1.1 Skills:

• 1.1.1 Games rich in historical connections, such as 1960: The Making of the President and Twilight Struggle, allow students, through inquiry, to seek knowledge in curricular subjects and connect their activities back to the real world.

• 1.1.2 Often, a game’s mechanics will utilize previously learned curricular skills (Numbers League & Lost Cities). Or, due to its theme (Once Upon a Time & the 10 Days series), game play benefits from the use of prior knowledge.

• 1.1.5 Countless games require the evaluation of information. Whether it is determining which role would be most beneficial (Citadels & Puerto Rico) to analyzing social cues and behaviors to deduce who is playing subversively (Shadows Over Camelot & Saboteur); games demand evaluative decisions.

• 1.1.6 Students are active participants in the gaming experience, taking in information to make inferences and gather meaning. A prime example would be a student working out an opponent’s strategy in Ticket to Ride or Hive based on what the pieces they have played or on any potential moves available.

• 1.1.9 Games like Lord of the Rings and Pandemic facilitate a platform for collaborative game play, allowing students to discuss and work in teams with others to help broaden and deepen their understanding.

1.2 Dispositions in Action

• 1.2.2 At a younger age, games like Froggy Boogie and Snorta help students build confidence and direction by providing opportunities for making independent choices when selecting information.

• 1.2.4 Some games, such as Citadels and Shadows Over Camelot, contain a “traitor” mechanic that provides opportunities for students to question the validity and accuracy of information presented.

1.3 Responsibilities

• 1.3.2 Max, a primary level collaborative game, provides opportunities for the development of social understanding and individual respect as students seek a variety of perspectives when gathering and assessing information before making decisions.

1.4 Self Assessment Strategies

• 1.4.1 Games are engaging and often have a learning curve that builds towards proficiency. Students have the potential to excel within the game by self-monitoring how they utilize information during play to determine if its usefulness and effectiveness.

A far cry better than…..

On the verge of being too…..

Whoa, I forgot you were playing too…

These are the thoughts that bounce around when I reflect on the 10 Days In… series.

Number of Players: 2 to 4
Grade Levels: Middle and Up
Length: 20 Minute

This is the first of two parts, connecting the new AASL’s Standards for the 21st Century Learner to board games. Infomancy’s Christopher Harris, myself and a number of librarians spent a morning putting together a document showing how the new standards relate to gaming.

I wanted to take a few minutes to show that gaming also strongly corresponds to the many of the Common Beliefs laid out by the AASL.

Inquiry provides a framework for learning.
Games not only introduce basic skills which are applicable away from the table, they also provide the motivation to explore and refine those skills.

Ethical Behavior in the use of information must be taught.
Through positive experiences in gaming, students come to appreciate the validity of varying approaches to problems and the importance of ethical choices.

Individuals need to acquire the thinking skills that will enable them to learn on their own.
Games often make use of similar skill sets but vary the interface and mechanics through which they are employed allowing players to selectively apply and reinforce prior knowledge.

Learning has a social context.
Games provide opportunities for individuals to develop and practice the skills necessary to successfully share and learn with others.

Last night the masses sat huddled in line. The singer, guitarist and drummer were still warming when they started letting people in the door. The placed was close to capacity. Fans jostled to get a better view.

This is how the gaming and gadgets event kicked off. The room was packed with librarians of all age brackets playing, socializing and engaging each other… playing.

Too often we forget how to play. That wonderful embrace of spontaneous silliness is slowly crowded out by the ever-growing pieces of responsibility baggage that we start to pick up on our dash out of adolescence.

Last night successfully captured that magic and brought all of the positive benefits that come with play:

• imagination, team work, support, encouragement, strategy, skill building, exercise, social connections, and a warm fuzzy feeling!

Thanks again to Jenny Levine and Aaron Schmidt for letting us come be a part of what was a wonderful evening!

My colleagues Christopher Harris, Andy Austin and I are hitting the road ala Hope, Crosby & Lamour and heading to Computers in Libraries and Internet@Schools East this Sunday.

We will be talking about open source alternatives to the current fare of Integrated Library Systems and highlighting Fish4Info, a social library experience which brings reviews, tags, ratings and more to the catalog.

Before that, we will be enjoying the Sunday “Gaming and Gadgets” night taking place in the Jefferson Room from 5:30 - 8:00pm. There will be board games, Guitar Hero, Rock Band and DDR with rumor of prizes for a tournament. For more information visit Aaron Schmidt’s Blog.

If you are going to be attending CIL08 stop down. We will be bringing the following board games from our game library for everyone to play:

• Shadows Over Camelot
• Thebes
• Settlers of Catan
• Puerto Rico
• Coloretto
• Lord of the Rings
• Ticket to Ride
• Citadels

I always have a bit too much on my plate, but then I wouldn’t have it any other way. As I made my way through some backlogged reading I came across this article by Dave Gibson featured in the American Chronicle:

Our Public Libraries Are Being Turned Into Video Arcades

In essence, Mr. Gibson contends that libraries are contributing to the dumbing down of America by shifting their focus away from literature. His memories of libraries are of a place of quiet reverence and literate study and that by offering movies and games, libraries are helping to contribute to illiteracy in America.

Literature is still relevant to today’s youth, but it is competing with a host of other leisure activities. And sadly, literature often gets lost in the shuffle. Today’s libraries have not stopped being a place where literature is respected or readily available. Nor have best sellers and classics disappeared from collection development. What some are noting is an adaptation in marketing.

Libraries have always been a social gathering space to learn, discuss and share ideas and information both of a scholarly and leisurely nature. Book clubs, weekend concerts and magicians are nothing new to library spaces. They were marketing tools that brought the community together and provided librarians an opportunity to meet new faces and share new books.

Games too, have been in libraries for many years, it is only the format and focus that has changed. Bridge clubs and chess matches easily fit the mold of THE TRADITIONAL LIBRARY. But those were older games that targeted an older crowd. Libraries are looking for authentic ways to connect with the youth and get them in the door.

What happens inside has not changed despite the years. Leisure activities and literature intermingle in a delicate dance, and yes… learning still takes place. Games convey a host of skills related to both traditional literacy/curriculum standards and more modern ones as well, see Gaming, School Libraries and the Curriculum, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee (Palgrave MacMillan 2003), and Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century by David Franklin Warlick (Linworth 2004).

You can still find traditional activities taking place in libraries across the country, but times change and libraries do too. Without growth and adaptation, libraries run the risk of becoming like Mr. Gibson’s halls of quiet reverence… a nostalgic memory.

Number of Players: 3 to 7

Together, a noble band of brave knights strive to fend off the onslaught of forces besieging Camelot while keeping an ever watchful eye on their own brethren. There are whispers of a traitor in their midsts. One of their own, striving to offset the company’s efforts to fill the halls of Camelot with the glories of triumph.

So the stage is set for Days of Wonder’s cooperative adventure: Shadows Over Camelot. Players take on the role of one of Camelot’s Knights of the Round Table and, working together, struggle to defend Camelot from the enemies that hope to see it fall. Struggle is an apt word to describe what lies ahead of the knights. Failure is ensured if the players do not work together and take advantage their unique qualities.

Game play is advanced through a variety of quests that the knights can take, earning them: white swords (which advance the group towards victory), cards (which are heart of the game play), and the coveted relics (Holy Grail, Lancelot’s Armor and Excalibur). A key twist to the game is the potential of a traitor working to undermine and sabotage all efforts of the loyal knights of Camelot.

What makes this game work so well is its ability to bring together groups of students who would not normally do so on their own. Shy students come out of their shells to offer their assistance and advice to the group while the headstrong learn how to rely on others. Aside from reinforcing the Arthurian mythos, the game works as a social tool whose need for cooperation, strategy and deduction create an enriched and engaging experience for students that will be requested again and again.

Award Notes:

* Spiel des Jahres award for Best Fantasy Game, 2006.
* Origins Award for Gamer’s Choice Best Board Game of the Year, 2006.

Grade Level: Primary

Players: 1 to 8

Time: 20 minutes

Games today come with bits. Shiny bits, wooden bits, chits and meeples, animeeples… We see the big box and the eye candy inside and we think, wow this has to be a great game. Sometime it is, but strip away the frills and flair and you are still left with a game.

