Win the Room: teacher answer key

Public sample teacher key. Includes model answers; open the student worksheet when assigning the activity.

9-10SL3: Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric; identify any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence. 9-10R8: Delineate and evaluate an argument and specific claims in a text, assessing the validity or fallacy of key statements by examining whether the supporting evidence is relevant and sufficient.

Using the worksheet

Worksheet opens the questions. New questions follow each speech; misses add a reflection prompt.
Recorded automatically: the predicted and actual yes votes, the five cards in order with the student's label for each (✓ right or ✗ wrong, with the real appeal), any line that counted half or zero, which groups voted no, and pass or miss.
My work offers Copy my work and Turn in a PDF. Nothing is submitted automatically. Review written reasoning separately from game success; blank responses remain visible.
The mission log now points to My work instead of a screenshot. The game's own Connect it answers (typed in some debriefs) still appear only in the mission log, not in My work.
On shared devices, use Clear my work and tap again to confirm. The game's Start over does not clear worksheet answers. If browser storage is blocked, export before leaving.

Numbers like "#4" match the printed worksheet. Questions marked "After a miss" appear in the game only after a missed speech; on paper they are combined into one question near the end.

Level 1: Student Council

Room: 4 data-minded (start +0.5), 4 trusts experts (+0.5), 18 moved by stories (−2), 4 skeptics (−1). A listener votes yes at +1 or higher. 20 of 30 wins.
Every win needs the 18 moved-by-stories members, and they need +3. Pathos moves them +1; every other card, even a fallacy, moves them +0.5. No speech without pathos wins (12 yes at most).
Fallacies don't sink this room: 15,048 of the 16,236 winning orders use one or two fallacies. Three fallacies always lose (18 yes at most).
The game's model speech (Show a winning speech, after a loss): Maya at the bus stop, AAP recommends 8:30, Not a vacation, CDC: 8 to 10 hours, First-period class (pathos, ethos, pathos, logos, ethos). 30 of 30 vote yes.
The appeals: ethos = AAP recommends 8:30 (expert authority), First-period class (experience). Logos = CDC: 8 to 10 hours, One hour later, Bus costs vs. learning. Pathos = Maya at the bus stop, Not a vacation. Fallacy = Every good school (bandwagon), Anyone who disagrees (personal attack), Either we start later (false choice). The game counts CDC as logos because the line's main work is the math, even though it names the CDC.
Stars: one for winning, one for all five labels right, one for winning on the first delivery. The winning speech is loaded into the next room's plan.

#1. Record your speech: the five cards in order (short names are fine) and your label for each. Which groups voted no? 9-10SL3

Example (the game's model speech): Maya at the bus stop (pathos), AAP recommends 8:30 (ethos), Not a vacation (pathos), CDC: 8 to 10 hours (logos), First-period class (ethos). All 30 voted yes. Check the cards, labels, and votes against the run log on the My work page.

Common wrong answer	What it shows
AAP recommends 8:30 labeled logos	It is a recommendation from a group of children's doctors. Trust in experts is ethos.
CDC: 8 to 10 hours labeled ethos	It names the CDC, but the game counts it as logos because its main work is the math (8 hours before 6:00 is 10:00). A fair point to discuss.

#2. 18 of the 30 council members are moved by stories, and they start at −2. Why can't a speech with no pathos win this room? 9-10SL3

They need +3 to reach +1. Pathos moves them +1 a line, but every other line moves them only +0.5, so five lines with no pathos add at most +2.5 and they end at +0.5, still a no. Without those 18, at most 12 can vote yes, and the speech needs 20. The speaker has to fit the appeal to the audience.

Common wrong answer	What it shows
“Pathos is always the strongest appeal.”	Pathos is strongest only for listeners moved by stories. It moves skeptics 0. This room happens to be 18 story-lovers.
“The other cards are fallacies.”	Only three cards are fallacies. Ethos and logos still help these listeners, just +0.5 a line.

#3. “Every good school is switching, so we should too.” Which fallacy is this? Why isn't it a real reason, even if some listeners clap? 9-10SL3

Bandwagon: it says to do something because others are doing it. That gives no evidence that a later start helps students. “Every good school” also exaggerates, with no proof. In the game, moved-by-stories listeners clap (+0.5), but skeptics drop 1.5 and data-minded and trusts-experts listeners drop 0.5. Applause is not the same as a good reason.

