Review by Caryn Lix, Common Sense Education | Updated June 2014

Power Play

Useful but bite-sized intro to states’ rights vs. federal law

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • Social Studies
Skills
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
6–8
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (1 Review)
Price:  Free
Platforms:  Mac, Windows

Take a look inside

4 images
Choose a side to enter the game.
Kids analyze arguments in a variety of categories.
Provides lots of useful hints and tips.
Carefully choose players and arguments.

Pros: Presents evenhanded look at complex interplay of state and federal rights

Cons: It goes quickly and is unlikely to grab kids for long.

Bottom Line: Used tactically, Power Play is an effective way to introduce or review the differing rights and responsibilities of the state and federal governments.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

This game would be an excellent follow-up activity to a class discussion around issues of government -- or a good introduction to the topic. Following the game, it would be a good use of student time to come up with their own arguments. Students could use an online game design website such as Gamestar Mechanic to create their own versions of the game, or to create a board game using their own topics and arguments. The other games in the iCivics curriculum offer natural extension opportunities like Branches of Power, which addresses the branches of the federal government, and Argument Wars, which digs deeper into formulating arguments in the context of the Supreme Court.

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Standards:

In Power Play, students consider whether power should be centralized in the hands of the federal government or extended to individual states. Players pick one side of the argument at the game's start. Statues representing different spheres of influence --  taxation and education, for example -- are positioned between "federal" and "state" zones as they actually exist. Students send in players to make arguments that will move the statues closer to the desired zone. If the arguments don't match the category, nothing will happen; if they do, the statues will advance in the appropriate direction. 

Full Disclosure: iCivics and Common Sense Education share a funder; however, that relationship does not impact Common Sense Education's editorial independence and this learning rating.

Power Play provides many opportunities for kids to think about the essential structure of the United States of America. They'll encounter persuasive arguments on both sides of this many-layered issue, learn factual information, and then put those facts to use to further their own arguments. Unfortunately, the game itself is brief and won't compel kids beyond a relatively short play session. It also may take a little bit of time to grasp as it's not a readily familiar game type.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Should get kids thinking and engaged, but only in a brief burst.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Solid civics facts integrated well with gameplay helps kids think through complex problems.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Provides solid instructions but can still be confusing at first.

Common Sense Reviewer
Caryn Lix Classroom teacher
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Key Standards Supported

Reading History/Social Studies

  • RH.6-8.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

  • RH.6-8.5

    Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

  • RH.6-8.6

    Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

  • RH.6-8.7

    Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

  • RH.6-8.8

    Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

  • RH.6-8.9

    Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

  • RH.6-8.1

    Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

  • RH.6-8.2

    Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

  • RH.6-8.3

    Identify key steps in a text’s description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g., how a bill becomes law, how interest rates are raised or lowered).

  • RH.6-8.10

    By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Reading Informational Text

  • RI.6.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.

  • RI.6.5

    Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas.

  • RI.6.6

    Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

  • RI.6.7

    Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

  • RI.6.8

    Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.

  • RI.6.9

    Compare and contrast one author’s presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person).

  • RI.6.1

    Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.6.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

  • RI.6.3

    Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

  • RI.6.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.7.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.

  • RI.7.5

    Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas.

  • RI.7.6

    Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author distinguishes his or her position from that of others.

  • RI.7.7

    Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium’s portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the delivery of a speech affects the impact of the words).

  • RI.7.8

    Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.

  • RI.7.9

    Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts.

  • RI.7.1

    Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.7.2

    Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.7.3

    Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

  • RI.7.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.8.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

  • RI.8.5

    Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept.

  • RI.8.6

    Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.

  • RI.8.7

    Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea.

  • RI.8.8

    Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.

  • RI.8.9

    Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide conflicting information on the same topic and identify where the texts disagree on matters of fact or interpretation.

  • RI.8.1

    Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.8.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.8.3

    Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

  • RI.8.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

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Teacher Reviews

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Featured review by
Kris H. , Other
Other
Cornell Senior High School
Coraopolis, United States
Strangely Awkward Football Game
I really do like the vast majority of resources on iCivics and use them with my students. I really feel that this one should be completely revised. If they are doing a football analogy, they should make the game somewhat like football and move a ball towards the end zone instead of pulling a statue away from it.
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