Before introducing the game, we suggest that teachers activate students’ background knowledge about the Thinking Skills they will be working on during game play. We also recommend having students set learning goals before playing the game so that they are aware of what they will be trying to accomplish.

Whole Group Introduction Activities:

Organization

• Cut out pictures of different items, animals etc. and put all of the pictures on a table or desk. Have students work in groups to sort the items into categories that make sense to them. Tell them they must be prepared to explain their reasoning.

Self-Awareness

• Have students work in pairs and give each partner a paper bag with an item inside. Have one student describe the item to their partner so that they can try to guess what it is. Encourage them to describe the color, texture, shape, use, etc. of the item. Students will need to evaluate themselves and how they are describing the items. They will need to decide what they should change about or add to their descriptions if their partners are having trouble guessing the  items. (Students can switch roles and find other items to put in the bag to describe). Once both students have had a chance to guess, bring the class together to discuss what was easy or hard about this activity. Ask the students to share how they evaluated themselves and changed their descriptions to help their partners guess.

Whole Group Discussion:

• Take time to activate students’ background knowledge and introduce the Thinking Skills of Organization and Self-Awareness. Relate these Thinking Skills to the activation activity. Generate a list of ways they think these Thinking Skills are used in school and/or at home.

• Provide students with background information about the game using the information on the other tabs of this Playbook. Have them make predictions about when they might use Organization and/or Self-Awareness during Game Play.

Goal Setting: Teachers can have students complete one of our Previewing Printables independently or with a partner and then discuss their responses. Have students fill in their Learning Goal and explain that this is the goal that students will be trying to achieve today. You will revisit this goal later.

Learning Goal: Tell students that their Learning Goal for today is to detect when they are using Organization and/or Self-Awareness in Cargo Bridge to help them later apply these skills in new situations.

Teachers can use Cargo Bridge with individual students,  small groups, or with an entire class. We recommend opening and explaining the game for all students before letting them begin playing on their own.

Teacher Modeling (Whole Group):

• Open the game and go through the tutorial with the class. Contruct your first bridge and follow along with the directions given. Think aloud as you go and encourage students to make suggestions about what you should do. Make sure students understand that they can put pieces on a diagonal to help strengthen their bridges. (image example?)
• Make sure players understand that they need to be reflective, as this game requires a lot of trial and error learning. They also need to use their organizational skills in order to logically place pieces to construct better bridges.

Independent/Partner Work:

Teachers can have students work independently or with a partner. Since some students might have difficulty working alone, we suggest having them start by working in partners until they beat at least one level, and then having them move to indpendent work if they want to.

As they play, students should try to reach one or more of the following Gameplay Goals:

• Beat the first level in less than 8 tries.
• Beat the second level in less than 6 tries.
• Complete all four levels in the “Lite” version of the game.
• Finish the “Lite” version of the game with a total score of over $2000.

Checkpoint: Once students have played long enough to beat several levels or ahieve some of the GamePlay Goals above, have them stop and discuss some of the strategies they are using when building their bridges. Have them share some of the discoveries they made about what worked and what didn’t work.

Once students have completed game play, it is important for teachers to process their experiences with them. Teachers might choose to have students complete one of our Processing Printables with a partner and then discuss their results with the whole group, as well as their responses to the following Talking Points.

Some Talking Points might include:

• Did you achieve any of the Gameplay Goals?
• What were the challenges presented to you by this game?
• How did you learn to change your designs as you played? What were some strategies that you used to help you build better bridges?

Learning Goal Assessment: Teachers may choose to have students respond to these questions on paper or informally during group discussion to assess their learning.

• How did you use Organization skills when creating your bridges? What would have happened if you were struggling with organization?
• How did you use Self-Awareness to help you succeed? What would have happened if you did not reflect on your actions in the game?

Connect & Extend:

After students have discussed when they identified their use of Thinking Skills during game play, it is important to help them relate concepts in the game to daily life. We have provided some more discussion points below, as well as some suggestions for connection and extension activities than can be completed throughout the year to promote meaningful learning.

• Talk about the times where you had to plan ahead in the game — like when checking the cargo and amount of workers — and how Planning helped you beat the level faster or have more money left over. Relate the type of planning you’re using in Cargo Bridge to real life examples of budgeting for a party, planning a group project, or simply saving up cash for a big purchase.
• Ask students to describe some of the methods they used to build bridges that could support weight, like using numerous support beams. Discuss some common hobbies that involve similar organization, like constructing a castle with Lego blocks, making a model car, or building a birdhouse. Talk about the organizational elements that all these activities share.

Connection Activities:

Organization Activity

Creating a Visual. Have students create a visual map or plan to organize their ideas for their next class project or assignment. Show them how using or making graphic organizers for themselves can help make sense of ideas before they begin working, helping them to save time and clarify their goals.

Self-Awareness Activity

Self Assessment. Allow students to assess their own work. You can provide them with the same or similar rubrics or checklists that you will use to grade their assignments, and have them self-assess before handing in their work. Have conferences with students to discuss their assessment of their work and how it compares to your own. Encourage them to set goals for learning based on their own self-assessments.