Common wrong answer	What it shows
“Ethos, because it talks about good schools.”	Thinks naming others builds trust. There is no expert and no experience, only “others are doing it.”
“It's a strong argument because the council liked it.”	Mixes up what one audience likes with what is logical. The logic is still broken, and the next rooms punish it.

After a miss: A speech lost. Which group stayed below +1? Which line did little or backfired, and why? 9-10SL3

Most misses here leave the 18 story-lovers short. Example: “We used Maya, AAP, and three logos cards in a row. Line 4 counted half and line 5 counted zero, so the story-lovers ended at +0.25 and voted no. Only 12 voted yes.” Or: “We used Maya, AAP, and all three fallacies. Data-minded ended at 0 and trusts experts at +0.5, so only the 18 story-lovers voted yes.” Look for the group, the line, and the rule.

Level 2: Parent Association

Room: 8 data-minded (start −2.5), 10 trusts experts (−2.5), 8 moved by stories (−1), 4 skeptics (0).
A speech wins exactly when it uses ethos, logos, and pathos, no fallacy, no appeal twice in a row, and no third logos card (720 winning orders). Two ethos + two logos + one pathos: 30 yes. Two ethos + one logos + two pathos: 22 (the 8 data-minded vote no). One ethos + two logos + two pathos: 20 (the 10 trusts experts vote no).
Any fallacy caps the room at 12 yes: data-minded and trusts-experts parents need +3.5, and after a −0.5 the other four lines give them at most +3.
The game's model speech: Maya at the bus stop, AAP recommends 8:30, CDC: 8 to 10 hours, First-period class, One hour later (pathos, ethos, logos, ethos, logos). 30 of 30.
The winning council speech is loaded here. The council's model speech still wins (22), but most council winners use a fallacy and lose.

#4. Record your speech: the five cards in order (short names are fine) and your label for each. Which groups voted no? 9-10SL3

Example (the game's model speech): Maya at the bus stop (pathos), AAP recommends 8:30 (ethos), CDC: 8 to 10 hours (logos), First-period class (ethos), One hour later (logos). All 30 voted yes. Check it against the run log on the My work page.

#5. The game loaded your winning council speech into this room. Would it win the parents? Use the room table to explain why or why not. 9-10SL3

It depends on the speech, so check the reasoning against the numbers. A council speech with a fallacy can't win here: the 8 data-minded and 10 trusts-experts parents start at −2.5 and need +3.5, and a fallacy costs them 0.5, so the most it gets is 12 yes. The game's model council speech (two pathos, two ethos, one logos) still wins with 22, but its one logos line leaves the 8 data-minded parents at +0.5. Strong answers name a group, its start, what moves it, and where it ended. One speech doesn't fit every room.

Common wrong answer	What it shows
“Yes, it won before, so it will win again.”	Doesn't read the new audience. This room has 18 parents at −2.5 who are moved by logos and ethos, not 18 story-lovers.

#6. “Anyone who disagrees just doesn't care about kids.” Which fallacy is this? Why isn't it a reason, and which parents turn against it? 9-10R8

Personal attack: it attacks the people who disagree instead of answering their reasons (like the cost of new bus schedules). It gives no evidence that a later start helps. Data-minded and trusts-experts parents drop 0.5 and skeptics drop 1.5. Story-lovers still clap (+0.5). Any speech with a fallacy loses this room (12 yes at most).

Common wrong answer	What it shows
“Pathos, because it's about caring for kids.”	It stirs feelings, but it insults the listeners instead of giving a reason. The game counts it as a fallacy.
“False choice.”	Mixes up the fallacies. A false choice offers only two options. This one attacks the people who disagree.

After a miss: A speech lost. Which parent group voted no? Which line or missing appeal caused it, and why? 9-10SL3

Examples: “We used Every good school. Data-minded and trusts-experts parents dropped 0.5 and ended below +1, so 18 voted no.” “We put CDC and One hour later back to back, so the second counted half. Data-minded ended at +0.5.” “We had no ethos, so the 10 trusts-experts parents stayed below +1.” A win needs ethos, logos, and pathos, no fallacy, and no appeal twice in a row.

