The Professional Teacher
Support for teaching professionals in the classroom and beyondTwo Truths and a Lie - Lesson Activity

25th September 2020
Here's a simple, but fun knowledge retrieval activity that can be used effectively in both the classroom and with your students on a live online lesson!
Each student needs to write down 2 truths and 1 lie about a topic that you are asking them to recall. Other students then either read or listen to those 3 statements, and decide which is the lie.
Options for the traditional classroom:
- students read out their 3 statements in the classroom, and all other students vote for the lie by holding up an A/B/C card (or by holding hands up), before moving onto the next student's statements
- each student reads out their statements, and everyone else keeps a note of each student's lie - all are then reviewed at the very end of the lesson
Options for the hybrid / online classroom:
- students type up their 3 statements onto a collaborative document such as a Google Sheet, and other students can read and comment
- students type their statements into a chat window and others respond in the chat window
- you can use online polls to vote for the lies - there are lots of these in the various Learning Management Systems (e.g. Teams, VLEs) or you can use a separate one, such as Poll Everywhere
If you have a really large class, you may not be able to get around all students in a particular lesson, so perhaps think about a rota. Or, if you have students who find it difficult to participate themselves in these sorts of activities, you as the teacher could choose 2 truths and a lie about a given topic.
You might also like

Think: Write: Talk!
23rd October 2015

The Yes/ No Game
23rd October 2015
Improving Attainment at KS5: Marginal Gains for A Level Students
15th February 2015

Better Classroom Questioning - Socratic Questioning
5th February 2016

Cut and Paste Powerpoint Timer
5th February 2016

SWAT!!!
24th October 2017

Revision Activity - Thinking Skills Bingo
13th December 2015