Realizing the C Common C Core Langu uage K‐12 Literacy an nd Mathem matics Staandards througgh Board G Game Play Introduction: mon Core and Mind Lab NY YC Shared Philosophic Vis ion Comm The Co ommon Core e Standards set s forth in rich r detail a broad vision n of what it m means to bee a literate studen nt who bringss extensive co omprehension n and founda tional skills to o fiction and informationaal texts. In line with the Com mmon Core V Vision, the Mind Lab Prograam includes rrigorous Read ding, Writing,, Speaking, Listeniing, and Langguage compo onents speciffically tooled toward nurtturing a literrate, college‐‐ready and careerr‐capable student. The Mind M Lab pro ogram uses games as springboard eexperiences tto situate: reading of informaational texts, writing of reflections, r w writing of tarrget reading responses, ggame play e of nuancedd language reelated to multicontent sub bjects. The necesssary partner//team discusssions, and use Mind Lab program m includes: a compendium m of brain tteasers, folk tales, inform mational textss, creative elling exercisses, graphicss driven narratives, embbedded docu ument chartss and rule p procedural storyte accoun nts. All of th hese materials, along with a student w workbook for individual leaarning writingg, reading, and re esearch skills, assure the effficacy of the e Mind Lab prrogram as an immediatelyy accessible gaame board platforrm for multip ple literacy insstruction.
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Key Featu ures of thee Standard ds: Mind Lab b Program Realizatio on Standards 1 1 and 2 Reading: Te ext Complexiity and the Grrowth of Com mprehension The Reading Stand dard focuses on text com mplexity and the growth of comprehension. Com mmon Core nd ideas. Stu udents are Standaards emphasize students’’ evolving capacity to maake fuller use of texts an sensitized to reading texts for inconsistencies, ambiguitiies, and faultty reasoning.. The key thrrust of the Readin ng Standard is i for studentts advancing through the grades to bee able to gain more from m whatever they read. r Classic myths and stories s from around the world are aamong the ccritical type o of content mandaated for stude ents. ey focus of th he Common Core’s desire ed reading skkills are that they enable the student reader to: The ke recogn nize and repo ort key ideas aand details frrom texts, reccognize and u use the craft and structuree of a text, and inttegrate the te ext knowledgge and ideas b by writing in rresponse to the text. Mind LLab Alignmen nt The Mind M Lab Proggram provide es a broad co ompendium oof brain teaseers; logic puzzles; plot sum mmaries of world literature classics; c stud dent‐centered d narratives;; student in nteractive deeduce‐your‐own‐ending storiess; and short, d deliberately ffaulty informaational texts tthat challengge students’ ccapacity to co omprehend texts. Among the b breadth of Mind Lab literaacy focused innformational and fictive pieces are: Greeek myths, p naarratives, earrly childhood d family storries, toy stories, Think‐ Americcan and World History personality tionaryy (a glossaryy of key worrds and term ms), World Cllassic literatu ure summariees, animal faables from Americcan and interrnational folklore, pour qu uoi tales, inforrmational gam me linked narratives, com mplex logics puzzles necessitating table solu utions, and game g designeer back storiies. Finally, tthe Mind Lab b Program u of quote es‐ such as “A All is for onee and one iss for all” as d discussion prrompts for makess deliberate use decisio on making, gaame play, and d critical thinkking. wide range off topics and genres for eeach grade Mind Lab providess illustrative texts that reepresent a w level Mind Lab range, quality aand complex ity of texts in ncludes: slicees of history ((Hannibal), A sampling of the M David and Go oliath), inform mational matterials and d documents reelated to Leo onardo Da biblicaal excerpts (D Vinci, Land of Gam mes and Toyyland childre en’s tales, in spirational stories about Four‐in‐a R Row World Champ pionship winners, tales from f Greek mythology inncluding that of Ariadnee and Thesus, student centerred narrativess, animal fab bles (the Donkey and the Mule, the Biirthday of the Lion, the M Milk of the Lionesss), Invention of Chinese Checkers narrrative, the 11672 jail breaak from Cartagena, and tthe factual
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ma” code story from Worlld War II. No ot only are thhese quality ttexts from a rrange of genres shared “Enigm with students, but students also o study, discuss, and appply insights fro om them thrrough the Traansference and Making M Conn nections com mponents of the Mind Lab Program m to other subject con ntent and person nal/real world d situations. These conne ections are al so extended and articulated within th he Student Workb book so they are documen nted as part o of the evolvinng portfolio o of Mind Lab C Common Corre Reading, Writing, Speaking, LListening and Vocabulary A Accountabilitty. In add dition, two key components of the Mind M Lab Proogram focus on students independenttly making connections betwe een informational texts re elated to theiir grade multti‐content top pics and to th heir actual nal lives. The Mind Lab Program defines “Trannsference“ ass making exxplicit readin ng content person connections between the games and science e, mathematiics, literaturee, art, physicaal education, and social studies/history topics taught. TThis feature of Mind Lab e nsures that sstudents havee fuller opporrtunities to make use of class aand independent subject ccontent texts as they articulate the exaact connection between ontent and game g strateggy. Such con nnections im pel enhancin ng inference, deductive reasoning, this co argum mentation, inte erpretation aand other reading compre hension skillss. Parallelingg this Mind Laab initiated enhancement of Reading Skills,, the Mind Laab Program aalso invites itts students tto “Make Con nnections” between the games and theirr personal livves. These cconnections necessitate: diary readin ng, journal reading, blog reaading, critical media vie ewing, newsspaper/ periodical reading and info ormational print/o online text re eview. The Sttudent Workkbook serves as the evolvving portfolio o to concretizze student discusssion and reading skills; th hey use it to write their rresponses to a multiplicitty of informaational and narrative text prom mpts, while recording th heir use of ccraft and stru ucture of the “game” teexts in the framew work of playing, analyzing or predictingg optimal gam me moves. uld be noted that the Mind d Lab program m materials i nclude separrate informational and narrrative text It shou compe endiums related to Mind Lab contentt and game stories. Thro ough the Liteeracy Lens‐ aa separate collecttion of brain tteasers, logicc puzzles, vocabulary warm m‐ups and other materialss has been deesigned to promo ote increasingg connections among ideas and texts . Emphasis o on this Mind Lab resource is based onenhancing student reader sen nsitivity to am mbiguities, in consistenciess, and poor reeasoning in aa variety of ng texts and d documents ne ecessary for ccollege/careeer success. standaardized readin on of Teachin ng Mind Lab tthrough Mathhematics textts offers stud dents an oppo ortunity to A sepaarate collectio hone problem p solvving skills through a literaacy‐specific leens, as they relate to maathematics. W When such skills are a not sufficiently addre essed, standaardized and college/careeer success iss compromised due to studen nts’ inability tto “read for” w what needs to be done as detailed in a mathematics text.