Level 3: School Board

Room: 12 data-minded (start −2.5), 8 trusts experts (−2.5), 4 moved by stories (−3), 6 skeptics (−1.5).
A speech wins exactly when it uses AAP and First-period class (both ethos cards), two of the three logos cards, and one pathos card, with no appeal twice in a row: 288 winning orders, all 26 of 30. The 4 story-lovers end at 0 and vote no in every win.
Data-minded and trusts experts are exactly 20, so every one of them is needed. No speech with a fallacy gets a single yes vote. A repeat that counts half, or a second pathos card, loses.
The game's model speech: AAP recommends 8:30, CDC: 8 to 10 hours, Maya at the bus stop, One hour later, First-period class (ethos, logos, pathos, logos, ethos). 26 of 30. The parents' model speech also wins here. The council's model speech gets 8.

#7. Record your speech: the five cards in order (short names are fine) and your label for each. Which groups voted no? 9-10SL3

Example (the game's model speech): AAP recommends 8:30 (ethos), CDC: 8 to 10 hours (logos), Maya at the bus stop (pathos), One hour later (logos), First-period class (ethos). 26 of 30 voted yes. The 4 moved-by-stories members voted no (they end at 0 in every winning speech). Check it against the run log on the My work page.

#8. The 12 data-minded board members start at −2.5. Why did they need two logos lines? Why doesn't a third logos line help? 9-10R8

They need +3.5 to reach +1. Logos moves them +1 and every other appeal +0.5, so two logos lines and three other full lines give exactly +3.5 (2 + 1.5). With one logos line they reach only +0.5. A third logos line counts zero (“You already made that point”), and a logos line right after another counts half. Enough evidence means the kind this audience trusts, and enough of it, without repeating the same point.

Common wrong answer	What it shows
“More logos is always better, so use three.”	The third use of an appeal counts zero, so that slot is wasted. Data-minded members end at +0.5 or lower.
“Because they are skeptics.”	Mixes up the groups. Data-minded listeners and skeptics both get +1 from logos, but they are different groups with different starts.

#9. “Either we start later, or we admit we don't care if students fail.” Which fallacy is this? Name one option it leaves out. 9-10R8

False choice: it pretends there are only two options. Any reasonable third option counts, such as starting at 8:00 instead of 8:30, a later start for high school only, or changing bus routes. On the board, no speech with a fallacy gets a single yes vote.

Common wrong answer	What it shows
“Bandwagon.”	Mixes up the fallacies. Bandwagon is “others are doing it.” This one offers only two choices.
“Logos, because it reasons with either/or.”	It sounds like logic, but the logic is broken: those two options are not the only ones.

After a miss: A speech lost. Which board group voted no? Which line was wasted, cut in half, or backfired, and why? 9-10SL3

Examples: “One hour later came right after CDC, so it counted half. Data-minded ended at +0.5 and all 12 voted no.” “We used Maya and Not a vacation, so we had only one logos line, and data-minded ended at +0.5.” “We used Either we start later, and nobody voted yes.” A win needs both ethos cards, two logos cards, and one pathos card, with no appeal twice in a row.

When a speech lost (#10)

Any of the After a miss answers above. Look for the group that voted no, the line or missing appeal that caused it, and the rule: what that appeal does to that group, half or zero for a repeat, or a fallacy's drop.

Wrap-up: what persuades a skeptical audience

#11. What actually persuades a skeptical audience, one that starts against you? Use evidence from at least two rooms. 9-10R8

Claim: A skeptical audience is persuaded by relevant evidence and sound reasoning, enough of it and from more than one angle (logic and trusted experts), not by feelings alone or by fallacies. Evidence: The skeptics' row in How it works: logos +1, ethos +0.5, pathos 0, a fallacy −1.5. At the parent association, every speech with a fallacy lost (12 yes at most). At the school board, the winning speech (AAP, CDC, Maya, One hour later, First-period class) used two ethos and two logos lines and won 26 to 4, while any speech with a fallacy got 0 yes votes. At the student council, a pathos-heavy speech won because 18 of 30 were moved by stories, but the council's model speech got only 8 yes votes from the board. Reasoning: Listeners who start against you need reasons they can check: facts, math, and expert authority. A fallacy breaks the logic, so it costs trust, and repeating the same point adds nothing. A speaker has to read the audience and give it enough of the evidence it trusts.