Full Description
Even older students can benefit from play in the classroom—and it doesn't mean sacrificing rigor. Seasoned educator Amy Heusterberg-Richards shows teachers how embracing play in secondary classrooms can build content, refine skills, and assess understanding, all while inviting joy back into the classrooms of teens who often feel anxious and disfranchised about education.
This book describes approaches and rationale for embedding play within secondary classrooms across all disciplines. Each of the 20 lessons includes research-based rationales, step-by-step instructions, samples, student-facing directions, and applications across subject areas. Artificial intelligence (AI)-incorporated ideas are also provided. In a world with apathy and AI, education—even at the secondary level—needs to embrace the ever-natural, always-cathartic experience of playing.
By thoughtfully integrating play-based learning, we can enhance classroom management, maintain academic standards, cover the curriculum effectively, and engage older students in meaningful ways. High school learners, too, can laugh and create and pretend as they learn.
Contents
1. Introduction 2. This Book's Aims 3. This Book's Structure 4. Quick Background on Play 5. Play for Content-Building 6. "Found Parts" Play 7. Additional "Child's Play" 8. Float Ideas 9. Research Role-Playing 10. Scavenger Hunts 11. Matching Card Games 12. Escape Rooms (Digital or Physical) 13. Whole Unit Gamification 14. Playing with Content - via AI support 15. Play as Skills Application 16. Pairing-Cards Game Variations 17. Reasoning Tug-of-War 18. Build-It Play 19. Analytical Role-Playing & Simulations 20. Category Challenges 21. Reinvented Classics 22. "Found Parts" Abstractions 23. Threading Together 24. Bracket Battles 25. Playing with Skills - via AI support 26. Play-based Assessments (PBA) 27. Role-Playing/Simulation Assessments 28. Final Thoughts 29. Special Thanks
