VERBAL SPONTANEOUS PROBLEM:  The Creativity WITHIN

JUDGE READS TO STUDENTS:  (Do not read numbers or phrases in parenthesis.)

 1. You have each been given 7 marbles in a paper cup.  There is a bowl in the center of the table.  Each time you give a response, you must put one marble in the bowl.  The next person may not respond until the person given a response has placed his or her marble fully inside the bowl.

 2  You will have two minutes to think and three minutes to respond.  Questions count against your thinking time.

 3  You will receive one point for each common response.  Highly creative or humorous responses will receive five points.  This will be a subjective opinion of the judge and the judge's decision is final.

 4  Your team is to take turns in sequence.  You may not skip your turn, nor repeat nor pass.  If one member of the team is stuck, the team is stuck.

 5  Once the time begins, it will not be stopped.  If the judge asks you to repeat or to clarify your answer, it counts against your time.  Speak loudly and clearly.  Your time ends when the buzzer sounds or when the team has no more marbles.

 THE PROBLEM IS:

 Many things are found “within” something else.  Your problem is to name as many things as you can that are within something, and tell what they are within.  For example, you could say “spices are found within a spice jar.”

(Repeat #5, THE PROBLEM IS:  )

5.         “BEGIN” (Judge starts timer).

FOR JUDGES ONLY:

 Be sure to give exactly two minutes to think and three minutes to respond.  Timing is critical.  Students responding at the buzzer can finish and be scored.

 The purpose of the marbles is to limit the number of answers.  But they also are a little difficult to manipulate, so this is a good opportunity for team members to learn to control the items they are given! If a marble rolls out of the bowl when a team member puts it there, do not allow the next person to respond until the marble is replaced in the bowl.

 You should repeat the problem for each team.  You may answer questions during the two minutes thinking period, but time continues.

 Score:  One point for each common response and five points for each creative.

 Common Responses:   A book is within my locker, my brain is within my head, etc.  (Any object that is commonly found inside something else.)

 Creative responses:  Unusual or humorous connections, such as “Climbing the sides of buildings is within Spiderman’s power,”  “we all have the ability within ourselves to be creative,” or “Wylie Coyote wishes Road Runner were within his reach.”  (Answers may be conditional, or hypothetical)

©L.Love 2003