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Standard FFour: Writing: Te ext types, resp ponding to reeading and reesearch W Domaain specifies requirementts in four ar eas: 1) text types and p purposes/aud diences, 2) The Writing producction and disstribution of writing, 3) research r tow ard the goal of enabling students to build and presen nt knowledge e, and 4) cap pacity to writte over a brooad spectrum m of genres//formats. Wriiting types emphaasized include: argumentss, informative e/explanatoryy texts, and narratives. W Writing aboutt evidence from literary and in nformational texts is emph hasized in Wrriting (Standaard 9). The prrimacy of reseearch skills phasized in th his domain. O Opinion writin ng –a basic foorm of argum ment‐ is emph hasized by thee Common is emp Core, even in the e younger grrades. Students are expeected to con nduct researrch projects to gather knowle edge and the en recall, sum mmarize or paraphrase p innformation in n finished wo ork so they caan present knowle edge in a logical and coherent way. Mind LLab Alignmen nt The Mind M Lab proggram provide es excellent and varied moodels for thee four areas o of the Writin ng Domain. Mind LLab offers various text typ pes includingg: authentic pprocedural acccounts (instrructions), aim ms, goals, a Thinktionary glosssary of game e concepts as a defined bby Mind Lab,, narratives, procedural narratives, n/ problem exercises, e opeen‐ended qu uestions, docu graphics driven comprehension uments, brain teasers/ logics puzzles, docu ument linked questions, an nd visually drriven texts. ences including players, o opponents, peeers, and frieend/ family aaudiences forr Mind Lab Purposses and audie eventss such as the Olympics are e all clearly de efined from thhe outset. Much attention n is focused o on how the conten nt of oral spo oken texts an nd written te exts must be appropriate for the audiiences and in ncorporate game tthemes and p pieces. omponent of the Mind Lab b program takes students to the next level by elevaating them fro om players One co to game scientistts and reseaarchers. Thiss nicely dovvetails with Common C Core Writingg teaching metho odologies that include the e posing of focused f reseaarch question ns as the inittiation of thee research paper.. Research intto ways of co onserving the e earth and itts resources is another explicit “Transference” to ecologgy content in the Mind Lab b program. nd Student The broad spectrum of genress distributed throughout the Mind Laab teacher curriculum an Workb book immediaately engage students in u use of writingg skills such aas planning an nd revising w with editing after feedback f from m peers.Thesse genres incclude: folktalles, informattional instruction/explanatory texts, tales, logic puzzles,, narrative stories, historyy briefs, quottations, visual linked docu ument based questions, card moves m and ch hallenges, and formats (filling/orderingg visual paneel sequences)). As studentts progress througgh grade speccific Mind Lab b curricula, their Workbookks serve as po ortfolio collecctions with grrowth over
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ear in: outlinin ng, planning, organizing, sstorytelling, vvisual storyteelling (graphicc narratives), reporting, the ye paraph hrasing, sum mmarizing, co ommentary, expository, oopinion writting, and sshort response writing formatts; all of thesse parallel the e skill sets thaat are addresssed in standardized ELA aand multicon ntent tests. The Paarent workbo ook component of Mind Laab actively e ngages paren nts in shared literacy that addresses Standaard 9 by guiding them in co ollaborating w with their chi ldren in varieed writing format activitiess. Concretize “fframe” Stand dard 9 Argumentation Mind LLab Methodss/ Strategies C Mind Lab, with its strategic deccisión‐makingg game play, is entirely p poised around d inquiry as a problem or subject content and lifee skills applicaations. solvingg tool with the potential fo Specifiic games succh as Red Card and Kara Kope focuus on argumeentation. Mind Lab workkbook and discusssion debriefings after game play are totally poiseed on realiziing Standard 9, which stresses the writingg‐ reading connection. Parrt of the Mind d Lab instructtional and stu udent writingg portfolio maaintenance routine inculcates sstudents in e extracting visu ual and verbaal evidence frrom their gam me experiencce through nents of the M Mind Lab pro ogram stress tthis connection as well. reflecttive or creativve writing. Faamily Compon With rregard to opin nion writing‐a basic form of argumentt which is em mphasized by the Common n Core‐ the Mind LLab program takes pride iin fostering aargument andd opinion writing from thee onset K‐12.. The Mind Lab Prrogram provides its stude ents and edu ucators with a set of Metthods and Sttrategies that explicitly foster argument fo ormation in sp peaking and listening withh complemen ntary studentt workbook aactivities in varied opinion writing formats. t umentation frrameworks foor playing a broad spectrrum of gamees are: The Amongg Mind Lab thinking/argu Detecttive Method, The Stopligh ht Method, The Ladder M ethod, and TThe Trial and Error Metho od. Each of these methods is grounded g in question forrmation and question solution/respon nse based on n available eviden nce to reason nably supportt opinions add dressed. The Trial and Errror Method, which involvees forming opinions based on past trials and learning fro om errors, is introduced frrom grade K and up as a ““first” base er grounded opinion writiing. But even n when it is iintroduced step up to more deeply reflected and bette explicitly, as it is in Rush Hourr, The Trial and a Error Meethod is disccussed as a d drawn out m method for ually arriving at a potentiaal solution. Affter students use it initiallyy, they also gget opinion trraining in a eventu more e efficient and sophisticated d opinion form mation strate gy, the Detecctive Method. D Metthod situatess the studentt game playe r in developing efficient aand effective questions The Detective which can establish h the facts off the game. The T responsees the studen nt develops ffor these queestions are n and recorded, hence arre “played ou ut” as winninng argumentss to address the varied gaame goals. spoken Another “argumen nt‐opinion wrriting” aspect of the Dettective Meth hod, which iss an excellen nt training ground d for fosterin ng this Comm mon Core Skill, is the usee of the Detective Metho od as a fram mework for deconstructing largger problems into smallerr, manageablee problems w which can bee dealt with in terms of
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nion/argumen nt units. Oncce these sma ller problemss are identifieed and addreessed using more ccompact opin the De etective Metthod format, the opinion ns that resullt in the solution of thee smaller, deecomposed proble ems can be re eassembled in nto a broaderr (larger) probblem solution n. opinion/argu ment paragraaphs and theen reconstruction into a This prrocess of decconstruction iinto smaller o full expository argu ument opinion n piece is justt one of the M Mind Lab student workbook exercises. In a game ush Hour, wh hich involves the players in extricatinng a key car‐ say a red o one‐ from a ggridlock of like Ru multicolored cars which w preven nt its exit, the e Detective M Method breakks down this metaphoric game grid eal life proble em into smalller, doable arrguments aboout the prelim minary removal of cars th hat initially and re block tthe red one ffrom exit. Aftter these carss are each cleeared from “o obstructing” tthe red car, tthe red car larger problema (aargument) is solved. The e beauty of using the M Mind Lab gam me boards, p pieces, and environments for aargument/opiinion formation and writinng lies in theeir concretizattion and refeerencing of opinion writing to vvisible objectss and environ nmental evideence. In addition to this m method, the LLadder Metho od nicely corrrelates with p paragraph an nd argument ssupporting ustification m models, as Min nd Lab encou urages its playyers to “play”” through a puzzle or game one step data ju at a time with an eye to achievving in that approach a thee desired outtcome. During the Diamonds game, dder Method d‐ a multi‐step problem soolving approaach, the Deteective Method, and the players use the Lad Stop LLight Method (Stop, Look aand plan, Go forward wit h a plan) to sset priorities in the decision making processs, a highly so ophisticated real life strate egy for effecti ve opinion w writing/ formaation. Standard FFive: Speaking a and Listening:: Flexible com mmunication and collaborration ommon Core e situates Spe eaking and Listening in tw wo strands: 11) comprehen nsion and colllaboration The Co which demonstrate e topic knowlledge base an nd 2) presenttation of kno owledge and iideas wherein students make arguments with logicallly sequence ed ideas, fa cts, and deetails. Skills necessary ffor formal presen ntations are emphasized in this strrand, as aree a broad raange of oraal communiccation and interpe ersonal skills.. Speaking an nd Listening aabilities are ccrucial for stu udents: working together to express and sh hare ideas, integrating info ormation from oral, visua l and quantittative sources as a team, evaluating what tthey hear to h help achieve communicative purposes,, and adapting speech to ttask/context. Important foci off these strand ds are: one on n one, small ggroup, and w hole class setttings. Speakiing and Listen ning needs routinely occur in the following ways: formall presentationns, shared peeer led and ceentered discu ussion, and nt team probllem solving. studen
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nt Mind LLab Alignmen The M Mind Lab Proggram is centered on stude ent players sppeaking and llistening for fflexible comm munication and co ollaboration. Mind Lab games situate speaking and leaarning acrosss a broad spectrum of topic knowleedge base comprrehension. Fo or example, gaame such as Quarto and R Red Card info orm players w with respect to o common denom minators, group definition ns, attribute use and claassification (m mathematics and sciencee content). Quorid dor deals witth mathemattics, economics, personal developmen nt, and scien nce content kknowledge base, as it include es among its themes: ob bligation, longg term plann ning, econom mizing, and sshort term planning. es the playerss listening to tthe aims and goals of the ggame. Playerrs must work in pairs or Every ggame involve on teams to achieve the aim of tthe game and d to realize thhat aim by following its rules and instru uctions. All Mind Lab lessons b begin with a pre‐discussio on that mirroors the group p discussion o of the balanced literacy approaach or the rehearsal r pre e‐writing step p for the Wrriting Process (Calkins, Fletcher). Thee educator facilitaates the stude ents to discuss “real life” and subject content them me of the boaard game prior to play. For exxample, in the e game “Pet Squares,” students discu ss the animaal square characters in terrms of the foods and enemies scientifically attributed to o each. Once the t aim and rules for the e games are discussed w with students in an interaactive student‐centered discusssion format, tthey actually play a Mind lab game forr the first time. They are o once again en ngaged in a converrsation for th he purpose of o demonstraating that theey have worked togetherr using a ran nge of oral communication skills to integrate the oral game play insstructions, vissual game bo oard and piecce sources, dapted their interpersonaal pair or teaam play speeech to fit thee game ruless. As they arre “walked and ad througgh” focal grou up discussion n questions which w have thhem detail in n speech theiir understand ding of the game rules, objective, and meth hods, they are e also given tthe opportun nity to evaluate their play as pairs or members. Aftter students p play the Mind d Lab games ffor a second ttime followin ng their analyttic student team m centerred conversattions, they conclude everyy Mind Lab lessson with a cllosing group d discussion. Th his process of who ole group disscussion, smaall group discussion, and whole group discussion parallels thee balanced literacy approach to t emphasize e student cen ntered evalu ation, collaboration, and self awareness of the hey have use ed the game e strategicallyy for achieveement of com mmunicative purposes. extentt to which th Amongg the pivotal final general group discusssion questionns (there are variations fo or some of the different Mind Lab games) that are totaally focused on Speakingg and Listening for flexible communiccation and oration are: W What have yo ou learned fro om the gamee?; Do you tthink it is imp portant to kno ow how to collabo phrase e questions?; Why?; What type of quesstions can hellp the player to gain inform mation?; and How can you ide entify a good question?
