Enriching American Revolution Game with a Plethora of Teacher Resources
Community Review for Mission US: For Crown or Colony?
My Take
My sixth graders love this game year after year. Mission US: For Crown or Colony allows students to apply the concepts of the events leading up to the American Revolution in their own ways and helps them see the consequences of decisions that they make as they play the role of Nat Wheeler, a printer's apprentice in the mid- to late 1700's. In addition to the game, the website provides a bevy of very helpful and well-written lesson plans and activities that are appropriate for a variety of age groups and ability levels.
The only criticism I have of this game is that there is no way for a teacher to track his / her students' progress in the game. Originally, when the game was created, teachers could log in and verify that their students had completed the various segments, but the creators eliminated this feature. I have gotten around this by leading class discussions or activities that reveal to me whether or not a student is up to speed, but this is not generally an issue because the students do find the game to be so engaging!
How I Use It
I mainly assign phases of the game as homework assignments that correspond with topics I am teaching in class, but over the years, I have also gradually incorporated some of the Mission US lesson plans that are provided. There are great primary source activities that I use in class either in a whole class format or in small groups, such as varying accounts of the Boston Massacre that show students the importance of considering the source of information.