Best Games: Once Upon a Time

First up in the Best Games for the Classroom Series, we have Once Upon a Time, a card game that has been popular for a long time.  In fact, it won awards for being such a great game, including a Parent's Choice Award last year.  It inspires the imagination and can be a great way to help students hone writing skills, understand story elements, and explore the fantasy genre.

The object of the game is to use a deck of cards, each showing a story element, to collaboratively tell a story with the rest of the players.  You want to be the first to get rid of all your cards, but you have to do so by describing a story element using the cards in your possession.  At various times, other players can interrupt the narrative and continue it themselves, trying to get rid of their own cards.  Players have to think fast and rely not only on their knowledge of storytelling and fairy tales, but also their own ingenuity to win.  Each player has one card with a possible "ending" to the story, so each player is jostling to try to manipulate the story to their own end and get rid of their cards first.  

From the Parents-Choice.org site:

"Once Upon a Time requires attention and problem solving abilities as the players try to figure out when they might be able to interrupt the current storyteller. It also draws upon players' creativity and imagination as they attempt to expand the plot and develop characters."

 

Check out the publisher's list of how the game can be useful for students.

The game can get silly and fun, as seen in the video below.  There are also versions of the game where players can make their own deck with elements they choose and draw themselves.  Students can add their own favorite characters, original characters or silly elements to that type of deck.  

The storytelling possibilities are endless with this game.  Watch below to see how players have to think, create a story, and cleverly find ways to use the story elements in their hand:

Cooperative Learning: Numbered Heads Together

If you are looking for a way to have students work in small groups, have accountability for participation during a class discussion, and generate oral responses after being given time to think, perhaps you'll be interested in a cooperative learning strategy known as "numbered heads together."

I won't take the time to explain the process because it is done so well in these two videos.  The first video describes exactly what the activity is.  The second video puts it into practice during an elementary class discussion.






I like this strategy because cooperative learning is important for students, and having a few moments to think of the answers to their questions is certainly helpful, as opposed to expecting an immediate answer and faltering when students cannot provide one.  There are times in group discussions when some quiet or reluctant students allow others to take control of the activity, but numbered heads together is a good way to ensure that you get responses from all students.  I also like that the first video stresses the importance of active listening during the activity, as students who are waiting to respond must hear and think about another student's answer before deciding to clarify, add to or contradict that response.

Discussion, thinking, listening and participation are all integral parts of this cooperative learning strategy.  It could also be used in several subjects and for various grade levels.

If you try it out, let me know how you like it!