Make your rules as visual as possible:

For sequencing games, this may be a map, or a set of slots. For grouping games, this may be a chart, or a set of circles. For combination games, it might be a table or a map. Regardless of the set up, it’s important that you find a way to show the written rules visually. Doing this will involve combining rules, making deductions, and noting not only where items can go, but also where they cannot go.

Ex. You have five students  (F,G,H,I,J, K). Four students will attend a field trip according to the following rules:

• F will attend.
• G will attend only if either H or I attends.
• Either H or I will attend but not both.

Your set up would look something like this:

Notice that every rule is accounted for:

Making our game visual gives us a lot of information. 1: we know that there are two possible game boards (H attends or I attends). 2: We also know that only four students attend and because F will attend and either H or I must sit out, we have very limited possibilities for who can be on the trip in either scenario.

This enables us to answer questions like the following very quickly:

If K attends the field trip, what must be true:

A) H attends

B) I attends

C) F does not attend

D) J does not attend

E) G does not attend

(If K attends, J cannot attend, because F,G, and either H or I must fill the remaining spots.)