Sherlock Holmes: The Secret of the Silver Earring (PC)
Pupils are required to produce a piece of journal writing in 5 minutes at the beginning of each lesson – applicable only to S1 and S2 pupils.
For most pupils, this would descend into the more mundane repetitive nature of listing the subjects they had visited or a window on their limited experience at the weekend in a small community.
The pupils are undertaking curricular study of a drama adaptation of a classic Sherlock Holmes story, The Mazarin Stone, so I decided to use one of the suggested titles by Whitton at http://digitalgames.playthinklearn.net/
Having acquired a ‘walkthrough’ and a copy of the PC game I decided to allow the pupils to play the game for five minutes and then spend a further 5 minutes producing a journal entry of the investigation to date in the persona of either Holmes or Dr Watson.
Pupils are in groups of 2-3, and each day a group undertakes the game control and scribing activities, whilst they participate in a whole class discussion of investigation. I, as teacher and ‘omniscient prompt’ offer suggestions and instigate elaborations of suggestions.
Pupils are:
- Collaborating
- Following instructions
- Deconstructing a flexible narrative
- Using higher-order thinking skills (i.e. deduction)
- Learning about and writing in register
- Reconstructing narrative(s)
To date, 3 periods - w/b 17th to 22nd January – have been successful; pupils have been confident to adopt 1 of the 2 offered personas; 1 has adopted a 3rd person.
I will continue to monitor the interaction and final outcomes of this activity.
I am considering the suitability of narrative-rich games such as ‘Neverwinter Nights’ and ‘The Longest Journey’.
Keywords: IDGBL10
Comments
The more general point (which you are no doubt thinking about) is the place of the story (particularly the form of the detective novel) as a form of the puzzle. Whitton talks about this on p30. It seems to me that it is perfectly possible for a young reader to fail to engage with the "interactive" dimension of reading, reading as if they are passively waiting for something to happen. An approach not likely to promote a joy in reading in the long term. If the story is understood as some sort of puzzle to be decoded, then the interactive element enters. I am pretty sure that I will already have mentioned Keith Oatley's work, likening fiction to "simulator that runs on the hardware of the mind".
http://www.icosilune.com/2008/08/keith-oatley-the-science-of-fic
Yes, Hamish.
Page 26 mentions 'Interaction', and I have noticed that the feedback - auditory and visual - is considered inter-group, as well as intra-group, with myself playing a moderator role.
Page 32 is interesting - in any group collaboration context: I've found that devolved responsibility amongst groups helps with creating and maintaining a positive climate.
I'll check out that reference, cheers!
I find the work you are doing with your students on story writing and puzzle-solving fascinating (as a recently ex-English teacher). Are your girls enjoying it as much as the boys? Do they get to control the game as much as the boys? Are they more reluctant to take the game controls but more willing to write the journal?
I too find the gender perspective interesting. Are you going to keep us updated on how this goes?
As mentioned on your other blog post the work of Judy Robertson and Never Winter Nights is worth a look maybe:
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/ictineducation/gamesbasedlearning/sharingpractice/gamesdesign/neverwinternights.asp
Also this is a very interesting project Hugh - might I suggest this as a possibility for Assignment 1: Review (due mid March) - especially the suggested b) option. You can talk to me more about this if required.