The Name that Source Game: Sandra Rothenberg

Preparation Make a list of all the sources you will need. I have accumulated about 40 with the help of the professor with whom I work. Try to think of as many varied sources as you can, for example: standard sources such as a book with one author, a book with two authors, journal articles, as well as less traditional sources like a pamphlet, a Web Site, a work of art, and a personal interview. Physically collect the sources from all parts of the library. You may need to bring in your own source (like an art work), create one yourself (like a personal interview), or print it off of the Web (a Web Site). Number the sources with post-its (stuck on the actual source) from #1 to however many you have. Then cut up small bits of paper and number them correspondingly, and put them into a bag. Make a list of the sources by title and call number that you have pulled from the shelves. Also, keep the information you have created or printed out. This way, you will have all of this at hand if you do this exercise in a future semester.

How it Works Make sure that you have two style guides like MLA (or whatever style the teacher requires) and put them on a table at the front of the room. Assemble your sources on a side table and get out the bag with the numbers. Divide your students into two teams and have them pick team names. Tell them they will get the hang of the game as they play it. Also, the team that wins will earn extra credit point towards their final course grade. The first players (one student from each team) come up to the table at the front of the room with the style guides, and pick a number out of the bag. Then you or the professor will pick out the correspondingly numbered source and give it to the students. The students will need to figure out what kind of a source they are have in front of them. They have 45 seconds to figure this out by looking at the source and at the style manual. Whoever identifies the source correctly, earns a point for their team. If neither student identifies the source correctly, tell them what the source is and if it is not clear why it is this type of source. Point scores can be written on a black or a whiteboard.

Purpose and Goals The purpose of the game is to acquaint beginning level students (freshmen) with a wide variety of sources. I use this exercise with one professor of Expository Writing in particular, who devotes most of a class period to this. You could do the game in a half an hour, but 45 minutes or more works better. By actively involving the students in looking at sources and trying to figure out what they are, these students hopefully will become more aware of the variety of sources that they might encounter when writing a research paper. Also, students will be made aware of the importance of citing these sources by using the appropriate style manual. Thus, the avoidance of plagiarism is reinforced.