Lesson Eight 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: Even heroes need a break. After a harrowing journey through the Night Realm, King Mateo feels completely drained - body, mind, and spirit. But with a little help from his brother Korben, he learns that asking for help and learning to rest can be a superpower, too.
Demo board: Play "How many moves?" Try to capture as many pieces with the Knights as possible. Remind how they are most effective in the center of the board, rather than along the sides AND how they can be a good friend and help defend in moments of need.
Game Instructions:
First Game: 1st Game: N’s + P’s vs N’s + P’s. 2nd Game: Add Rooks. 3rd Game: Add Kings (K’s, P’s, R’s, N’s vs K’s P’s, R’s N’s)
Game Objective/How to Win:
Capture a King with a Knight to win!
Practical Skills Learned:
How to effectively move and capture with the Knights. The beginnings of strategy (‘Knights on the rim are grim’). How to be intentional with out movements and pieces.
Emotional Skills Learned:
Persistence and humility. Understanding when we need a break and when we need help. Learning to act on those understandings. We learn seeing ourselves as a whole and not just something to fix. And we learn to see others this way. We also learn that asking for help is important for growth.
Daily Challenge:
Capture all the P's before they capture you! Capture 3+ pieces with the N. Capture the King with a N (Knight).
Review Questions for Lesson Eight: (Suggestions)
Why was King Mateo feeling so overwhelmed at the beginning of the story?
What advice did Korben give King Mateo about taking care of yourself when you’re tired or stressed?
Have you ever felt like King Mateo did? What helped you feel better?
What do you think your superpowers are? (Things that make you a good friend, teammate, family member? Ways you are kind to yourself as well?
Why can it be hard to ask for help at times? What can make it easier?
Can you think of a time someone helped you? How did it make you feel?
Bonus: Who can remind us of how the Knights move/dance, and capture?
Introduce Game:
Ok everyone, choose a partner. It’s time to play!
Post Game Debrief:
Review how the game went, if there were any problems/successes. Give prizes for challenges completed.
Piece Abbreviations
Kings = K, Puppy Pawns = P, Bull Rooks = R, Pony Boy Knights = N
Piece Values: (According to each piece’s favorite number. See lessons 3 & 10)
K = Infinity
P’s = 1 point each
R’s = 5 points each
N’s = 3 points each
Demo Board Setup and Explanations:
Board 1: Today we’ll see how well we can move our pieces around the chess board!Let’s begin on our starting positions!
And then let’s try “How Many Moves Does It Take?” Choose a piece on the board. Now choose a another piece. How many moves would it take for piece A to reach piece B? How many moves to capture it?
Now, let’s try using our Knights to capture as many pieces as possible, including the King!
Remember, our Knights also want to be good friends, so they do their best to ward of any danger that threatens their teammates. They can do this by putting themselves in position to capture the danger. This is how they give warnings to others! “You better not try and capture my friend!”
Board 2: Now we see our Knight is in danger. Can you spot it? What square is the Knight on ? And how can his team help the Knight escape danger? Can they give a little warning? Or can they capture the piece that’s putting the Knight in danger?