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Gaming History
ON THE INSIDE The latest happenings in our area Page 4
March 3, 2016
Riverside students create educational game by Linda Scott
SPECIAL TO THE TRIBORO BANNER
Making history come alive is the goal of every teacher of the subject. That seems to be what’s happening for 12 Riverside School District East fifth-grade gifted students in Ryan Lindsey’s class. Using a relatively new teaching aid — an interactive whiteboard known as a smart board — the students are creating a game about the Revolutionary War. In the process, it has required them to research, gather facts and learn about the war that occurred between 1775 and 1783. The students chose from topics that they were interested in learning more about. They were assigned seven people, weapons or battles. They then had to come up with an additional three people, weapons or battles on their own. They studied famous people such as Benedict Arnold, Betsy Ross, George Washington and Paul Revere; famous From left, front row: Ava Kalteski, Nathan Connor, Gary Mrozinski, Alena Baldoni and Kaleb Hawkins. weapons such as bayonets, cannons and the flintlock pointer gun; famous Back row: Amir Akach, Jennifer Genell, Eliese Kosciuk, Nathan Oliphant, Gavin Hartman, Declan Bixler battles such as Lexington and Con- and Lindsay. cord, Bunker Hill and Saratoga. battles, vocabulary and more. fields they have to answer the question. Points They also learned new vocabulary words will be awarded for the degree of difficulty for “The direction page should be created in a such as treason, boycott and revolution. way that their classmates should be able to fol- the question. “The students used various internet web low their directions for the game,” said LindTeams can add points landing on a plus sites and their social studies text book to gain sey. Gavin Hartman chose the games Candy- space or loose points landing on a minus space. knowledge and gathered facts,” said Lindsey. land and Chutes and Ladders to base his game The team with the highest amount of points The students were then paired up to compare on. The game board will have 60 spaces and wins the game. what they had researched and learned. Two half of those will be devoted to questions. “It was a fun experience to create it,” said games will be created from these facts, based on “I thought it was fun,” he said of creating Jennifer Genell. “It is great knowing it will a board game such as Monopoly or Clue. The the game. “I like history and it was fun learning help other kids,” she added. students could also create their own game. the battles of the Revolutionary War,” he said. “The gifted students will play the game with “I like to learn new things and creating the The game will be played with three teams. other fifth-grade classrooms as an end-of-unit game was fun,” said Eliese Kosciuk. Using smart board software, a player will roll review before they take a test on what they The students chose to work on various pag- a dice. The player will move their game piece have learned on the Revolutionary War,” addes of the smart board game. The pages include of an American, British or French solider that ed Lindsey. “The students love it. It lets them an introduction, rules and directions, game amount of spaces on the game board. If they showcase their work in front of their peers and board, famous people, famous weapons, famous land on a space for people, weapons or battle- they become the teachers,” he said.
TS_CNG/TRIBORO/PAGES [T01] | 03/02/16
09:29 | CORNELLCHR