Lesson Three Teaching Guide:
Suggested timings for today’s 1 hour class:
Get seated and settled - Class Intro (5 mins)
Read/Listen to Lesson/Story and review Demo board exercises (20 mins)
Students play on individual boards with partners. (25 mins)
Cleanup (5 mins)
Regroup/Debrief for review and awards for daily challenges completed. (5 mins)
Summary: Briefly review of last week’s lesson + chess challenge. Cover today’s story, demo board exercises + review questions, and the daily challenge.
Story + Demo Board Exercises/ Puzzles: Story: We’re introduced to Korben (King Mateo’s twin brother) and Ralph, Korben’s best mate.
Demo board: Briefly review how the K & P’s move and Capture. Demonstrate how the Pawns find a shortcut and ‘slip through the seam’ to initiate a capture. Show how ‘good friends defend’ by building pawn chains (same principle with the King) and how it helps them win games. Do “Is it safe” puzzles with the King. Show safe, unsafe (illegal) moves with the King. Introduce and practice calculating piece values. Ralph introduces us to his 'value' = 1. Highlight this as the basis for assigning numbers in the future.
Game Instructions: Pawn Wars! The King + 8 P’s vs K+ 8 P's.
Game Objective/How to Win:
Objective of the game is to get a player to the opposite side of the board first to win. Remember, the King’s job is to direct and support his team. One way he can support them is by blocking and/or capturing the opposing team’s players.
Practical Skills Learned:
How the King and Pawns move, block, and capture. Reinforced how to identify ‘shortcuts’ to initiate a capture (for the pawns). How to work as a team/be a “good friend and defend” (in this instance, by forming pawn chains, having each others ‘back’). And how to avoid unsafe/illegal moves (for the King). Plus, we’re learning to build focus and engagement for longer periods of time.
Emotional Skills Learned:
Self-awareness, Spacial-awareness, Altruism (defending teammates for the benefit of the team), Wisdom - if I move there, what can/will happen & does potential outcome that benefit my team? Basically, is it a good move, an okay move, or a bad move? We learn to see the consequences of our actions and decisions. We also learn to own our mistakes and errors in judgement, understanding that it’s normal and that we can recover from our mistakes.
Daily Challenge:
Tally up the value of all the pieces you captured! (K = infinity & P’s = 1 point each) Capture the King!
Review Questions for Lesson Three: (Susggestions)
Korben was two years late in coming home. Can you think of a time when you were delayed? How would you want the person waiting for you to feel? How would you feel if you were the person waiting? How can we be kind in both situations?
Korben tried to make things right by surprising his brother with a party, but in the end he lost all of their friends. What can we learn from his mistake? And what does this teach us about the difference between our intentions and the outcomes?
Can you finish this sentence? Good friends,…. (Defend). How do the Pawns defend or have each others back? How does the King show he’s a good friend?
What’s the difference between a good move, an okay move, and a bad move? (All are related in regards to safety. A good move keeps you and your team safe while furthering your plan to win - which might look like getting into a good position, capturing a piece, or defending a teammate. An okay move is similar but if you’ve captured a minor piece that doesn’t affect your overall plan. A bad move is when your move leads to losing a piece, position, or ability to defend a teammate.)
What’s an illegal move?
How can remember Ralph’s favorite number? I’ll give you a clue… it was sewn onto the chest of his sailing kit. (This number will serve as his "piece value”, and by extension, the other puppy pawns, going forward)
Introduce Game:
Who is ready to play Capture the King? Let’s go!
Post Game Debrief:
Review how the game went, if there were any problems/successes. Hand out prizes/awards for challenges completed (if using incentives).
Piece Abbreviations
Kings = K, Puppy Pawns = P,
Piece Values: (According to each pieces’ favorite number)
K = Infinity
P’s = 1 point each
Demo Board Setup and Explanations:
Board 1: Today we’ll play Capture the King! Here is how we’ll set up our game. The Kings begins their journey on the E squares.
Remember, today the pawns must try to capture the opposing team’s King. Whoever captures him first wins the game!
Don’t forget that any pawn can choose to jump forward two squares on it’s first move. Then it reverts back to moving one step/square per turn.
Board 2: Which of these pawns can find a shortcut and ‘slip through the crack’ to capture a piece? Would that be a good, ok, or bad move? Why?
Which Pawns are being ‘Good friends’?
Is the White King in an illegal space? Why/why not?
Show examples of what it would look like for either King to put themselves in an illegal/unsafe/dangerous square.
Bonus: Pretend you have a watch like King Mateo’s that sends him danger alerts when he draws close to danger. What sound does it make?