A middle school board game curriculum developed by Greg Pool of Haole Boy Games as an enrichment class for the Lyceum of Monterey County in 2011.
Go beyond Monopoly and Clue with board games that have something Xtra! Learn to play games that inspire analysis and critical thinking under the guise of having way too much fun. We’ll game with good sportsmanship and fair play to socialize and create friendships. Themes include exploring southern France, building trains across the United States, dominating ancient Egypt, and exploring a sinking island full of treasure!
To introduce contemporary yet novel strategy board games to a group of students under the guise of building higher order thinking skills, as well as critical and creative thinking via Bloom's Taxonomy (i.e. analysis, synthesis, evaluation).
The course is composed of four 1.5 hour sessions:
Week 1: Carcassonne
Week 2: Ticket To Ride
Week 3: Ra
Week 4: Forbidden Island
Week 5: Optional tournament or learning Setters of Catan.
Maximum of eight students for two four-player games during one session. Minimum of three students is required.
Teach five sessions (8 hours total). The first four sessions introduce a new board game lasting 1.5 hours. The instructor teaches the students how to play and the students use the rest of the time to finish the game. The remaining minutes would be used for reflection and socialization. The fifth session would involve a two hour tournament where the students would first choose and then play their favorite of the four games played.