The notes provided do not encompass all the aspects of the lesson that you should tell your students. Use it as a guide and be prepared to answer any questions the students may have. Good luck!