Contemporary Social Studies

Contemporary Teaching in Social Studies Project

Ayiti: The Cost of Life Lesson Plan

Description:
Ayiti: The Cost of Life is a role-playing video game in which the player assumes the roles of family members living in rural Haiti. At the start of the game, the player chooses a primary goal for his/her family: achieve education, make money, stay healthy, or maintain happiness. During the course of the game, the player encounters unexpected events and must make decisions that contribute to or detract from achieving the chosen goal. The game takes about 25 minutes to play, so students will be encouraged to play multiple times. At the end of the game, students will take an online quiz to help them reflect upon what they learned during game play. After students have played the game they will discuss their experiences with the class.

Lesson Outline:

Day 1: I will provide some background information about Haiti. I will also show the students the basics of game play using an LCD projector.

Day 2: Students will play Ayiti in the computer lab.

Day 3: Classroom discussion about their experiences playing Ayiti.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:
? Use an online game to understand conditions in developing nations (specifically in contemporary Haiti) and how poverty is an obstacle to education. (NC Competency Goal 5).
? Develop problem-solving, critical thinking and life skills such as resource management, budgeting, and planning for the future. (NC Competency Goal 6).

Tools & Materials:
? Computers with Internet access

? Ayiti: The Cost of Life. URL www.costoflife.org

? Map of Haiti (I will also use Google Map to show the topographical difference between Haiti and the Dominican Republic)

21st Century Skills:

? Critical Thinking & Systems Thinking (Exercising sound reasoning in understanding and making complex choices, understanding the interconnections among systems.)
? Global awareness
? Problem identification, formulation and solution (Ability to frame, analyze and solve problems.)
? Social Responsibility (Acting responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind; demonstrating ethical behavior in personal, workplace and community contexts.)

Discussion Questions:

1. What was it like playing the game?

2. What was the game about and how would you describe it to a friend?

3. Which primary objective did you select, and why?

4. What types of decisions did you have to make about the family members while

playing the game and trying to achieve your objective?

5. What strategies did you use? For example, did you combine work and school, or

did you send everyone to work? Which worked? Which did not?

6. Why would parents choose to devote so much effort to sending their children

to school?

7. How many of you were able to keep the children in school?

8. What obstacles did you face in trying to keep them in school?

9. How do the situations and options in the game compare with those in your own

community?

10. Why might access to education be a challenge in another country?

11. What factors would make it easier for the children in the game to gain access to

education? What conditions could be changed and how?

Posted by tsrhue ( Nov 04 2007, 11:38:23 AM EST ) Permalink Comments [0]