My apologies for the late lesson plan post: I was travelling Friday and ended up being without wifi for longer than I anticipated (Ferries, ugh!). Here's the plan:
Goal: Teach students how to play Knock Euchre, a popular and simple partner game. Euchre can be tricky to get the hang of, but provides a great vehicle for learning simple card playing strategy in a trick taking game. It is also very flexible between contexts, from casual games to serious tournaments.
INTRO & SURVEY: 1-2 min
Begin with personal anecdote - I spent all my childhood years going to summer camp and getting to know my cabinmates through mini euchre tournaments. I have great memories of light-hearted competition and banter and am excited to teach new people the game.
Next, survey the students:
- What experience do they have with card games?
- Have they played a trick-taking game before (i.e. hearts, screw your neighbour, bridge)?
- Have they played a game with trump before (i.e. bridge, rook, wizard)?
- Euchre is played with only the cards 9-A of each suit (Aces high)
- Euchre is a trick-taking game, which means we each play one card and the highest card wins
- Exception to this is following suit
- Trump is the strongest suit, determined each hand separately
- In Euchre, trump cards follow a slightly different order
- After dealing, the dealer turns up a card and players opt to choose that trump or pass
- If they choose this, the dealer keeps the revealed card
- If everyone passes, go around again with any trump option available
- If you declare trump, you and your partner are "on the hook" for 3/5 tricks
- Brief explanation of scoring (<1 min)
- Optional rules: Canadian Loner, Stick the Dealer
a)2b)3c)2d)3e)3f)3 Great job allowing time for the students to become engaged! I really enjoyed your lesson Only suggestion is maybe having a list of the main rules visible, which I understand is more difficult on zoom.
ReplyDeleteHey Jakob! Great lesson, that was so fun!
ReplyDeletea)2 b)3 c)2 d)3 e)3 f)3
I really liked your topic andI loved that you used an online cards platform to explain the game - so creative and so effective! I think you know this already but just timing it out a bit more. I really appreciated that it didn't feel like you rushed the explanation even though you knew you might be tight for time!
A)3, b)3, c)3, D) 3, E) 3, F) 3
ReplyDeleteI liked all parts of your lesson, very ingaing and clear. I am not a fan of game cards, but I find playing cards interting and fun after your interactive lesson. Thank you
a: 3 | b: 1 | c: 2 | d: 3 | e: 3 | f: 2
ReplyDeleteI think that I put myself in a challenging position by teaching a skill which has many other fundamentals built upon it. Adapting to a group of students who have very minimal background meant that things were more rushed than I had wanted them to be. I am pleased with how the tool I found worked, though, enabling everyone to participate even though we are meeting virtually. The questions asked indicated to me that people were listening and comprehending, which makes me think that my own presence was solid. In future, I think it would be key to approach the lesson with a better understanding of learner background when teaching a complex topic.
Good, thoughtful reflections, Jacob! It is always challenging when you are teaching learners whose background knowledge is different (in either direction) from what you might have assumed. It sounds like you did pretty well in adapting, given the very short timelines, and that you are ready in future to have several versions available when you explain something new.
ReplyDelete