Ansel and Clair: Paul Revere's Ride
As a fun way to collectively experience the app, have students use the class whiteboard, blackboard, or projector as a place to record historical figures, terms, facts, and dates. Tell students to write information on the board as they come across it and to build on what others have written. Afterward, facilitate a discussion using the collaborative notes, letting students teach the content.
When students finish with the app, they can use it as a jumping-off point for more in-depth, project-based exploration of something that sparked interest. Encourage kids to follow their interests and design unique ways to demonstrate learning. For example, one student could choose to do a short presentation on William Dawes, while another could create a slideshow sharing with the class what key locations from the app look like today.
Continue readingEditor's note: Ansel and Clair: Paul Revere's Ride is no longer available for download.
Ansel and Clair: Paul Revere's Ride helps kids learn about the beginnings of the American Revolution and especially about Paul Revere through the adventures of Ansel and Clair, two aliens who come to Earth to learn about this historic time. Well researched and crafted, it’s an engaging and enriching experience suitable for a wide range of students, from pre-readers through grade 5.
The player first chooses a character and name and plays a tutorial that covers the basics. Afterward the story begins, and quite quickly the first interactive element (a puzzle of the 13 colonies) appears. Once this puzzle is complete, the player meets Paul Revere. Revere teaches brief lessons -- with lots of supplemental images and interactivity -- about life in the time of the American Revolution. The entire game experience will likely take most kids a few play sessions to complete.
This is an excellent way for kids to learn about political events, important figures like Paul Revere, and the daily lives of people during the American Revolution. In the classroom, up to four students can create accounts and group up on one device. As they work through the interactive story, mini-games, maps, illustrations, and more, kids get a solid first look at the main issues and people that led to the revolution. Peppered throughout the story are words related to the time period and government ("taxation without representation"), helping kids learn relevant vocabulary.
Puzzles and mini-games -- such as matching the 13 colonies on a map by their shapes or dragging bags of tax money away from angry colonists and toward King George –- explain life in the colonies and help kids recognize the important people of the time. For writing practice, kids can also take photos of things they see in the scenes and write their observations in a journal. Multiple-choice quizzes help kids and teachers assess retention and understanding.
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