Lesson Nineteen Teaching Guide:

Suggested timings for today’s 1 hour class:

1. Get seated and settled - Class Intro (5 mins)

2. Read/Listen to Lesson/Story and review Demo board exercises (20 mins)

3. Students play on individual boards with partners. (25 mins)

4. Cleanup (5 mins)

5. 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: Our adventurers return for a whimsical twist on an ancient game. With cheers from their teammates ringing in their ears, they face one final mission: overcome their deepest doubts and fears. Who will triumph against time? And who will rise to the top? Don’t miss the earth-shattering, giggle inducing, Season One finale of Little Ones Chess!

Demo board: Review the rules to Bughouse (a chess variant/four person chess match). Rule #1. Two people to a team (partners), sit side-by-side, as they face two opposing partners. Choose your partner wisely! 2. One partner plays white, the other black. This is because… 3. When a player captures a piece from their opponent, they give that piece to their partner for use during their next turn, or to save in their ‘piece bank’ for later use. 4. The player must wait for their turn before dropping the gifted piece, instead of moving an existing piece, on any open square of your choosing. 5. Pawns may not be dropped on the 1st or 8th ranks. 6. Promoted pawns who are captured, are known as “counterfeits”, …and must be placed in their opponents ‘piece bank’ as a pawn. 6. The game ends as normal, after a checkmate on either board, or, if using a timer, after time has expired. 7. If no checkmate occurs, then winners are determined by the total value of points collectively captured (per team).

Practical Skills Learned:

Learn to play a chess variant. Variants can help improve our tactical understanding and vision, engagement and creative thinking, and bring an additional element of fun to what might be an otherwise challenging experience.

Emotional Skills Learned:

This lesson helps children practice recognizing emotions, managing stress, supporting others, communicating honestly, accepting change, and building resilience through teamwork and thoughtful decision-making.

Daily Challenge:

Have fun!

Review Questions for Lesson Nineteen: (Suggestions)

1. What is bughouse, and how many people are needed to play?

2. What character did you relate most to in this story, or in the series as a whole? Why?

3. Why is it important that King Mateo accepted the outcome when he lost his last game, even though it was hard?

4. If you were there, a part of King Mateo’s team, what piece would you be, and how would you support your teammates?

5. What does “every piece has found its square” mean in life, not just chess?

6. What lesson from this story would you like to remember the next time you face a challenge?

Introduce Game:

Who is ready to ready to play? Let’s go!

Piece Abbreviations

Kings = K, Puppy Pawns = P, Bull Rooks = R, Pony Boy Knights = N, Billy Goat Bishops = B, Queen Giraffes = Q

Piece Values: (See lesson 3 & 10)

K = Infinity      

P’s = 1 pt each

R’s = 5 pts each

N’s = 3 pts each

B’s = 3 pts each

Q’s = 9 pts each

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I’ve enjoyed writing and teaching it!

Look out for Book Two coming soon, along with loads of media updates for Book One!