The other day, I shared out my storyboarding process around game design. This week, my students have been working on their own storyboards for their own science-based video games. While this step may not help every single student, it does help many by focusing their attention on development of a game idea over a series of levels, and provides a road map forward. Here, one of my students explains her storyboarding, and her storyboard and two others are down below. (The video is part of a larger video project I am undertaking to document our work with video game design).
Peace (on the board),
Kevin
Last week, my seven year old son came home and said that he had been challenged by his school principal to a game of chess. I knew that the principal uses chess as a way to connect one-on-one with students (so my first thought was: what did my son do now?). But it turned out to be a friendly challenge, and now my son wanted to learn how to play chess so he could take on the big man. I had taught my older sons when they were about the same age, so I grabbed a chess board from my classroom and my boy and I started to play.
I also ordered this book, Gary’s Adventures in Chess Country by Igor Suhkin . I have long had a hard time finding a fun book that teaches kids about chess in a storyline. I remember complaining about this once to a writer friend of mine, who then went on to create a short story with chess as the narrative device that he got published in Cricket Magazine. Of course, I can’t find the story now. I even used chess as a device in a novella I started and abandoned, and may yet return to one of these days.
I took a chance on Gary’s Adventures because of mostly positive reviews, and while it is by no means perfect, the book is a nice combination of a storyline of Gary learning chess through a storyline, while the reader/player encounters multiples chess-based challenges that teaches you about the basic moves of all of the chess pieces and the history of the game itself. This book does a lot of things. The story is sort of weak, but it holds together long enough to engage my son, who spent a few days walking around with the book in his hands. The illustrations are colorful and nicely done in a sort-of anime style, and I do love the two-page challenge areas that scaffolds the movement of pieces on the board. (I also see that Suhkin has a series of books called Chess Camp that I might need to check out, too.)
I also downloaded a chess app from the Mac Store (Dinosaur Chess), but we haven’t even opened it up yet. Instead, we’re just playing the game, and he is a quick learner. With only a little help from me, he won his first game the other night. And he has already played his principal and has been asked by his classroom teacher to bring in the board and teach another student in the classroom (who wants to be able to play the principal, too).
This short video is part of a larger video I am creating about our video game design project. I have four students who have agreed to be talk about their efforts as we move along with the process. Here, I asked them why they like video games and whether they ever thought they might learn about game design. Surprisingly, one of them said they knew we were going to do it, although this is the first time I have ever brought it into the classroom (he may know someone who attended my video game camp).
I am fortunate to work with team members who are always open to my ideas around technology integration into our sixth grade curriculum. My science colleague, Lisa, in particular, has always been willing to join me on adventures with our kids as we seek ways to meaningful connect science to writing, and video game design is our latest project. (She has also carved out her own niche of expertise around effective use of Interactive Boards in science). Here, as part of a larger video I am doing about our game design project, Lisa and I chat about what we are up to.
I had my sixth grade students work on some brainstorming activities for their Geological Video Game Design Project, which then led to them blogging about what their “big concepts” are going to be when they frame their games and the challenges they are thinking about as game designers. Here are some of their posts, which are part of our “reflective game designers’ logs” writing component to the project:
The scientific concept we will using is the layers of the earth.We have chosen that scientific concept because it will be a cool level with magma in the asthenosphere bursting out at random times.The scientific vocabulary are the asthenosphere,lithosphere,crust,mantle,and core.The challenges might be making the magma come out at random times. — Kaira and Kenze
My game is going to be about Layers of the Earth. I chose that because I think I will be cool to use the layers as certain levels! Some of the things you will encounter are boss battles! Also mazes which you will need to answer a question correctly to move on to the right path. That is what my game on GameStar Mechanic is going to be. — Michael
The scientific concept for my video game is mountains, volcanoes, and layers of the earth. I chose this concept because it is a simple, yet complex design that will be fun to make. It will also be informative, but still a fun way for all ages to understand the earth. — Nikki
I chose volcanoes and the layers of the earth, because we are learning about those in science class.There are going to be the crust mantle and the core.You will have to climb mountains and volcanoes.For a challenge there will be a limited amount of time and lives. — Jenna
I want to build a game on the layers of the earth. I chose this because I have been lately been watching a lot of mining shows like Gold Rush. I plan to use all the layers of the earth and the two kinds of crust. you will encounter rock monsters,tremors,and magma flows. — Jarrod
My game idea is revolving around the idea of Volcanoes in Hawaii. I will add the idea of how Volcanoes work and where the lava comes from. Also that is where most Volcanoes are located. To make this game challenging, I will add enemies and a time limit to beat before the volcano erupts. — Wes
Our idea is on volcanoes and mountains. We think they are interesting, and we are learning about them in science right now. Also we like explosions and how volcanoes act. Are science vocabulary is active, anticline, convergent plate boundaries, dome mountain, fault block mountain, fold mountain, hot spot, lava, dormant, and volcano. The effects on the game and making it on volcano’s and mountains. — Becca and Morgan
I chose an underwater theme and a volcano theme for the levels because, the two themes bring in a lot of different vocabulary words, in just two simple themes.
I think my only challenges in making this game would be, trying to get all the items in the perfect place, and just justifying the my game. — Molli
I talked to my students about the “iterative design process” of making video games yesterday as we began our Geological Video Game Project and when we got to the part about the job of “game testers” at companies, they were intrigued to learn that people to get paid to play games. But, I reminded them, not just “play games,” but play games with a reflective eye, noting strengths and weaknesses so the developer can go back and revise, revise, revise.
I made connections between the game design process and the writing process, and I think I saw some lights going on.