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engths of the Mind Lab prrogram with rrespect to Sp peaking and LListening lies in the vast One off the key stre opporttunities for sp poken languaage presentattion by its pa rticipants. Th his feature sets Mind Lab aapart from other sstructured, m multiple literacy programs. esson in the Mind Lab Program afford ds students m multiple oppo ortunities to b be immersed d in shared Each le peer le ed and cente ered discussio on. These disccussions focuus on having the studentss themselves talk about how the game is played p and the potential immediate iimpressions//strategies th hey are formulating for game play, while the teache er facilitates and coachees when neeeded. Each game sessiion closes opporttunities for th he students tto discuss am mong themsel ves how theyy enjoyed game play and to explore the exxtent to which h they effectiively and efficiently used tthe Mind Lab b methods an nd strategies presented duringg the game. h more pervaasive in the Howevver, presentation ‐one on one, small grroup, and wh ole class‐ eveents are much Mind LLab curriculum m than just on this discusssion level. nd small grooup discussio ons (when teeams number two and One‐on‐ones (when players arre paired), an beyond), are integrral to playing the majority of Mind Lab games. Rush Hour playerss echo real world traffic ollers, using th he Detective Method and their Rush H our grid posiitions to explaain to peers h how to get contro the griid‐locked red d car to the exit. Wolf and d Sheep is jusst one of man ny Mind Lab ggames that eencourages discusssion of strate egies among o opposing playyers who thenn mutually beenefit from th his shared kno owledge. Studen nt team problem solvingg, in terms of visual dissplays and aaccompanied by team co oordinated presen ntations, are intrinsic to playing many Mind Lab Gaames and to sstudent “tran nsference” off Mind Lab Metho ods to other ssubject areas and real life cconnections. ples of studen nt team probllem solving in n this speakinng and listenin ng Mind Lab context inclu ude but are Examp not lim mited to: of Da Vinci co ode play, with h the team Team developmentt of a personaal code as an outcome or anticipation o memb bers moderatiing peer prob blem solving w while the cod e is successfu ully cracked. ed by the gam me of Oops orr Dragon Treaasure, teams present to th he whole classs or to their p peer grade Inspire memb bers and study side bars aand necessaryy topic sequeences to prep pare for a key grade Regeents, AP or subjecct‐specific exaam. As a su ubject transfe erence from p play of Rat‐a‐‐tat Cat, team ms use the jiggsaw approacch modeled in n the game to pre esent plans fo or smaller aspects of a laarger task. Foor example, eeach team leeads a discusssion of an
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ege applicatio on process in ncluding: the student essaay, filling outt the applicaation form, aspectt of the colle researrching/ visitin ng the school online, custtomizing thee form for co ollege extracu urricular activities, and identiffying scholarsship/work stu udy opportunities. nt team playe ers of Set use e their workb book exercise s to create p potential “win nning” sets orr to design Studen and prresent new Se et symbols/gaame cards forr small team oor large play. Players of Abalone e transfer the e triangular winning w form ation moves for that gam me or the sto ory behind Carteggena of pirate e escape to a student team m animated orr live action treatment forrmat. Built in nto the Mind Lab sequencced grade curriculum is an outreach stu udent, schooll community and family culmin nating experie ence‐The Min nd Lab Olympics. This exxperience reaalizes the quintessence off Common Core SStandards for Speaking and d Listening. M Lab Olym mpics gives students s a ch hance to usee Speaking an nd Listening skills, including formal The Mind presen ntations, shared peer led d and centerred discussioon and studeent problem solving in aa real life, community audiencce context. Studen nts reference e their comprrehension and collaborati on on multi‐‐content topic knowledge games by preparring an audie ence presentaation of three e games theyy have masteered as part o of the curricu ulum. They explain n the rules of each gam me to the au udience whicch may include parents, peers and ccommunity memb bers. They also model the civilities of game play. In addition to o offering speaker explanatiions of the game play, visualss and explan nations of these diagram ms with varrious moves are also sh hared with e students pre esent their kn nowledge of tthree Mind LLab Games to o an audiencee, they also participants. As the de‐brie ef their demonstrated gaame play and d use their ooral communication/ interrpersonal skills to help audien nce memberss learn how to o play the gam mes. A questiion and answ wer session plus, event feeedback and team ccelebration co onclude the O Olympics with h various poinnts leading to o students being acknowleedged. This event parallels various literacy ccelebrations aand integratees the speakin ng and listening componeents of real m content knowled ge base goals. It also maakes the family literacy life ceremonies in services of multiple Comm mon Core component emerrge as a joyou us reality for M Mind Lab stud dents and theeir parents. Standard SSix Language: Conventions,, effective use and vocabuulary nguage, the C Common Core e stipulates tthat studentss demonstratte competencce in three With rregard to Lan areas: 1) conventio ons of standaard English grammar wheen speaking o or writing, ass well as corrrect use of nctuation, an nd spelling when w writingg, 2) use off knowledgee of languagge and its capitalization, pun
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ntions when writing, spe eaking, reading or listeniing differentt varieties off formal, info ormal and conven regional dialect Engglish, and 3) vocabulary acquisition a inncluding use o of context an nd reference materials. Vocabulary emphasis is on acq quiring new vocabulary, v inncluding general academic and domaain specific words and phrasess. This standaard emphasizzes that vocaabulary and cconventions use must bee extended d envisions across the other reading, writing, speakingg and listeninng standards. The Languaage Standard studen nts steadily expanding the eir appreciatio on of specificc word nuancces while exp panding their repertoire of worrds and phrasses. It is anticcipated that tthrough grad e K‐12 scaffo olding of this standard, stu udents will st be ready to succcessfully navvigate collegge level studdies and haave requisitee 21 centu ury career communications skkills. nt Mind LLab Alignmen Mind LLab offers stu udents addresssing Languagge Common CCore standard ds a vibrant ggraphic imagee, concrete game board, and literally grasp pable opportu unity, to exploore Languagee’s often absttract conventtions, their applicaations, and vo ocabulary acq quisition. Mind Lab is all abo out students’’ vocalizing, discussing, d w writing, presen nting and shaaring aloud ttheir game play exxperiences during every lesson of the program. Thhey routinely have to present their ideeas, justify their game g moves,, share their strategies an nd plans andd correlate th heir moves to Mind Lab strategies. They aalso converse with team m members as p part of game pplay. In addittion, Mind Lab builds in sm mall group, whole class and community c presentations which incluude poster, invitation, sp peaking and expository languaage use. Teache ers support sstudents during Mind Lab lessons to u se English co orrectly as they “center” ttheir game communications an nd interaction ns. What makkes this teachher supporteed “intrinsic” correction w work is that udents are not filling in correct respon nses for som me abstract grrammar or teext exercise, but rather the stu talkingg meaningfullly to peers ab bout their strrategies and methods forr enjoyable gaame play. In particular, when students are e demonstraating or explicating theirr game play during the culminating Mind Lab pics, their “co orrect” use off the conventtions of Engl ish in speakin ng or writingg is further vaalidated as Olymp their efforts e are sh hared with co ommunity an nd adults beyyond their im mmediate claass. “Correct, clear and concise” spoken En nglish commu unication is paart of the auddience feedback form for the Olympicss program, and paart of the stud dent self evaluations afterr that culminaating event. pportunities fo or addressingg the conventtions of spokeen and writteen English grammar, the Beyond ongoing op Studen nt Workbookk componen nt of the prrogram has numerous sshort respon nse, lengthy response, expository, opinion n writing, do ocument linkking (chart, ddiagram, sto oryboard) and procedural d narrative/p accoun nt writing ressponses. Writtten complettion and ongooing editing//revision of th hese Mind Laab student compo onents guaran ntee that through the use e of this includded portfolio o, English Language conventions and correct grammar ussage can be e enhanced as tthe program progresses. SStudents, edu ucators and ccommunity