Max is a simple, frill-free primary level game by Family Pastimes, a company that focuses on cooperative games. Unlike traditional roll and move games for children, where the players move their tokens and accept what fate awaits on each square as they race for the goal, players in Max work together to move three animals to safety before they are caught by Max the cat.

The game itself is quick to pick up and resembles a very elementary game but what sets it apart are the decisions needed to succeed. Each player rolls a pair of dice that feature both green and black dots. Green dots allow the player to move one of three wild animals toward the safety of the tree while the black advance Max. If players try to compete, with each focusing on moving one of the animals, they are very unlikely to advance very far. Instead, after each roll they will need to discuss and decide which animals would be the best choice to move in their attempts to escape from Max. This level of game play and need for cooperative dialog is a rare find among traditional children’s games.

Max uses a very simplistic game format to engage young children in the use of strategy. It asks them to work together to compromise and balance their choices. And it also introduces the concept of winning despite suffering a loss. Take that Candy Land!

Numbers League is a clever card offering from Rochester’s Bent Castle Workshop. Up to four players participate in this quirky superhero themed game of build and capture. The game’s 20-30 minute play time makes it an easy fit into a class period. And while the initial game incorporates elementary mathematics, the Infinity Level Expansion takes the skill level up to a middle school math.

In the center of the gaming area are various villains, each assigned a numerical value ranging from single digit negatives to around fifty. Players work to capture them by building superheroes from cards in their hands. Cards represent heads, bodies and legs of differing numerical quantities. Their body part’s combined value is used to match and thereby capture villains. So, a hero with a 3 head, -1 body and 2 legs could capture a villain with a value of 4.

A player can combine any number of heroes that they build to help them capture. The more superheros a player builds, the more combinations they have at their disposal. There are also community cards available for all players to swap from and use. If those cards make a complete hero, it serves as a side-kick that can be used by all players in their numerical assault on evil.

The last set of tools in the players’ arsenal are…tools. Boots, rayguns, belts and more serve as one time multipliers and modifiers to a hero’s value allowing them to more easily reach those difficult to reach values.

Numbers League is a game that succeeds where so many other “math games” have failed. It provides a quick and fun gaming experience with strong curricular connections while disguising math behind colorful, quirky graphics and an enjoyable mechanic.

Games engage students with authentic leisure experiences while reinforcing a variety of social, literary and curricular skills. When an educational concept is introduced and reinforced during a game, it is internalized as part of an enjoyable experience and further utilized as one aspect of a strategy to attain success.

Games also carry other benefits. They help students connect and build social skills, working as part of a team or negotiating the most advantageous situation for themselves. It also provides an opportunity for students to to explore a host of life skills not inherent in the curriculum , but important for success. Some of these include: micro-managing resources and options; actively re-evaluating, re-prioritizing and re-adjusting goals based on uncertain and shifting situations; determining acceptable losses in an effort to obtain an end goal; and employing analytical and critical skills to more authentic social experiences.

Here is a list of NYS standards currently supported by a well established school game library:

NYS Social Studies Standards:

• Standard 3: Geography Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live—local, national, and global—including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.
  • Ten Days In.. Series
  • Ticket to Ride Series

• Standard 4: Economics Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the U.S. and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and non-market mechanisms.
  • Catan Series
  • Puerto Rico

• Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other nations; the U.S. Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.
  • 1960: The Making of the President

NYS English Language Arts Standards:

• Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas, discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.
  • Skallywaggs
  • Quiddler

• Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will present, in oral and written language and from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.
  • Citadels
  • Shadows Over Camelot

• Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
  • Lord of the Rings
  • Once Upon a Time

NYS Math, Science and Technology Standards:

• Standard 1: Analysis, Inquiry, and Design Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.
  • Carcassonne
  • Zooloretto

• Standard 3: Mathematics Students will understand the concepts of and become proficient with the skills of mathematics; communicate and reason mathematically; become problem solvers by using appropriate tools and strategies; through the integrated study of number sense and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and statistics and probability.
  • Numbers League
  • Lost Cities

• Standard 7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make informed decisions.
  • Incan Gold (Diamant)

Health, Physical Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences:

• Standard 3: Resource Management Students will understand and be able to manage their personal and community resources.
  • Catan Series
  • Puerto Rico