Activity

Guess the U.S.A. Dress Code Rule

Group quiz game to let kids guess common dress code rules in the U.S.A.

Students sit in groups of 3 to 5. They should play janken to decide the order of students (or however way they want to decide).

Show a slide, and they must choose if A or B, both A and B, or neither A or B, is okay by common school dress code rules. The student who's turn it is to play will stand up and raise their hand for A, B, C, or D. If they get it right, they get a point. (I usually have the students close their eyes so they can't just copy what other groups are doing). The system I use is as follows:

A: A 〇 B ✖
B: A ✖ B 〇
C: A 〇 B 〇
D: A ✖ B ✖

The explanation of each rule is in the speaker notes. Be sure to mention that there are no national rules and that every school is different. These are simply some common ones.

After the first set of questions, the powerpoint shows two people, one compliant with dress code and one not. They must choose which one is correct, and can get a bonus point if they raise their hand and explain the reason.

The high school kids I taught got surprisingly into this and it felt much better than just giving a presentation about dress code (which is what my JTEs originally asked me to do), but I'm sure it would also work well with JHS. Kids thought it was fun to learn about all our different, sometimes strangely specific, rules.

Files:
Medium files (requires an account to download) -
  • School Uniforms in the USA.pptx (5.44 MB)
  • 38
    Submitted by the_een May 30, 2023 Estimated time: 20-30 minutes
    1. HolliAnderson May 30, 2023

      This is really funny. I might try this with my students. One way I may try to play this is students stand on which side of the classroom they think is the correct answer. Thanks for this!

    2. Gaijingaiden May 30, 2023

      The only things I can think to add here is that the American teacher should explain that there are no national rules for things like this. Just generally accepted rules.

    3. leaveseclipse May 30, 2023

      This was fascinating. No intention of using it (I'm elementary school) but very interesting to look through and very well presented

    4. the_een June 1, 2023

      HolliAnderson that's a great idea! I might try that if I get the chance to do this again.

      Gaijingaiden good point! I actually did mention that when I was presenting it, but for sure, definitely worth putting in the description in case other people decide to use it.

      Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

    5. Reuben September 13, 2023

      This is a godsend. I'm doing the uniform debate with my high schoolers and really needed a game in between all the work. The answering system seems a bit confusing though. Did students get stuck on it at all?

    6. the_een September 21, 2023

      Glad it helps! Yeah the answering system does take a bit of explaining. I usually write the system diagram from the description on the board and that helps enough students figure it out that they can explain it to the others.

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