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holders can have demon nstrable evide ence throug h the workb books of Common Core Language stakeh Progre ess over time.. ers can use th he Student W Workbook to rremediate orr to accelerate student development of grammar Teache or specific convention skills as n needed. They can also usee the Workbo ook expositoryy exercises an nd opinion writingg/argumentattion opportu unities as additional a teesting refereence points for correct grammar conven ntion usage. ary Acquisitio on Mind LLab Vocabula The Co ommon Core Language Standard stressses that stud ents will grow w their “vocaabularies thro ough a mix of conversations, direct instructiion, and read ding.” n appreciatingg “nuances Vocabulary Acquisittion as envisiioned by the Common Co re will engage students in of worrds. . . to steadily expand ttheir repertoire of words aand phrases.”” Vocabulary Acquisition is at the e crux of Thinktionary (thinnking skills sp pecial term d dictionary) ap ppended to the en nd of the lessson. Each lessson includes specific Mindd Lab program nuanced d definitions off high level game and multi‐co ontent words, terms and d phrases. TThese words,, including th he Mind Lab b Program es they repre esent, are inclluded in a gro owing studennts use and ap pply the gamee specific voccabulary as nuance part off their Studen nt Workbook activities and d portfolio wrriting projectss. ocabulary is high level. It has real world science, ffinancial, hum man relationss, literary, an nd political This vo relevance. An integgral part of evvery Mind Lab b lesson is thee derivation aand use of this vocabularyy as part of the lessson conversaation, in game play, and aas part of writtten responsees to specificc vocabulary p prompts in the Student Workb book. Sample e Thinktionarry vocabularyy words and terms includ de: long term m planning, erring gratificcation, conse rvation of reesources, playying the edgees, tactical cooperation/collaboration, defe retreatt, calculated bidding, proccess of elimin nation, breakking preconceeptions, public domain, seequencing, revocaable threats, iirrevocable th hreats, strategic retreat, cllear cut answ wers and moree.
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Common C Core College aand Career Re eady Studentt Standards Students who w are College and Career Ready in Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listeening, and Language expectation ffor Common C Core Standards K‐12 impleementation iss that studentts who meet the grade‐ A key e by‐grade standardss in reading, w writing, speakking, listeningg and languagge, will be colllege and careeer ready. Mind LLab Alignmen nt The Mind M Lab Proggram is comp pletely focuse ed on using its tiered graade‐by‐grade curriculum, aligned to Comm mon Core Language Arts and a Mathemaatics Standarrds, to assuree students, readiness and d ability to succee ed in both college and in ttheir chosen ccareer paths.. Indeed, the Mind Lab pro ogram expliciitly infuses into itss games on alll levels: colle ege course plaanning, careeer study, workkplace deadlin nes, teamwork towards project completion n, joint respo onsibility, divvision of laboor, group dyynamics, com mprehensive ggame plan opment, shorrt term plann ning, long te erm planningg, memory m mapping, info ormation man develo nagement, deferring gratificatiion, supply an nd demand, d documentatioon, and confliict resolution. All of thesee strategies and methodologiess are not onlyy debriefed in n terms of th e games, butt also through h the Transfeerence and Making Connection ns componen nts of the Min nd Lab Progrram explicitlyy discussed in n terms of their college successs applicabilitty, and their ongoing efficcacy as workpplace successs approachess. Beyond thee speaking, listenin ng and prese enting compo onents of the Mind Lab Leessons, which h make thesee college read diness and careerr success aspe ects of the M Mind Lab Proggram come allive for the sttudents, theyy are also em mbedded in the Th hinktionary of o words and d terms thatt enhances the Common n Core Langguage nuancee use and vocabu ulary aspect of Mind Lab. Finally, many of these college readiiness and career success terms are integraal parts of the e evolving Stu udent Workb book portfolioo for Mind Laab Program, sso the studen nts have an opporttunity to dem monstrate in p paragraph and essay form at their application of these terms to ccollege and to the real world. FFor example, as part of th heir workboo k activities fo or Cartagena,, students aree explicitly pt: Is it importtant to try too find the sam me balance (aaccumulatingg resources asked to respond to this promp on the e one hand an nd using them m on the othe er hand), wheen using resou urces in our liives? How im mportant is the balance betwee en the two? Common C Core Capacitie es for Successsful College aand Career Reeady Young A Adults Toward thiis overarching goal, stude ents will be eexpected to d demonstrate these capacities of the successful ccollege and ccapable caree er ready youn ng adult. They will be independen nt learners.
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n scaffold, com mprehend, As such, they will demonstrate tthe capacity to be readers of complex ttexts who can nge of discipliines. They w ill be able to o construct efffective argum ments and and evvaluate texts across a ran conveyy intricate infformation. Sttudents at this point will bbe self sufficient, self‐direected learnerrs who can reach out if necessaary to peers, tteachers, prin nt or referencce materials ffor support. The M Mind Lab Program not onlyy promotes in ndependent rreaders and sself‐directed llearners who o can reach out to peers, print or reference e materials; it is totally deedicated to d developing leearner indepeendence in decisio on making, an nalysis of opttions, investiggatory learninng and adaptting to changges in the envvironment. All of tthese capacities are inhere ent attributess of independdent learners. The Mind Laab set routinee of having studen nts review the e goals, aims and rules of any given ga me prior to p play and then n initially playy it without instrucctor directed d support or insights, pre epares them m to experien nce and accllimate to ind dependent learnin ng. Once the game play is experie enced, studeents further hone their independent learning experiences by disscussing as a group the most viablee strategies they identiffied for enjo oyable and successsful game play. As the program p evollves, studentts are provided with a frramework of Mind Lab metho ods and strattegies that are a essentiallyy a toolbox for independ dent learningg. These methods and strateggies are applicable far beyond b the scope s of thee complex, caaptivating an nd engaging Mind Lab compe endium of popular, classic and international games. Mind Lab meethods and sttrategies in th his toolbox for adult independe ent learning include but aare not limiteed to: The Sto oplight Metho od, The Migraating Birds Metho od, The Detecctive Method, The Thinking Tree Methood, Strategic Retreat, Flexxible Planningg, Trial and Error, Optimal Infformation Deduction, Memory Map ping, Playingg the Edgess, Joint Resp ponsibility, t Center, Deferring D Gra tification and d Complex Piieces First. D Direct adult Calculaated Bidding,, Expanding the indepe endent learner connectio ons to variou us fields (finaance, militaryy strategy, u urban plannin ng, project completion, banking, auctione eering, real estate, forennsics, medical research, crime detection) are dents. In add dition, the stuudents makee their own rreal life applications of explicitly elicited frrom the stud these Mind Lab methods and strategies s to adults and to peer situ uations such as dealing w with school e assignment s or househo old tasks, relationships w with peers, bulliess or workplacce bosses, haandling large being part of a work, social, or community team, and saviing for a longg term goal. They will diisplay streng gth in contentt knowledge. w have estaablished this base of knowledge as a consequencee of engaging works of q quality and They will substaance across a a wide range of subject matter. m They will be able to research on their own n with the purposse of acquirin ng and demonstrating proficiency in neew areas of study. They w will be able to o share this proficiency of know wledge base b by using writin ng and speak ing.
