Visible Thinking Routine
Tug-of-War.
Two sides of a dilemma; participants 'pull' with their reasons.
Argument pattern
perspectives
reason
complexity
What is it
What is Tug-of-War?
Author labels two opposing positions. Participants submit reasons ("tugs") for either side and any "What if?" questions that arise.
Setup: What's the dilemma?.
How it works
The prompts
-
01
A 'tug' for the LEFT side
One reason that pulls you that way.
Response: Longtext · bucket: left
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02
A 'tug' for the RIGHT side
Response: Longtext · bucket: right
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03
A 'What if…?' question
A question that complicates the dilemma.
Response: Longtext · bucket: whatif
When to use
Good moments for Tug-of-War
- Classroom warm-up. Surface what students bring before introducing new content.
- After a reading or video. Consolidate big ideas without testing recall.
- Discussion starter. Responses become the seed material for the room conversation.
- End-of-session reflection. Capture how thinking changed.
Keep exploring
Other thinking routines
Browse all 21 routines in the gallery, filtered by the kind of thinking you want to surface — observation, perspective-taking, reasoning with evidence, or capturing the heart of an idea.