Reinvigorating History Classes: The Importance of Play and Collaboration in Secondary Education InnovatED.LA April 2014 Presenter: Kelly Wall Class website: Viewpoint School, Middle School social studies

Play is more than just fun.. lay_is_more_than_fun_it_s_vital

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” - Plato

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.” -Carl Jung

“Whoever wants to understand much must play much.” - Gottfried Benn

Share: How can you or do you incorporate a culture of “play” into your classroom?

Class dismissed… now recess! Group Play Option 1: Build a Mayan Civilization in groups: Take on a social role and imagine your responsibilities and contributions as a peasant, priest, commoner or artisan. Break ground using Legos and implement your group’s vision. Solo Play Option 2: Cell Phones From the Past: Imagine that a person from the past owned a cellphone. Who might they call or text? What apps would they have? Bonus question: What calls might they “drop” and why?

Where are you in this journey “to play”? Novice: Are you interested in transforming your curriculum to be more playful? Next step: Planning. Veteran: Have you already incorporated a culture of play into your classroom? Next Step: Reflection. Curious Individual: Do you want to experiment and try out more playful approaches to learning? Next step: Explore.

Resources: :// -hub :// -hub All hand-outs and lessons will be posted on my class website: