J. Portnow's Design Challenge: P.E. Game

[EnSanity]

Sadr, that's pretty good, but you might want to make it so defenders aren't required to link hands, so they can move more quickly to where they are needed (they still won't be very effective shields). Also, your severely overestimating the first-grade vocabulary. Most have just started reading real sentences that year, and though it seems fine to you and me, if the opening speech was given to real first-graders, words like "prehistorical", "long range", "highly skilled", "collaborate", perhaps even "rifle", would go right over their heads.
Other word choice might also be called into question, words such as "kill" and "hunter". Schools attempt to shelter kids as much as possible nowadays , evidenced by the fact that dodgeball is now outlawed in schools in the state of New Jersey. Try using less violent cover-words.

[Sadr]

Originally Posted by EnSanity

Sadr, that's pretty good, but you might want to make it so defenders aren't required to link hands, so they can move more quickly to where they are needed (they still won't be very effective shields).

That might be, but it would really have to be put from theory into practice to see if that's really the case. I'll take it in consideration though, and I've added it to the "variations".

Originally Posted by EnSanity

Also, your severely overestimating the first-grade vocabulary. Most have just started reading real sentences that year, and though it seems fine to you and me, if the opening speech was given to real first-graders, words like "prehistorical", "long range", "highly skilled", "collaborate", perhaps even "rifle", would go right over their heads.

Well, first off remember that the gameplay is what's really important here. My game should allow for many different educational twists. Providing a proper example should make it easier to visualize what other kinds of topics could be brought into this game. Yes, some of the words might be a bit tough, but as 1st graders I'd expect them to ask the teacher about every single word they do not understand. I'd also expect the teacher to make any kind of adjustments necessary to my game in order to better fit this perticular class.

So yeah, they're just 1st graders. Meaning, if they finish that game having had a great physical exercise along with the knowledge that the word "prehistorical" has to do with 'a long long time ago', and that "collaboration" basically means teamwork, and that teamwork is important for nearly every exercise you don't do alone, then I'd consider the day an utter success.

Originally Posted by EnSanity

Other word choice might also be called into question, words such as "kill" and "hunter". Schools attempt to shelter kids as much as possible nowadays , evidenced by the fact that dodgeball is now outlawed in schools in the state of New Jersey. Try using less violent cover-words.

I always think we should be careful not to "shield" kids too much, but I do agree with you that some degree of subtlety should be applied; and it has. Notice that I've kept words like "kill" in parenthesis, indicating that this word doesn't have to come up unless for instance it's part of what they're supposed to learn. At age 6-7 I'd squashed and tortured my share of bugs and tiny critters already, until the day my parents sat me down and explained a thing or two to me about what I'd done, which made me feel differently about what I had done; well, made me feel something of it at all. Heck, it might've been the first time I consciously felt remorse for something I had done.

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

[EnSanity]

I'm not saying I agree with it, just that a lot of teachers do.

[Sadr]

Originally Posted by EnSanity

I'm not saying I agree with it, just that a lot of teachers do.

Yeah I got that. I'm really just supposed to provide the game though. How the teacher chooses to educate his/her students is up to him/her.

Took a trip back home today and I got to discuss the concept with my mum, who has taught students from 1st grade all the way up to the 10th grade (note that I live in Norway). We talked quite a bit about "death" in perticular, and it's a difficult topic indeed. We seemed to share the opinon that it's a schools reponsibility to introduce students to this kind of subject at some point, although 1st grade might be a bit too early for some. Still, some parents choose to avoid these kinds of subjects, leaving their children clueless, which is why I feel any teacher should be prepared to talk about this (as neutrally as possible, i.e. keeping religion out of it) should the question arise.

[zero1328]

Here's what I emailed to Portnow. I decided, straight from the beginning, that the whole thing cannot be new or complex in any way. It can't be complex, because of the level of intelligence assumed in children at this age. It also can't be radically new or different. The general things taught in each grade are the same, but the variables that are difficult to determine in this short time frame would be the student's personal abilities, and the school's own personal standards of teaching. To have a higher chance of being adopted, it has to be either more general, or more basic. Or, flexible.

----------------

"Hot Potato Spelling"

In simple terms, this can be considered a combination of "I Spy", "Hot
Potato", and generally, some kind of spelling bee.

At the core, it will be played similar to hot potato. The children
form a circle, and pass a ball, randomly, to each other. To begin, the
first player (for example, the teacher), holding the ball, begins the
game with a regular "I Spy..." game. The student who guesses
correctly, will have the ball passed to them.

The student will then proceed to say the second letter, and pass the
ball on to another student. The next student states the next letter,
and so on, until the word is complete. The thrower might state the
next person's name, and/or tell them to spell it/keep going.

When the word is complete, the next holder of the ball will begin
again with "I Spy...", and the game continues.

People may become out of the game by taking too long to determine the
next letter, perhaps by either admitting they do not know, or someone
else stating the letter. In the case of the latter, the ball may be
passed to the person getting it correct, and they may proceed to pass
it further. If desired, this may also be a way for player to re-enter
the game.

People could become out of the game by dropping the ball, too.


This may be less applicable to first graders, where safety could be an
issue, but more randomness in passing the ball could be done by
throwing the ball randomly in the air, with the children in no defined
formation. This game could also be applied to other areas, and perhaps
in other grades, such as mental addition/subtraction, or
multiplication tables for 2nd/3rd grade.

The "I Spy" part of the game was concieved only
because I couldn't think of a specific way to pick words. I suppose
having the teacher read off a list, or have another kind of short game
that involves guessing an object is fairly suitable. I Spy is fairly
limited by the objects in the environment.

[jillduffy]

I like where you were headed with the Hot Potato game, but I have a critique.

There isn't a lot of physical activity in the game, and I think to meet the needs of a physical education class, there needs to be more movement. Students are inactive as they stand there waiting for the ball to be thrown their way, and when students become "out," they are solidly inactive from that point on.

What could you add to the game to make it more in-motion?

[zero1328]

I was actually struggling to come up with ways to include movement in this proposal from the beginning. I had originally thought of playing this in a style similar to volleyball, which is why I mentioned "more randomness in passing the ball could be done by throwing the ball randomly in the air". However, the limiting factor is the fact that they are 6-7 year olds. This type of play is probably too dangerous at that age, but I'm not sure.

I have very little knowledge in "dodgeball", but I think using an element from that could be used. "Don't be hit, or you'll have to spell out this word!" or something.

Stealing a catch to be able to call out a letter, and perhaps making the intended recipient of the ball become out, could be incentive to move more, but won't work without another element, since the students will likely just pass to someone closer to them. This is where the element of making more random passes by throwing it in the air, can come in. Like I said, I'd need further confirmation on physical danger from such an activity.

In the current form, this game is clearly more suited as a type of warm-up game, instead of the main game in P.E., I think.

[jillduffy]

The results of the P.E. game for first graders Game Design Challenge are in. Congratulations to our three featured responses!

[TimEdwards]

Wahoo! I managed to make the top three! That made my day!

Although it would have been hilarious to have heard the stories from a teacher who tried it. I wish them all the best!

Thanks James and Congrats to everyone who took part!

Tim Edwards