Not this Game Card - this was a quick mock-up.
Play is Engaging
Put a little mystery and imagination in every student's day, give them responsibility and purpose, and students won't disappoint you. The WAY Game needs student-created Game Cards made from daily lessons in all subject areas - Memory Triggers represented in Graphics, Questions and Activities. Each Game develops an essential lifelong skill. Students interact more with one another through games and peer tutoring.
An apology and thank you to all my student's parents who had to struggle with formatting and printing Game Cards in the days before this website; you were the pioneers of the WAY Game from home. Thanks to all the parents who took time out to come to our class and participate in the WAY Game. Thanks to my students who put so much effort into their Game Cards, I'm proud of all of you.
Weekly Game Cards was one of my few homework requirements, which we'll talk about later. Reviewing and improving CAP Notes transforms homework into Game Prep Time. Sharing your Game Card creations is an expectation for all. Play live with family and friends, then reach out online as an AWAY Team.
I personally enjoy making Game Cards, the creativity involved, and the intent to show someone you care about creatively documenting good times that are remembered that I treasure our time together. The challenge is to find the time and motivation to make your first Game Card. It's a good idea to start with yourself as an exercise in self-awareness and holistic thinking. Say no more.
Focus Questions
Learn How and Why Game Cards are made.
Outcome - Be able to participate in the WAY Game.
2. How are Game Cards "works of science?"
Outcome - Know why.
3. How to create and evaluate Questions and Activities for the WAY Game using AI Prompts.
Outcome - Learn how to question and make Q & A's.
Steps
1 Study the Game Cards, Read the Introduction, and Understand Holistic Thinking.
2 Get design ideas by watching Game Card samples from 5M.
3 Select a Game Card format that you'll use to make Game Cards. I recommend PowerPoint.
4 Watch the Game Card Construction video of the format you will use.
5 Watch Kids talk about their Game Cards video.
6. AI Demo cut and paste Teacher Story and paste into OneNote. Try the Immersive Reader under the Tools Menu.
7. Make your first Game Card
How the WAY Game Develops Holistic Thinking
A Selection of Game Cards from 5M 3:02
Game Card Construction PowerPoint 16:58
Microsoft Word [3 years ago] 6:23
Pages for Mac [3 years ago] 6:09
Game Card Talk 9:59
Students Talk Game Cards 3:33
Free Student's Game Card Template on Microsoft Word, Apple Pages & PowerPoint
Old Game Card Template - Check out the new ones.
Game Card Template Microsoft Word
PowerPoint for Students and Parents
Game Card Template Apple Pages
Game Card Template Player's PowerPoint
Game Card Evaluation for Students
AI Demo - cut and paste Teacher Stories and paste into OneNote. Try the Immersive Reader under the Tools Menu. Do other things and listen.
Teacher Stories
When is a Lesson too Good a Lesson?
Let's begin with what a parent of the biggest boy in my grade five class said to me on the first day of school. "Are you going to tell your Ghost Story on Halloween?" It seems the news of last year's story was out in the community; parents talk. "Oh, no, no, no," I said.
I knew what had gotten out - in the middle of my Reader's Theatre Ghost Story, one of my students jumped up and ran out of the room. I can't remember if she screamed or said, "I'm out of here." Some background information is necessary. I blame it on Jean Louis, an influence growing up.
My childhood friends were different from the kids of today. In a time before technology, we made fun until we were whistled in for dinner. Jean Louis was my older brother's age - we were about two years apart, but he was the guy who built the clubhouse, built the wooded tank and the one who put together my first Haunted Hose, a makeshift collection of 'scary things' like put your hand in the black box - what do you feel? Cold spaghetti, then the guy in the mask, and there was always a tunnel made from pillows. I believe that to be an early influence. I started making my own Haunted House as the Drama teacher at Bishop Kidd, in my Theatre in the Round. The project was an exercise in Readers Theatre. Junior High classes were invited in as my drama class funnelled students through the different sections of the 'Tunnel of Terror' where props, make-up, costume design, and special effects were created. When students finished with the 'tunnel,' they were treated to ghost stories put on by the class. We even had a flying ghost [which was my wife's old wedding dress - it was just lying around the basement.] She didn't recognize her dress at first, but I fessed up. A piece of advice: don't assume things - ask permission.
Lesson Plans were posted online. For five years, our class website has attracted approx. ten thousand visitors a year.
So it was this tradition of scaring children that set the stage for Halloween at Cardinal Newman; I had put on the same class for years before, improving the lesson from year to year. Actually, when we get into Digital Lesson Planning, I'll show you my posted lesson plan.
There were a couple of short warm-up stories; I had links to Mary Ellen Spooks, a famous Ghost Story from Nova Scotia. The story was about what happened when a group of friends from my Anthropology class at St. F. X visited the Spook farm, where a mysterious Gingerbread Man-shaped figure was burnt into the moss. I always challenge my students to come up with an explanation for what we saw, but that's a story for a different time. The point is, this is the story I told the class.
As a former drama teacher, I learned and brought with me some of the 'tricks of the trade' from my Haunted House days. Create a little mystery and imagination in students' minds, and you have a captive audience. My lesson was an exercise in Reader's Theatre, complete with black shrouds, candlelight and the show's star - Charlie McCarthy.
Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Berman had a ventriloquist act popular around WW2. I thought my namesake would be a perfect prop for my special effects. But since that time, it was Hollywood that transformed the image of Charlie McCarthy into Chucky. I had never seen a Chuckie Movie, but the kids had. Charlie took on a new meaning for them, from a wise-cracking adolescent to a killer.
I liked Halloween at school; once upon a time, students in our district dressed up for Halloween, but that was squashed by the school district years ago. When I moved from junior high to grade five, Halloween would be marked with ghost stories in a Readers Theatre setting. Being old and somewhat adventurous, I've had a few experiences with what is referred to as the supernatural. A true ghost story is always better than fiction. So, I had been telling my Mary Ellen Spook story for years; my Halloween class became more theatrical in the last few years. Over the year, students would learn about Readers Theatre, set design, special effects and public speaking. Students were invited to tell their own spooky stories. These were good days with a little extra effort put into the lesson.
Picture this: I had given the background to the story and had the students sitting on the floor in front of my small set. Charlie was seated center stage; the students didn't know that I had attached some fishing line to Charlie, and when we were well into the story, I would secretly pull the fishing line, which made Charlie move. When it happened the first time, I played coy, "No, you must be mistaken; Charlie didn't move, I would say and go on with the story. The second time Charlie moved, I had the same reaction. The third time Charlie moved, a girl jumped up and ran out of the class in what I can only assume was terror.
At the time, I complimented her in front of the class for being the only smart one to recognize potential danger and remove herself from the situation; she did the right thing. I always tried to smooth things over for a student when classmates could bully them for being seen as too this or too that, which can happen out of the blue; teachers need to have core values that protect students in their care. Listen first, then react, not the other way around.
Had I gone too far, was the lesson too good? I turned the incident into a teachable moment of not believing that what you see is real. A class in Reader's Theatre and simple, special effects had a ripple effect on the community. Afterwards, Renee confessed to me that she had been watching scary movies with her father the night before, which probably led to her reaction, which saved me a little bit when I sat down with her father shortly after at Meet the Teacher [Creature] night.
We seem to be at a time when teachers are being judged more severely and frequently over what they did or didn't do. My advice is to err on the side of caution. A reputation takes time to develop, is difficult to create and is easy to destroy - guard your reputation in and outside the classroom because people are watching and judging, now more than ever.
What's Next
Support Materials for the WAY Game.