Teacher(s) Name: Mrs. Deyo
School: Baker ES
Grade Level(s): Grade 4,Grade 5
Content Area(s): Language Arts
Lesson Summary
Students will promote literacy through the creation, evaluation, and publication of narrative video games on the school library website. Games will feature characters, settings, conflicts, and resolutions from student selected novels. Using a rubric, students will evaluate their peers’ games and vote for their favorite game as the winner for the School Library Month Video Game Challenge.
TIPC Ratings
Research & Information Fluency
Rating:Approaching – Explanation: Although this was not a formal research project, students had to apply basic research skills to troubleshoot problems they encountered. They had to answer questions such as how can I recreate story elements in a video game? They sought answers by researching other games to see how other game developers accomplished the task. Since this was a library club project and not a graded classwork assignment, we had limited time to complete the work, so I had to preselect games for students to “research.”
Communication & Collaboration
Rating: Approaching – Explanation: Students may have been working on their own individual games, but they worked together to help each other reach their goals. Students communicated digitally using Google Classroom and evaluated each other’s work using Google Forms. Their final products are being shared on our library website where they can communicate their ideas with a worldwide audience.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: To complete this task, students had to learn how to use Gamestar Mechanic and think through the process of building a video game. What are the benefits for using a top down or platform perspective? How can I make the enemies move a certain way? How does adjusting the gravity setting affect game play? At the end of the unit, students have the opportunity to reflect on their learning using a 3-2-1 strategy: describe three things they learned, two things they would improve upon, and one goal for the future.
Creativity & Innovation
Rating: Ideal – Explanation: Students had to synthesize details from their novels with game design building strategies to create a new product, the video game book trailer. On their final reflection, they describe the choices they made as well as the thought process behind it. Why does this avatar best represent the main character of the story rather than another one?
Student Artifact
Lesson Materials
