1. Rules of The Game from The Joy Luck Club
Before beginning, be sure to arrange your class in a circle or rectangle, and create a seating chart on an open manila folder. You’ll take notes on each stage of the discussion on this chart, and you may want to use different colored ink for each discussion stage. Please print student copies of the included printable passages for student annotation, vocabulary exploration guides, and student response forms for the final stage of Shared Inquiry.
Rules of The Game from The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan

2. RW #6: “Rules of the Game” Individual Response
Please choose TWO of the following question to answer in your notebook. You will share/discuss your answers after the story.
What qualities do you think a person needs in order to be a very good chess player?
Why do parents brag about their children? Would you like it if your parents bragged about you?
Should parents push their children to excel, or are children more likely to succeed if their parents leave them alone?
Do you ever feel as though you are competing with your parents?
Give students a few minutes to compose an answer to one of the questions above, and encourage them to be as specific as possible about examples that support their answer. Let students know that they will discuss their answers. After this quick-write activity, lead a discussion in which students share their answers. Let them know that they will be graded on three things: do they have an answer, is it supported with specific examples, and do they appropriately participate in the discussion. Listening respectfully is participating, but if they hear an idea with which they agree, disagree or about which they may provide additional examples, they should jump in and add to the conversation. As a leader, look to compare and contrast answers without taking sides or expressing your own opinions.
ELL strategy: Post sentence stems to use for this activity to scaffold for writing and also for speaking. Beginner and Intermediate ELLs will benefit from this. Advanced students who lack confidence or who are reluctant learners or reticent by nature also may use this scaffold. See the Accountable Talk Posters included in this lesson’s portfolio.

3. Vocabulary Acquisition
Choose two words from the list below with which you are unfamiliar and add them to your RW #6. As you read, look for the word in the story and write down the sentence in which it is used. Then write a definition in your own words based on the context clues.
Impart
Pungent
Benefactor
Tactic
Malodorous
Adversary
Foresight
Retort
Concession
Ponder

4. Meet the Author: Amy Tan
Born in Oakland, California on February 19, 1952 to Chinese immigrants.
After her father and brother died, her already rocky relationship with her mom became worse.
Her mom wanted her to become a doctor or concert pianist. She wanted to be a writer.
Through her writing, she learned to embrace her heritage and express her emotions about her family.
Wrote The Joy Luck Club, a novel that explores the relationships between Chinese women and their daughters.
Tan lives in New York and San Francisco.
After introducing the author, you’ll begin the first reading.

5. Chess: The Game of kings
Originated in India about 1500 years ago
Originally a war game called chaturanga
Each piece had different powers
The winner was the person whose king was the last one standing
Game spread to Asia, then the Middle East where it followed the spread of Islam to North Africa, Sicily, and Spain
The Vikings brought the game to Iceland and England; the Slavs brought it to Russia
Known as the “game of kings” both because of its popularity with the nobility and its value as training practice for warfare
The rules and board design used now became standard in the early 19th century

6. Rw #6: “Rules of the Game” Partner Discussion
Question 5: Cite two examples where a character does or says something that clearly reflects his or her identity.
Question 6: Cite one example where a Waverly accepts her culture and cite one example where she rejects her culture.
Question 7: Cite one example where Waverly shows “invisible strength” and one example of where Waverly’s mother shows “invisible strength.”
ALL GROUPS: Why does Waverly become more distant from her family as she becomes a better and more famous chess player?
Be sure to record student responses on your manila folder seating chart. Start a list of important vocabulary for student understanding. Guide students via questioning to notice the context of each word. Following this discussion, you will initiate a vocabulary exploration activity.
Avoid explaining issues of meaning after the first reading. Doing so will likely stifle the discussion after the second reading and the Shared Inquiry discussion.
ELL Strategy: Allow ELLs to partner with another student to help with comprehension. Also, post the bulleted list on an anchor chart and explain using some examples (guided activity.)

7. “Rules of The Game” Post-discussion Questions
Is Mrs. Jong a positive force or a negative force in Waverly’s development?
Do you know anyone who has “invisible strength”? How does it show? Do you have it?
If you knew someone who was moving to America, what are some of the main “rules” of American life that you would tell him or her?
What game do you play that is important to you? Do you think that playing this game has helped you grow?
When were you able to “bite back your tongue”? How did this help you get something you wanted?