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nt Mind LLab Alignmen Mind LLab takes prid de in its use o of popular, international, aand classic bo oard games aas the platform base for a broaad spectrum o of content kn nowledge. As students “pllay” the gamees, they are eexposed to m much more than game g play insstructions and d aims. Part and parcel oof the curricuulum is inclusive of a broaad array of historic, scientific, e economic, myythic, anecdo otal, narrativee, geographicc, sports, artss, culture, mathematics, and otther content knowledge. The Mind Lab student exxits each step p of the proggram with an enhanced conten nt knowledge e base that m may include: h historic know wledge of Han nnibal, Attila the Hun, Leonardo Da Vinci, the World War W II Enigm ma Code, an nd Cartagenaa escape; sccientific know wledge of seets, codes, migrations, an imal psycholo ogy, biology, and research h protocol; conserrvation of perrishable resources, bird m economic long‐term m and short‐‐term investiing, strategicc planning an nd mini bridgge and exten nsive math conten nt knowledge e including use u of grids, coordinatess, developmeent of numb ber ciphers aand codes, workin ng with patterns and probaability, and m more. be able to dem monstrate th heir ability too respond to:: varied audieences, tasks, purposes, They will b and discipliine contents. Without instructor i prompting, p college c andd career reeady learneers will ad dapt their communica ations for sp pecific audieences, tasks, and purposses. They wiill be able tto present experimenttal evidence iin science verrsus documenntary evidencce in history. nt Mind LLab Alignmen The Mind M Lab pro ogram is inhe erently a student centereed program which provid des learners K‐12 with authen ntic commun nications taskks for specificc audiences aand purposees throughoutt. No matterr what the level o or grade of stu udy, Mind Lab participantss are engagedd and involveed in presentiing and interaacting with peers and other sp pecific purposse audiences in every lessson. During aa game, the aaudience for a targeted d play might be comprise ed of a partner or severral team mem mbers. Anoth her facet of the game shared involve es the discussion of strate egies and objectives with the opposingg player or teeam. These in nteractions may in nvolve: usingg verbal and non verbal cues (Kara KKupe) to con nvey secret m messages and d decipher messages of oppo osing playerss, or commu unicating witth the purp pose of proccessing and organizing inform mation for forrward plannin ng (Red Card)) with time m management constraints ((another com mponent of communications fo or college and d career read dy learners). M Mind Lab’s breath of science‐driven an nd history‐ mes is such that Mind Lab sstudents can build on Set (genetics research symbo ols), Rat‐a‐ driven content gam tat Caat (science re esearch them me) and Da Vinci Code (history relaated ciphers and codes) to model presen ntation of exp perimental evvidence in science versus documentaryy evidence in n history. Thee Mind Lab prograam also expliicitly involves students in n making meethods ‐such as The Deteective Metho od (closely aligned d to hypothe esis formation) and strate egies such ass verification of informattion, weighingg anchors, reference points an nd systematically drawingg conclusionss (all integral to documen ntary evidence)‐ part of
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c and career c ready presentations toolbox. Thhe Mind Lab Olympics utiilizes an agen nda driven their college formatt that puts sttudents in chaarge of a pee er or adult auudience displaay of their leaarning to info orm and to entertain; this provvides them with w a Mind Lab L experiencce that anticipates college and careerr readiness presentation, upfront dem monstration, eemceeing, an nd greeting eventss for target audiences, witth multiple p roles, as well as be ehind the sce enes set up, p promotion, o rganization, n networking, aand audiencee feedback compo onents. The m manners and civilities of gaame play (shaaking hands aand positive words beforee and after gamess) also paralle el civility levels expected fo or successful ccollege and ccareer readineess. They will co omprehend, yet be critica al users, listeeners, and pa articipants in subject and in real life matters. They will have the comp prehension skkills to graspp author or sp peaker content, but also b be capable ng author or speaking thee validity of author spea aker argumen nts and the vveracity of of assessin their claimss. They will value v and reg gularly use evidence e to bback up oral or written in nterpretation ns of texts. They will be able to usee evidence to support theiir key points iin writing or speaking. In turn, they e to constructtively and meeaningfully e valuate otheers’ use of eviidence. will be able nt Mind LLab Alignmen The Mind M Lab Proggram is pivottally focused on: critical listening skillls and assesssing validity o of speaker argum ments using sp pecific metho ods/ strategie es that are innfused as parrt of a pervasive, deliberaate college and yo oung adult career readine ess framewo ork. Thus dra wing conclussions, separating relevantt data and weighiing anchors are experien nced, reflecte ed and then practiced byy young learn ners in gamees like Pet Square es. Older stu udents work on more complex verificcation of info ormation, usse of anchor reference points, potential an nalysis of non‐verbal com mmunication, and system mic drawing o of conclusionss in games b program like Kaara Kupe. Bluffing in Bug Bluff and keeping a ssecret in Turrtle Race offfer Mind Lab participants a previiew of metho ods that speakers in real liffe use to putt forth arguments or evideence which epresent invaalid claims. M Methods like TThinking Treee (Checkers) o offer Mind Laab students a chance to may re weigh options and d the validity of others’ use u of evidennce. The Min nd Lab Studeent Workbook provides nts with a ch hance to jourrnal, reflect and apply thhese data analysis/interprretative “blufffs” in the studen gamess immediatelyy to ongoing real life situaations and to multi‐conten nt false claim realities. Min nd Lab is a trainin ng ground forr navigating the “mines” o of false claim s and statem ments in printt, media and workplace settinggs. understandin ng of other peerspectives an nd cultures. They will demonstrate u
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They will ccontinually seeek through rreading and listening to understand o other perspeectives and cultures wh hich represen nt diverse exxperiences. TThey will be ready for th he 21st centu ury college classroom and workplace which incllude settingss where perso ons from diveerse backgrou unds learn and work ttogether Mind Lab currentlyy operates in n 24 countrie es other thann the United States and is available in Spanish, French h, Italian and d other langguages. Man ny of its gam mes (such aas the Frencch game Abaalone) are internaational based d. Indeed the narratives and stories behind thesse games are part of th he intrinsic framew work of Mind d Lab. Beyond the derivattion and sou rce of many of its internaational gamees (African, Asian, etc.), internaational values and multicu ultural persp ectives perm meate Mind LLab methods, strategies and itss emphasized d word dictionary‐Thinktio onary. From tthe game Wo olf and Sheep p to Abalone to Blokus to Lun nar Lockout and a including Mensa and Cartagena, M Mind Lab gam mes demonstrate and fostter players workin ng together, ccollaboration and all for one‐one for alll (French derrived Dumas q quote) strateegy. One of the key Mind Lab m methods, The Migrating Bird formation ‐with its emphasis on thee natural miggrating bird ular formatio on and its co orrelation of a group’s fo cus and use of its combined internall strengths triangu toward d a shared go oal‐powerfully “image”‐ re einforces thiss Mind Lab cu multiple persp pective life ultural and m lesson. During the e Mind Lab class discusssions, these lessons are deliberately connected tto cultural ers, global ne ews events, ethnic e valuess perspective s and how they influencee history (i.e. Japanese manne concep pt of defeat) by the stude ents in separaate Mind Lab written exerrcises and pro ojects docum mented and update ed in their Sttudent workb book. The Thinktionary voocabulary, wh hich evolves over the year, includes terms that reflect vvarious culturral values and d promote muultiple perspeective undersstandings. Am mong these Thinktionary entrie es are: comm mon goal, coo operation, com mmon denom minator, harm mony, group dynamics, team w work, morals and values,, peaceful ressolution of coonflicts, workking togetherr, mutual help, center, and brreaking preco onceptions. Th hese Thinktio onary words pparallel thosee of diversity training for ccollege and careerr readiness. B Beyond the w words, gameplay as done iin each Mind d Lab lesson includes shakking hands, respeccting the opp posing players, and enjoyiing the gamee. Anger man nagement is a given for ggame play. Mind Lab’s global roots and cu ultural diversity underpinnning are high hlighted in th he Mind Lab Olympics, which parallel the spirit and rules of the intternational W World Olympics. One scho ool at a time,, Mind Lab fosterss its own Olym mpic community of culturally diverse aand respectfu ul players of today who will be ready to be gglobally sensitive college aand life marke et participantts tomorrow.
