Studio Purple, Week 18

Taking a closer look at small groups…

With the goal of creating their own game to share with the class, Kyla, Charlie Kelly, and Eva gathered together to play First Orchard in the hopes of growing a better understanding of what makes a game, a game.  The group spent a lot of time talking about rules during this first meeting.  

“I would read the directions.”  KYLA
“The rules always change and always stay the same.”  KYLA
“You have to make up rules.  You have to do what the rules do.”  CHARLIE
“Rules are things when someone says do not do that in this house.  And if someone takes something from someone else, they go to jail. That’s against the law, that’s against the rules.”  KYLA

Their second meeting started by taking a closer look at the direction sheet included with the game First Orchard.  They were also presented with a variety of materials and game boards to use in creating their own game, as well as materials to make their own pieces if the need should arise.  They set right to work.

“So this is the start.  The butterfly is the start.”
KYLA

“If there’s a zero, you can’t go there.”  EVA

“And these are people, right?”  CHARLIE

“So we need to make a piece because we do not have a birdie.”  KYLA

“…the birds stay here, right?”  CHARLIE

They use paper, scissors, and markers to make 3 birds.

“Should we make a crocodile?”  CHARLIE

“No…Okay, actually we should make a crocodile because the crocodile needs to try to catch the birds.”  KYLA

They take great care to make the birdie pieces and the crocodile.

“So all of the persons in the park are going bird watching.  All of the people are lining up to go bird watching. All the people want to go bird watching with their best friends.  Everyone is lining up and is very excited. So we’ll help all the birdies get to the nest before the crocodile gets there. If the crocodile goes to the nest first, and eats all the birds, the crocodile wins.”  KYLA

“No teasing, though. No teasing in the game.”  KYLA

“Yeah, no teasing.”  EVA

“How ’bout only games that you can tease in.  Because I made up a game that you can tease in.”  KYLA

“Once I made up a game that somebody could not tease in and my brother teased.”  CHARLIE

“That’s not nice.”  KYLA

After much preparation, Eva, Kyla, and Charlie begin to play their game, using dice.

“I got black.”  EVA

“So that means the crocodile goes, right?…Crocodile do NOT eat the birdies.  You bad one. I’m gonna poke you in the face.”  KYLA

As they continue to play, the crocodile advances rapidly and this causes Kyla to begin to shift her thinking about the rules.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t want to eat the birds.  He just wants to get to the nest and eat all the worms.”  KYLA

“Black.  Oh no…So it wants to go all the way over here.”  KYLA

“No, it landed in the nest.”  CHARLIE

“You have to get on top of the nest to eat all of the worms. But it’s on the bottom of the nest, so it’s going to fall.  Ahhhhh.” KYLA

“No it’s on the top of the nest.”  CHARLIE

“If the crocodile gets on to the bottom of the nest, it falls all the way down.  Then all of you get to do whatever you want.” KYLA

“So, now he’s on the top.”  CHARLIE

“No the white part is on the top.  He’s on the bottom.” KYLA

While Charlie and Eva continue to play the game, Kyla explains her thinking. “You can do whatever you want.  You can cheat. You can mess up the game.”

We wonder…What happens when the rules of the game lead to an unwanted outcome? Can the rules change so that we get a more desirable outcome? Or do the rules need to stay the same? What will happen as they begin to teach their game to others?  Stay tuned…

Moon talk expands to space…

“There’s a lot of planets and they’re in outer space.”  ALEX

“The dangerous planet is Mars.”  JACK

“It’s the Sun.”  SAM

“The dangerous planets are Mars and the Sun…’cause if you take off your helmet you’ll sneeze your whole life.”  ALEX

“The Sun is made out of hot gas. Hot gas is fire.”  JACK

“Jupiter.”  SAM

“The Sun is the biggest planet ever.”  JACK

“Jupiter has the longest day ever.”  CHARLIE MENKE

“The Sun has the 100 long day.”  JACK

Attaching leads to collaboration…

A spontaneous moment rallied the class to work together to attach velcro strips from one end of the studio to the other.