On a side note:
I am also doing no digital lessons for the first few weeks.
Does anyone have a good standalone lesson they could share?
The one I did yesterday was fun.
-90min block
-Single period lesson, focus is on making a game fun and iterating after playtesting
Let kids choose group or solo and write their group on the board and circle it (I use these to draw lines between groups to pair them up for playtesting)
Go outside and design a tossing game in about 10min (I had given them 10min at the end of last class to start thinking of ideas, so some came in ready).
Materials - ping pong balls, tennis balls, bean bags, chalk, tape, plastic bins, plastic cups
Walk around checking in with each group, asking questions to find where they will get stuck, what they are missing, give small suggestions
15min later walk inside
Describe what we are going to do. Each group got partnered with another on the board.
Playtest one game and give feedback, then switch and playtest the other team's game.
Go outside, walk around asking them questions. Really focus on what they kids have learned through playtesting and what changes they are going to make.
Make sure kids notice they can learn from verbally getting feedback, but also from watching where players got stuck/bored/etc, where they had fun, etc
Back inside, talk, goal is your game should now be at least slightly different from the first round. What changes are you going to make? Why?
New partners (lines on the board connecting groups)
Back outside playtest
Repeat for 3rd playtest
Back inside with 15ish minutes left at the end of class.
Students clean up and do written reflection.
Reflection focuses on:
1. Original game
2. What 3 iterations did you make and why did you make them?
3. Overall reflection/take-aways.
It was really fun, and there are always really creative games. We just have a big blacktop area near the classroom so we aren't disturbing other classes (at the end of the building).
Cheers,
Brendan