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Common Core Standards for Mathemattical Practice Standard 1: Make sense e of problemss and perseveere in solvingg them. ematically pro oficient stude ents are able to explain a problem (paraphrase or retell it) and search for Mathe entry points for th hat problem’ss solution. Th hey analyze ggivens, consttraints, relatio onships, and goals . . . m conjecttures about the t form and d the meaninng of the sollution and pllan a solution n pathway They make rather than jumpin ng into a solu ution attemp pt. They conssider analogo ous cases, and simpler forrms of the originaal problem in n order to gaiin insight into o its solution . They monittor and evalu uate their pro ogress, and change e course if ne ecessary. . . M Mathematically proficient students can n explain correspondences between equations, verbal descriptionss, tables, an nd graphs oor draw diaggrams of im mportant features and onships; graph data, and search for regularity r or trends. Younger studentts might relyy on using relatio concre ete objects orr pictures to h help to conceptualize and solve a problem Mind LLab Constructs Meaning (makes sense) of Problem s as the quintessence of its program. The Mind M Lab Pro ogram is cen ntered aroun nd student ddiscussion, exxplanation, rretelling, and d detailing proble ems and the sstudent entry points for their solutions.. As they playy through eveery game, stud dents “talk througgh” the mean ning of the problem‐ be itt extracting aa car from a gridlock, resscuing prisoneers from a prison, or working together to ggain control o of the centerr‐ and identiffy potential b board game approaches for sollutions. In ad ddition to a concrete c board game andd game piecee set as 3D p problem constructs, the Mind LLab approach h also prepares students ffor mathemattical proficien ncy in workin ng through en ntry points and analysis of givvens, constraaints, relation nships, and goals. This iss achieved in the prograam by the mational text to amplify th he visual diagrams, concrete objects, inclusion of a probllem script or story/ inform me board. Use of this M Mind Lab “w word” text eenhances thee students or chaarts that fraame the gam mathe ematical proficiency not on nly in chart/d diagram and oobject‐based problem solvving, but also in the use of worrd prompts as a tool for m mathematical problem solvving. Therefo ore, set theorry problems ffocused on attribu utes and identification off the commo on denominaator include stories and background about the inventor of the Sett Game. The d dynamics of David and Gooliath card vaalues, conditiions of uncerrtainty and ndary goals gain g enhance ed “constructted meaningg” through th he biblical taale and its primarry and secon connection to the p problems of tthe game. A commerciallyy familiar gam me such as R Rush Hour is ccoached in nt centered narratives abo out the need tto set up a suurprise party aat a given tim me. Use of this narrative studen story p parallels standardized matthematics wo ord problem qquestions and d serves to enhance prepaaration for mathe ematically prroficient problem solvers to “trans late” that aabstract matthematical o operations, reason ning and soluttion positing to a verbal qu uestion text rresponse form mat.
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of problem The Mind Lab Progrram provides as its underlying board gaame toolkit frramework, a broad array o nd strategies. While studen nts apply thesse and gain flluency in theiir use as part of specific solvingg methods an Mind LLab board gam me play, the problem solvving methodss and strategies are then eexplicitly transferred via classro oom discussio on to relevan nt grade matthematics woord and num meric problem m topics as w well as real world situated pro oblem solvingg. Beyond the connectionns, through ttheir use of the Mind Laab Student Workb book as an evolving e matthematics prroblem solvinng and soluttions portfolio, Mind lab b supports studen nts in monito oring their prrogress, perse everance, an d proficiencyy as capable, confident and flexible proble em solvers. The T rich arrayy of Mind Laab methods aand strategiees which are reiterated, rreinforced, practicced, and perffected througghout each grade g foster m mathematicaal problem so olving proficieency; even more iimportantly, it provide stu udents with aa foundationaal toolkit of vvaried approaaches to use ssingly or in tandem m that can asssure their perseverance in n solving probblems. ng sense of p problems and d for perseverring in probleem solving Mind LLab Methodss and Strategies for makin include but are not limited to: Mind Lab Meth hods: Key M Method: Priorr to forging ah head to solve a problem, sstop‐ analyze the givens, constraints, 1. Stoplight M relationship ps and goals. Then plan ah head. Finally, go forward w with that plan. blem from baack to front by asking effficient questio ons. Break 2. The Detecttive Method: Solve a prob down the larger problem m into smalle er, more mannageable taskks. After deteermining the ssolution of econstruct thhe deconstructed problem m into its whole. Now these smalller manageaable tasks, re solve. 3. The Trial an nd Error Meth hod: Try vario ous solutionss and learn fro om those whiich fail. 4. Ladder Me ethod: Attack the problem m one “ladderr” step at tim me with the ccomforting id dea that as the mathem matically profficient studen nt perseveress, each step b brings the stu udent closer tto the end goal of prob blem solution n. 5. The Thinkiing Tree Meethod: In approaching thhe problem solving meth hod that sup pports the problem so olver in makin ng conjecture es about the fform and meaning of a po otential lateraal solution. It helps the problem so olver to view w potential pproblem path hways througgh a graphic organizer, rather than n simply jump p into a single solution atttempt. The TThinking Treee Method, as reiterated through the e Mind Lab p program, supp ports the stu dent in defin ning the problem, examiniing various solutions fo or it, ranking tthe solutions and then chooosing the beest option from the ranking.
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6. The Migratting Birds: A triangular graphic organizzer that depiccts the formaation used byy birds and suggests working w togeth her on problem solving aas a team tow ward a comm mon goal. Thiis problem solving metthod entails p pooling diverse talents an d sometimess switching fo ormations and d positions toward end d‐goal problem m solving. Beyond these problem solving aand problem perseverancee methods, w which are refeerenced throu ughout the Mind LLab program during the course of the K‐12 Mind laab program, ggame playerss are introducced to and work w with a vast sp pectrum of cro oss reference ed strategies. Beyond their use and viab bility for gam me problem and pu uzzle solution n, these strategies are exp plicitly linked –“Transferen nce”‐ by stud dents and insttructors to mathe ematics and to t other conttent problem m solving. Stuudents also ggain practice in their app plication to various problems as they work through their Student Worrkbook portfo olios. A seleccted listing off pivotal Mind d Lab strategies for probleem solving whose definitio ons are also included in the Thinktionary co omponent and d practiced during lessonss, includes: 1. Forced continuation n‐ forcing you ur opponent i nto a line of play he process of going backw ward or recediing from a po osition or a go oal gained, 2. Strateggic retreat‐ th so an unhindered ad dvance can be e facilitated. olutions for p problems/puzzzles. 3. Switchiing perspective‐ to observve and to recoognize new so 4. Pattern n recognition‐ using the ab bility to identtify and to recognize the o occurrence off particular pattern ns. This allow ws the appliccation of sollutions for o one pattern to be tested d for their usefuln ness on a simiilar pattern. 5. Disasse embly/ dismaantlement‐ break b a com plex problem m down into sections and d examine each. This parallels T s car engine rrepair. Similaar to reassem mbly/reconstrruction –breaak problem down to prime elem ments. Then, rreconstruct thhem and solvve. 6. Verifyin ng informatio on‐ check valiidity of inform mation by exaamining other sources. 7. Move o order‐ arrangge and play moves in best sstage approach to achievee the end objeective. 8. Chain M Model‐ create e a chain of in nterconnecte d links towarrd a common goal. 9. Processs of Eliminattion‐ identifyy possibilitiess that can leaad to solutio on and elimin nate those which ccannot lead to o a solution 10. Breakin ng Preconcep ptions‐ non sttandard or unnexpected usee of availablee materials 11. Anchorrs‐ use of reliable r inforrmation as a starting p point for gaathering morre reliable informaation. 12. Drawin ng Conclusion ns‐ gathering information bby making reasonable ded ductions from m which we can pro oceed with further deductions.