Today, they will begin the brainstorming phase of their project: coming up with an overarching scientific idea for the game they are going to create in Gamestar Mechanic. Then, they will launch into storyboarding out the levels of their game. This becomes their “map” for development of the game, although I was honest in saying that it won’t be surprising if the final game no longer resembles the storyboard because ideas change as games go under development. We storyboard to keep focus.
I am going to share out my own storyboard for my Women in Science game, which I am using as a model of a multi-level game that entertains (I hope) and educates. This is where I began:
This is where I ended up with my Women in Science video game (go ahead, please try the game, if you haven’t. I need as many players as possible so that I can share out game stats with the kids later this week.)
Today, we launch into our science-based video game design unit. I figure it is a good time to do a video reflection, and I will try to add more reflections as we go along. The “talking through” ideas can be helpful to me, and hopefully, to you if you are considering game design as a possible activity for your classroom, too. I am also including the handouts that we are working with this week. Feel free to steal what you need for your own projects, if it is helpful.
(from Boolean Squared)
(This post is also a podcast)
I remember well the ink-stained fingers. On Sunday mornings, before anyone else received their delivery of the New Haven Register, I would sit on top of the red newspaper box where the bundles would get delivered. First, I would open up the pack by slitting open the plastic wrapper with my pocket knife, and then I would open up the first newspaper on top, turning quickly to the colored comic section. The rest of week wa black and white, but on Sunday, it was full color. It was early enough in the morning that there was often not much traffic along the main street of my town, and in some seasons, I’d have to use the streetlight above for a reading lamp.
But there I would sit, enjoying the first look at Sunday comics before anyone else. And my fingers would turn a rainbow hue from the ink coming off the news, the black of the front page mixed with the colored ink of the comics. My reading done, I would pack up the bundle and begin my methodical journey around the neighborhood, delivering the newspapers. All the while, though, my mind would be replaying the antics of Calvin and Hobbes, or the adventures of Spiderman, or nutty ideas of The Far Side, some of which I still don’t get.
I was thinking of those Sunday mornings the other day because I have a book collection of the comic, Zits, and along with many great strips that appeal to the comedy of being a father of a teenager, the book includes many short narratives of famous comic creators about their memories of comics as a child. Some write about their parents forbidding them from reading the funny pages, which only made it more enjoyable. Others write about where their inspirations as a writer come from, or where their drawing styles emerged from.
For me, the comics were part of childhood, and when I became an adult, I realized that I wanted to try my hand at creating a comic. I chose the classroom as my setting, and technology as the wedge, and created Boolean Squared. The art is minimal at best (I wish I had a partner) but I loved the writing challenge of a comic, and for a year, it ran in the online edition of our local newspaper, The Springfield Republican. I published about 150 comics during my two-year stretch and then retired it. Writing and publishing Boolean Squared was an incredible joy, and a whole lot of work.
The experience made me think of writing and creating in a whole new way, and I still bring comics into my classroom on a regular basis for teaching writing craft and for students, to write. They may never experience the ink-stained fingers of my own childhood (kids don’t deliver newspapers anymore, do they?) but at least they can experience the genre of comics, and who knows? One of them just might be a budding webcomic creator and they just might remember that teacher who valued comics as a piece of writing and art.
Peace (in the funnies),
Kevin
NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue and Defense Society. Now, that’s a good acronym. Writer Michael Buckley’s series about a super spy group of odd characters with strange, nerdy powers is an action-filled romp that feels like a kid version of James Bond. There are now three books in the series, and I finally got around to reading the first one (after being pressed by a student, who assured me I would like it. Do they see me as a Nerd?)
The story is about Jackson Jones, a former athlete and cool kid, who becomes part of a group of spies, made up of all the kids he used to pick on and bully when he was cool. Buckley keeps the pedal to the metal in this story, although we do get the predictable story of Jackson earning the trust of his fellow Nerdians (it helps when you save the world and rescue them from the clutches of the evil nemesis). What I liked most is the mix of adventure and humor that Buckley injects into the story. It is quite witty, and you can see how Buckley set up the entire series in this first novel.
And it’s nice that Buckley has carved out a cool zone for the nerds of the world. But we all know, nerds now rule, right? All technological innovation is coming from the heads and skills of the same kids we used to ostracize as geeks and outcasts. Here, they emerge as saviors of the entire world and the last best hope for mankind.
I love this quote from one of the characters, as they explain this shift to Jackson:
“The dorks, the dweebs, goobers and spazzes that you picked on are the ones who will grow up to discover the vaccines, write the great novels, push the boundaries of science and technology, and invent things that makes people healthier and happier. Nerds change the world.” (p. 190)
Have you ever asked your students what kind of games they play outside of school? I did, mainly because we are moving into a game design unit next week and I was curious about what games they like to do in their own time. I told them it could be video games, board games, playground games, whatever. The list I got from my students included a lot of games I know but also, a lot I don’t know.
The one that kept popping up on some lists was Minecraft, and I have one student who is constantly talking to me about it. I don’t know much about it, other than what I have read in magazines and what my student has talked to me about. But I think I might need to delve into the world-building game a bit more, and my navigator might be my student. I was thinking of how I could have my student be the teacher in the classroom, showing me (and then, showing his peers) what Minecraft is all about.
I liked that Chess was on the list. There was a time when I taught my students how to play Chess, but I haven’t done that in some time. I’d like to do that again. (I am now teaching my seven year old son the game. It brings back memories of teaching my older sons, too, but now the oldest one kicks my butt every time. I may need to keep some tricks up my sleeve. At my younger son’s school, the principal sets aside time in his day to play Chess with students. I think that’s a great idea.)
What games do your students play? And why do they keep playing them? (which is really what I am after here, as we begin to think about how to engage a player in a game)
