Day 1 Students share one of their favorite, most unusual facts with the class aloud. No repeats are allowed so everyone is listening carefully with a second choice ready to use if necessary. Students are then asked to reword the facts into ten questions. Another trip around the room confirms that students have ten questions of varying depth. The teacher initiates a class discussion about what makes an interesting trivia question.
Students select one question to share with a partner.
The partner asks questions about the selected item that they would need to know in order to appreciate the trivia. Questions are jotted down as topics for further research. Students are encouraged to add their own questions. If one pairing doesn't yield appropriate questions a different trivia item can be tested, or the partner group can be increased to four students to generate more ideas. Teacher input here is critical as some questions are not detailed enough to warrant more research.