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13. Allocatting Resource es‐ distributing resourcess so that theey can suppo ort needs. The limited amount of availablle resources used needss to be balanced and effficient because if too plentifu ul, the allotm ment may be e depleted foor future usee. If too limited a distrib bution, the allocatiion of resourcces may be in nsufficient forr problem solving purposee. 14. Harmony‐ synchronizing parts off a system to work with on ne another in the most efficient way. Two lin nked donkeyss or horses m must each givee way to the other so thaat one can eaat first and then th he second. If tthey both pull each other tto get to their food, neitheer will enjoy iit. 15. Memorry Mapping‐‐ memory en nhancement technique ccreating a ggraphic organ nizer after viewingg a problem sschema. The memory mapp shows vario ous key landm marks/ refereence points that situate objects in relation to o one anotherr. The Mind Lab program includes not only actu ual board gam mes, but incu ulcates studen nts in the usee of tables, verbal descriptionss, graph datta and active e review of these for ttrends, regullarity, similarities, and differe ences. This review, r whicch also addrresses and eenhances do ocument based short an nd lengthy standaardized mathe ematics test q questions, is emphasized by the projeccts, lengthy reesponse quesstions, and short rresponse opp portunities forr mathematiccal communiccations in thee Student Workbook. p of a fifthh grade studeent lesson, sttudents would have to For exxample, after playing Pet Squares as part respon nd to a diagram layout off a Pet Squarre game cardd with a full eexplanation o of where theey could or could not place gam me pieces acccording to game rules. Addditional student activitiess use the diaggram game nt and offer several linked questions requiring corrrect studentt use in shortt response card as a documen formatt of key Mind d Lab proble em solving sttrategies succh as “anchor” and “certtainty” in theeir justified written n responses. Younger stud dents and tho ose in seconddary school aare continuallly given lesso ons in their Studen nt Workbookk and evolvin ng mathemattics portfolio opportunitiees to use picttures/diagram ms to help concep ptualize a pro oblem and to check their rresponses. Foor example, exxercises for TThe Da Vinci C Code game include e picture, texxt, and graphic opportunitties for stude nts to use reeference points and to examine and cipher codes. The e Mind Lab b Workbook offers mulltiple opporttunities for students to o become ematically pro oficient problem solvers as they are assked to review w game diagrams several times and mathe answe er increasinglyy complex questions usingg higher orde r thinking skills. In the case of the Da Vinci Code game, these include e questions aabout the num mber of colorr tiles remaining and if theey can all be guessed in a single turn. on and the Faamily Series, iincluding shaared Mathematics Literacyy activities, Every Mind Lab classroom lesso es students in exploring lateral peer approaches a foor problem solving througgh game playy and then involve game play discussiion. This exte ensive discusssion and pe er debriefingg/ reflection in spoken an nd written a literate community of problem soolvers capab ble of sharin ng correspon ndences in formatts, fosters a approaaches to simp ple and complex problems.
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Standard 2 2 Reason absttractly and qu uantitativelyy Mathe ematically pro oficient students make sense of qua ntities in pro oblem situations. They are able to deconttextualize these quantitie es into symbo ols capable oof being man nipulated and d to also con ntextualize them from symbols into their reference. Included in tthis reasonin ng is the maathematically proficient studen nts’ capacity tto understand d the propertties of operattions and objeects. Mind LLab Alignmen nt The M Mind Lab Curriculum and itts Student Workbook, alo ng with the FFamily shared d Mathematics Literacy compo onent, are foccused on usin ng a compend dium of inter national and commercial ggames as liteeral playing board platforms. Th hese platform ms are meantt to support students K‐12 in reasonin ng both abstractly using ols decontextualized, and also in reaso oning quantittatively with reference to contextual p properties, symbo objects and operations. Even on the K‐2 leve el, games succh as Hoppers use the spaatial orientation of their Hoppe er characters to help students in transferring inform mation from an abstract p printed card pattern to the co oncrete game board. Theyy may not be able to articculate the wo ord “contextu ualize,” but th he game is the vehicle that takkes these you ung mathematics studentss from the absstract to the quantitative. Even on a K level, young learrners are invo olved in working with ab stract attribu ute identification, commo onality and excepttionally symb bolic conceptss that “contextualize as veery concrete socks in “Socck Monster.” Grouping and labeling –abstrract mathemaatic capacitiess and exercisees‐ emerge as real vibrantt Mindsters card hands. e time elemen ntary studentts find their ssymbolic wayy through thee abstract strructure of thee Quoridor By the Maze, they have also a contextu ualized that learning to decision making optionss in real life and their conseq quences, as well w as the need in real life to allocatte resources in an econom mic way. Wh hile playing Mancaala and shifting their piles, elementaary mathemaatics learnerss symbolicallly work with h order of operattions. They le earn and are ffacilitated through the reggular use of ““integrative”‐connecting aabstract to quantiitative reason ning‐ lessons to talk abou ut how this ggame demon nstrates the n need for maiintaining a correct move orderr in the game e. They then discuss corr ect moves in n real life such h as packing, shopping, and lin ning up, amo ong other ope erations. Eme erging matheematically pro oficient thinkkers as early as grade 4 play M Mini‐Bridge. As part of this game, they w work with mooving in condiitions of unceertainty, plann ning under such cconditions, asscending proggressions, and move ordeer. Through the integrativve discussionss and their own Sttudent Workbook promptted investigattions, they tr ansfer these abstract reassoning princip ples to the realitie es of weathe er conditions, stock markket fluctuatioons and the q quantitative reasoning th hat can be practicced with those entities. The T Middle School S and beeyond Mind Lab Games such as Diam monds and Wizard ds use visually captivatingg symbolic an nd graphic ddesigns to engage studentts in abstracttly dealing with dilemmas, d settting prioritie es, and starin ng off with ccorrect found dations. Yatzeee serves to introduce studen nts to calculatting chances and dangers. The integrattive lessons and concrete sstudent activvities in the Studen nt Workbookk compel stu udents to taake the absttract reasoning taught in n the gamess to other subjecct/topic connections. Stud dents are alsso encouragees to relate this abstractt reasoning tto real life
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e, summer jo ob, life choicces, and neigghborhood ccommunity o options. In ad ddition to th he Student college Workb book and Inte egrative lesso ons bridging, Mind Lab reaasoning is ab bstractly bridgged to the qu uantitative real world w of obje ects; students are forced d to create ttheir own co olloquial quantitative matthematical explan nations of gam mes during th he Olympics w when they deemonstrate ttheir expertise for a targett audience of peers and parentts. Standard T Three Construct vvia argumentts and critiquee the reasoniing of others.. ematically pro oficient stude ents understand and usee stated assumptions, deffinitions, and results in Mathe constructing argum ments. They m make conjectu ures and buil d a logical prrogression of f statements tto back up c They T analyze e situations by b breaking tthem into caases and can use counterrexamples. their conjectures. They can c distinguish correct lo ogic or reaso oning from tthat which iss flawed. Eleementary stu udents can construct arguments using conccrete referents such as obbjects, drawin ngs, diagramss and actionss. Students g can listen toor re ead the arguments of othhers, decide whether theyy make sense, and ask at all grades useful questions to clarify or imp prove the argguments. Mind LLab The Mind Lab Program, as already noted in itts alignment to Standard Four –English h Language A Arts‐ is very ed in constru ucting argum ments using stated s assum mptions, defin nitions, and previously eestablished situate resultss. As early as its Kindergarrten level, you ung learners playing Speed dy identify an nd argue for tthe logic of a pattern in age ap ppropriate fo ormat using definitions. d A At this level tthey play Loggic Castle and begin to w stated assumptions a and the resu ults of explorring objects w with visible ffeatures verssus unseen work with features. As they progress thro ough the elem mentary graddes, Mind Lab b students play Animal Su udoku and apply the Mind Lab b argumentation framewo ork as they uuse the Detective Method d repeatedly for asking me Rush Hourr, which is played with questions, organizing information and makiing conjecturres. The gam ent argumenttation and reaasoning foci o on various graade levels of Mind Lab, allows upper ellementary, differe middle e and secondaary students, an opportun nity to use thee Detective M Method as thee argumentation scalpel for analyzing situattions by breaaking down a major one ––traffic gridlo ock as set up by a pattern n card‐into managgeable cases (factorization uestion argumentation an n) that are so olvable usingg detective qu nd back to front rreasoning. The use of the D Detective Me ethod as an arrgumentation n scalpel or to ool in the playying of this game is not limited d to the single e student playyer or small ggroup of stud dent teams fraaming their aarguments, offerin ng counter examples, or making plau usible argumeents given aavailable dataa; rather, every lesson provides Mind Lab players with habitual opp portunities to acquire argu umentation and critiquing fluency as they frrame argume ents in small ggroups and th hen present aas small grou ups to the wh hole class. Furrthermore, a rich argumentatio on strand ru uns through p play of Mind Lab games su uch as Checkkers (which iss debriefed e graphic orgaanizers and diiscussion of m multiple movee “what ifs”); Hannibal (co onjecturing using TThinking Tree
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nents’ intentio on based on available datta and develooping useful positions to counter thosse moves); oppon Code B Breaker (syste ematic data ccollection and d reasoning b ased on that data); and K Kara Kupe (using correct logic and a reasoning to deciphe er messages of opposing players as w well as comp paring oppossing player argum ments to iden ntify faulty or deliberatelyy false messsages). Moreover, plausib ble argumentts and the capacity to critique e reasoning of o others are e the highlighht of middle and high school curricula units on Decisio Wizards, and on Making. TThese units usse games succh as Can’t Sttop, Yatzee, W d Diamonds to navigate mathe ematically pro oficient stude ents through the argumennt logistics of calculated deecision makin ng, dealing with dilemmas, d settting prioritie es, and build ding verifiablee knowledgee/decision maaking foundaations. The Mind LLab Method ffurther assurres student acquired fluenncy and masttery of these skills through separate integraative lessons where they e explicitly use logic and arggumentation;; study Thinkttionary word ds; recap in their o own words th he types of arrgumentation n they have sttudies; and w work in the Sttudent Workb book using charts,, tables, diagrrams, and graaphic organize ers to docum ment their arguments. Other components of the Mind Lab Program m, which incluude specific rresource matterial (such ass exercises on con nstructing viaable argumen nts and critiq quing the reaasoning of otthers) are thee Through th he Literacy Lens collection c of brain teaserrs and logics puzzles andd Through th he Mathemattics lens. Botth provide classro oom and diffe erentiated leaarner opportu unities to “tallk through” arguments an nd use tables and charts to back up their ind ductive reason ning or exposse faulty reasooning. Standard 4 4 Model with h mathematiccs. ematically pro oficient stude ents can app ply the matheematics they know to solve problemss arising in Mathe everyd day life, socie ety and the w workplace. . . They are abble to identifyy important q quantities in a practical situation and map ttheir relationships using su uch tools as ddiagrams, two o way tables, graphs, flow wcharts and formulas. nt Mind LLab Alignmen The Mind Lab Program was desiigned specificcally with thee idea of addrressing the m model with maathematics standaard, that has often been missing from m traditional mathematics abstract op perations and d problem solvingg instruction. Every Mind Lab board le esson is expliccitly focused on how the m mathematics principles, terms,, formulae, flo ow charts, op perations, reaasoning, theoories, and absstract problem ms connect to o everyday life, so ociety, and the t workplacce. The Mind Lab Prograam has two specially “defined” sectiions of its curricu ula which focu us on modeling with math hematics. The firrst is called “Transference “ e,” which in Mind Lab teerminology in nvolves the sstudent learn ner making explicit spoken or written connections between the m mathematics o operations, fformula, tables, charts,
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mes includingg those that operate or rreflect real diagrams, rules, orr terms, and other subjecct topic them oncerns. Afte er game play,, Mind Lab sttudents are aasked to braiinstorm and to present world issues and co ons to bridge e the gap b etween absttract and op perational maathematics these “transferencce” connectio edge to capaccity and to ap pply that know wledge in reaal world settin ngs. knowle This “ttransference”” demonstrate es how Mind Lab studentss model with mathematicss as follows: After p playing Rush H Hour, they “transfer” that knowledge oof dealing witth gridlock an nd breaking do own larger proble ems through q questioning into constitue ent managea ble componeents to set up p plans and m mapping of large sschool or neigghborhood evvents so that everyone cann have accesss to food, dan nce space, conversation place, and music. They go online e to follow citty gridlock pa tterns for a ggiven date. The gaame of Rat‐a‐tat Cat translates as a “traansference” m model for students to narrrow down avaailable and viable college admission applicaation prospeccts using a m mix of their ggrades, scorees on SAT’s and college early/rregular admisssion deadline es. dor’s presentaation of geom metry, measurement and pprobability prrinciples as paart of game p play is used Quorid to facilitate students to study m major audits aand tax scanddals detailed iin Business seections of priint, online, missing and m misused fundss. or broadcast mediaa to identify m ocuses on deliberately missleading arguumentation iss “transferred d” easily by students to Bug Blluff, which fo historical study off what are termed t “missstatements” made by political perrsonalities, sp ports, and entertainment figures and their consequence es for war cassualties, gamee results, and d box office profits. pports studen nts in actuallly working o on a group scchool or neigghborhood The exxperience of Abalone sup renovaation project such as layingg a tile floor. d and Goliath h helps stude ents model w with mathem matics as theyy transfer an nalysis and The gaame of David engine eering design concepts de ealing with sccale and size in selection o of fashions to o downplay h height and weightt issues. n Treasure helps h studentts transfer th heir mappingg skills to wo orking with m maps in Social Studies, Dragon design ning maps of ffavorite local haunts, or working with liiterary maps in English. econd aspect of “modelingg with mathe ematics” fosteered by Mind d Lab through hout every lessson is the The se “Makin ng Real World” personal cconnections ccomponent. To complem ment Mind Laab’s focus on social and emotio onal learning, this component facilitates students dduring the lesson to identtify personal and social connections between mathemattics knowledgge and operattions.
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This”plays” out as ffollows for some of the Mind Lab gamees: Using Pet Squares, students can n develop argumentation aabout the fau ulty reasoningg behind stereeotypes or the exxtent to which h species or racial stereottypes may bee grounded in n some factual data. Theyy can write reflecttive opinions or arguments about the w ways in whichh their own fo dress, achieveement and ood choice, d interesst attributes p positively or n negatively afffect their inteeraction with others. The gaame of Wolf aand Sheep caan be used ass a springboarrd for studen nts to exploree how working together as a te eam or even as a connecte ed group of d dedicated frieends, they caan overcome and block a p physical or verbally abusive bully. The Red R Card gam me can model working toggether on a Project, playing on a team or perform ming as an ensem mble where diivision of resp ponsibilities m makes for a ssuccessful end worthwhile d product, teeam win, or w performance. by students tto model real life seemingg strategic retreat from Play exxperience witth Hannibal ccan be used b explossive peer conffrontation issues with time e to regroup aand to come back stronglyy. Playingg Blokus or Quoridor Q can n be successffully facilitateed by the insstructor to provide students with a chance e to model identification aand wise alloccation of theiir own financial, personal, and time maanagement resourrces toward lo ong term goals. e winning triaangular form mation‐ the ggraphic organ nizer for Min nd Lab’s Migrrating Bird The Abalone game od‐ lends itsself to manyy sports, team, working together, ceelebrating an nd protection models. Metho Studen nts can also apply staying off the edges (drugs, ddangers, gangs) and conttrol of centeer (positive aspirattions‐ school,, relationships) to their ow wn lives. The Student Workb book component serves ass the evolvingg Model with Mathematicss documentation of the extentt to which Mind Lab game play moves sstudents’ matthematics pro oficiencies an nd fluencies b beyond the concre ete and abstrract mathem matical conten nt of the gam me onto “plaaying” successsfully to add dress life’s ongoin ng challenges.
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