Core Skills Analysis
History and Social Studies
- Kat engaged with a game set in a historically inspired American frontier, providing a contextual understanding of late 19th to early 20th-century society in the Western United States.
- She learned about social dynamics of the era, including themes of lawlessness, settlement, and the changing nature of frontier towns.
- The game enabled exploration of historical concepts such as economic development, indigenous cultures, and the impact of expansion on different communities.
- Kat experienced a simulated environment that reflects issues around morality, justice, and survival relevant to the period’s social context.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Playing the game required Kat to strategize and make decisions based on complex scenarios involving multiple variables.
- She practiced resource management, such as balancing supplies and managing in-game currency, fostering planning and foresight.
- Kat analyzed characters' behaviors and narrative outcomes, cultivating skills in predicting consequences and adapting to new challenges.
- The game’s choice-based gameplay helped develop her ability to weigh options and think critically about ethical implications.
Digital Literacy and Media Studies
- Kat interacted with digital storytelling, enhancing comprehension of narrative structure in modern interactive media.
- She became familiar with video game mechanics and user interface navigation, improving technological proficiency.
- The experience offered insight into how media can influence perception of history and culture through immersive storytelling.
- Kat learned to distinguish between historical fact and fictional elements common in entertainment media.
Tips
To deepen Kat's understanding, encourage her to research the real historical period represented in the game to compare fact versus fiction, perhaps through documentaries or primary source readings. Discussing the ethical decisions made in the game can lead to conversations about morality and consequences in history and modern life. To extend critical thinking, Kat could write alternative story outcomes or create her own game scenario that reflects historical events or social dilemmas. Finally, exploring other media forms like films or novels set in the same era can broaden her appreciation of how historical narratives are shaped across formats.
Book Recommendations
- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy: A gritty, literary portrayal of the American West emphasizing the brutal realities and complex characters of the frontier era.
- A People's History of the American West by Richard White: An accessible historical account focusing on diverse perspectives of inhabitants during westward expansion.
- Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier by Ray Allen Billington: A comprehensive overview of the social, economic, and political factors driving the movement west in the United States.
Learning Standards
- GCSE History - Understanding key historical periods including the American West and societal impacts (HT1 and HT4).
- GCSE English Literature - Analyzing narrative and thematic development in storytelling (EN3).
- GCSE Computing - Developing digital literacy and interaction with software (CO1 and CO2).
- GCSE Citizenship - Considering moral and ethical decision making in social contexts (CI1).
Try This Next
- Design a worksheet that compares and contrasts the game's storyline with actual historical events of the American West.
- Create a quiz focusing on ethical dilemmas faced in the game and the consequences of different choices.
- Develop a writing prompt asking Kat to rewrite a game ending to reflect a different historical or moral outcome.