Classroom Brainstorming Worksheets

[barc...@verizon.net]

I used ARIS last year with my 8th grade students with some success.  I was determined to make the lesson more structured and searched for worksheets or guides that would help my students learn ARIS and brainstorm their project.  I didn't find what I was looking for so I designed my own using the ARIS manual.  The brainstorming and instructions have been so successful this year that I want to share it with others.  Here is what I have done so far this year with my 8th graders:

1. I made a game around the school that the student played before they ever saw the arisgames website.  They saw it as fun, but it also taught them many features in ARIS.  In the game they had to scan a QR code, put in a decoder answer, find an answer on a website, make a video, take a picture, collect some items, and compare on old yearbook picture with the current location in the building.
2. Once the kids played the game I showed them how the game looked in ARIS on the computer.
3. Next I gave them the attached Publisher packet and printed out loads of brainstorming sheets that I created.  See attached.
4. The students were assigned in groups to make the story of "The Three Little Pigs" where the player was the big bad wolf.  First they brainstormed using the brainstorming sheets (printed the sheets on different colored paper) and large chart paper.  After I approved their brainstorming I allowed them to make the game on ARIS.   IT WORKED.  They were able to make playable games.  The excitement in the learning environment was incredible.
5. Next week they will start making an academic game that they will give to a teacher in the building. 

[Jim Mathews]

Awesome - thanks for sharing the story, activity, and materials. 

You may be interested in some of the materials in this workshop kit if you have not seen them yet. 

You can also share materials you produce with other ARIS users by dropping them into this folder (which is inside the Workshop Kit). There are only a few things in there now, but we would love to see more stuff added, especially in an editable format (so that people can riff on each other's work). 

- Jim 

[Christopher Holden]

Awesome work! I think this workflow and the materials you've created could be really helpful for many others. And thanks for sharing them here. 

What other challenges have you or others had some success in mediating? What aspects of game design feel like they might be improved by some additional materials or structures?

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[Julie Oltman]

So very cool.  Thank you for sharing! Every time I run an ARIS game with a class, they first question I get is HOW DO I MAKE ONE?!