Mission US Self-Paced PD Module
Serious History, Serious Games: Using "Mission US" to Foster Historical Empathy

Consider Where and When Students Play

There are a variety of ways that you can integrate the Mission US interactive experiences and activities from the classroom guides into your teaching. The logistics can be tricky, but Mission US provides you with several options for where and when your students play the mission.

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High Integration (Use the mission as context for classroom learning)
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Estimated Number of 45-minute class periods: 8-10 (excluding homework time)

  • Students play the different parts of a Mission US interactive experience in the classroom or computer lab, individually, or in pairs.
  • Before, during, and after playing parts of the mission, students process what they are doing through discussion, writing, and other activities facilitated by the teacher.
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Medium Integration (Use the mission to supplement classroom learning)
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Estimated number of 45-minute class periods: 5 (excluding homework time)

  • Students split gameplay between the classroom and as homework.
  • Gameplay is complemented with in-class and homework activities in which students write and talk about what is happening in the mission, using materials from the Classroom Guide.
  • Gameplay alternates with non-game-related classwork.
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Low Integration (Use the mission as an extra or enhancement)
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Estimated number of 45-minute class periods: 1 (excluding homework time)

  • Teacher introduces the mission to students (perhaps using a projector), and assigns students to play the entire interactive experience as homework, giving students several days to complete the task.
  • Teacher assigns one or two of the activities from the Classroom Guide to students for homework, and/or holds a class discussion about the events in the mission, connecting those events to what students are learning about through traditional study.

Location

Mission US can be played in a variety of settings with a variety of technology set-ups. Your students can play as a class, in small groups, in pairs, or individually, or you can mix and match these approaches. Depending on accessibility of technology, students can play in class, at home, or both – since their online accounts will save their mission data wherever they play, and allow them to continue playing in any setting where a computer with an internet connection is available.

If your school or students lack an internet connection, all missions are also available as downloadable versions that do not require the internet for PC and Chromebook. Downloadable versions for iPad and Mac are available for some of the missions, too.

Time

You can decide how much classroom time to dedicate to gameplay, in-class activities, and accompanying assignments. If a student were to sit down at a computer and play a Mission US mission from beginning to end without stopping, the entire gameplay experience would take 90 minutes or more. However, we do not suggest you use this approach with students. 

Each interactive experience is divided into multiple “parts” (think of them as chapters in a historical novel). Your students’ learning will be maximized if you take the time to use the gameplay as a “point of departure” or inspiration for classroom instruction.

Each classroom guide includes a Curriculum Overview that provides an outline suggesting how to integrate the mission and related classroom activities into nine 45-minute class periods (High Integration). You can use the Curriculum Overview as a starting point to develop your own plan.

You can find the Curriculum Overview at the top of the “Teach this Mission” menu in each classroom guide.

Take Notes

  • Answer the questions below about location and time in your context: