Classroom Activity: Point of View

As I round out my first RPG classroom unit, here are two more activities that will get students thinking about point of view in narrative.

art by Samuel Farinato http://farinatoart.blogspot.com/

Unit One: 

Learning the Ropes -- The Rules of Play for a Collaborative Storytelling Framework

Key Objective #1: Students will develop familiarity with the basic rules of a collaborative role-playing game.

Key Objective #2: Using the framework of a storytelling game, students will explore the effects of point of view in narrative

Activity 3: Promote an existing character to level four and play as expert

• Assessment: 3x5 reflection
• “What was different about higher level play?”
• “How did the setting or hazards change to maintain the challenge?”
• 
  

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Activity 4: Culminating Activity: Explore how a series of events told from one character's point of view can differ from that of another character who experienced the same events.

Technique:

• place students in group of four
• play 1-3 sessions with skilled GM while students note major events
• students compose a double-spaced, past tense narrative of the events from the perspective of their character
• students trade narratives for peer-editing
• students receive a peer-editing guide [grammar, tense, flow]
• students revise draft
• students read at least three other narratives, taking notes on differences between those versions and their own version
• students receive rubric and write a short essay demonstrating how point of view can affect a narrative

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There.  Again, not staggeringly new stuff ... and it does run the risk of creating a bunch of junior R.A. Salvatores ... but rather than the same old classroom activities I'll have the kids creeping through dungeons and rolling funky dice to get to the learning objectives!  

Future posts will look at classroom activities for Units Two through Four.