In what ways have I used role-play and simulations in the classroom?
When Australia was part of the Social Studies curriculum, I would have my second graders role-play various positions in an academic controversy about the endangered habitat of koalas. This was a culminating activity after having studied marsupials, the Australian habitats, and the concepts of perspective and points of view. The question was: should a direct road be built to link a remote yet growing settlement to a main city, even though the road would cut through a grove of trees where koalas lived? Each student had an assigned role and prepared a position statement with other students who had the same role (groups of 2-3 total). Students used simple language but they felt passionate about their positions.
After they argued their individual positions in their discussion groups I gave them a chance to reverse their position so that they could all get to defend their favorite perspective. Switching roles helped students understand the opposite perspective, empathize with both sides, and—in the end—realize that complex issues don’t have clear cut answers: rather they require compromises. This came out of the post-activity discussion we would have after the role-play.
With second graders learning in an immersion setting, I would still do this role-play activity face-to-face rather than online: speaking remains these students' strongest productive language skill. By 5th grade, they could possibly engage in an online role-play during some of the social studies units?
As a second grade teacher, the science curriculum lent itself well to simulations. For example, students had to create boats out of various materials after predicting which materials would float and which ones would sink. They also had to create various shapes of foil boats and simulate loading them with cargo to figure out which designs were the best ones and why. In fourth grade, the electricity unit is largely as simulation unit. In the new science standards, the engineering standards are really all about simulations. However, those are hands-on simulations, not complex online models as those described by Jenkins.
Math games also seem to ideal for simulations. This video from Teacher Tube describes a variety of Math games, some of which could be described as simulations:
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Dear Isa,
ReplyDeleteI have several responses to this post. Second graders don't have the facility with written language to do an online roleplay; they do, however, have imagination, which makes real time/real life roleplay a good teaching tool. Last year I spent hours in a fifth grade classroom where, for the Colonial unit, the students designed a town, then took on various persona as they debated whether to support the rebels or be loyalists. I can see that as an online simulation IF parents were okay with their children spending time on the computer at night as well. To use the computer resources, finding extra articles to read, perhaps maps or databases by the simulation designer, would need commitment at home, I think. Blogging/roleplay can work so well at the older levels when students have facility in reading that allows them to access (adult) text and the interest and support in using the computer for hours at home.
I also liked the video you posted. Do you remember LOGO? That was supposed to teach spatial relations and logic twenty plus years ago, back in the pre-internet days of Apple IIe. Teachers have been trying to incorporate play in learning for years.