Thinking Journey for Grade 2

Description

All in depth look at the skills this test will accomplish:

Learning Strategies: The Stoplight Method

• Description:In this workout, the students will learn the strategy game of poolies and will be introduced to the Stoplight method that helps us analyze game positions and different situations in real life. Students will practice the implementation of the method in different game positions.
• The leading game:Poolies
  Poolies is a strategy game for two players. The objective is to be the first player to create a sequence of four game pieces in a row, a column, or diagonally. The game requires the players to be attentive, to identify threats on time, and to create opportunities for their own threats.

Learning Strategies: Planning

• Description:In this workout, students will learn the importance of planning things in advance. In the first stage, we will demonstrate the need for planning in the game challenges, and in the second stage, we will provide examples from the students’ lives.
• The leading game:Move It
  Move It is a puzzle game where players maneuver through a room cluttered with furniture and boxes. Their objective is to strategically shift obstacles like sofas, tables, and bookshelves to forge a pathway for the mover to the exit. This game enhances problem-solving skills, promotes forward-thinking, and offers an engaging experience while progressively honing students’ spatial reasoning and strategic thinking abilities.

Learning Strategies: The Staircase Method

• Description:This workout introduces to the students a useful method called the Staircase Method, which is used for breaking down a problem into smaller steps. The Staircase Method guides the student to work gradually and to divide a complex task into a few steps. By breaking down the solution into a few steps and focusing each step on a small part of the challenge, students will be able to solve even complex challenges.
• The leading game: Mole in the hole
  Mole in the hole is a fun puzzle game that offers a progressive difficulty level. The objective is to connect every two moles of the same color by a hole without crossing any other holes. To solve the game challenges, players should apply logical thinking, seek out key anchors, and sometimes create unintuitive paths.

Learning Strategies: The Stoplight Method-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, the students will deepen their understanding of the Stoplight Method by practicing it in more complex game positions.
• The leading game: Poolies
  Poolies is a strategy game for two players. The objective is to be the first player to create a sequence of four game pieces in a row, a column, or diagonally. The game requires the players to be attentive, to identify threats on time, and to create opportunities for their own threats.

Learning Strategies: Planning-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will further practice their planning abilities in more advanced and complex game challenges.
• Leading game: Move It
  Move It is a puzzle game where players maneuver through a room cluttered with furniture and boxes. Their objective is to strategically shift obstacles like sofas, tables, and bookshelves to forge a pathway for the mover to the exit. This game enhances problem-solving skills, promotes forward-thinking, and offers an engaging experience while progressively honing students’ spatial reasoning and strategic thinking abilities.

Learning Strategies: The Staircase Method-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will face more complex challenges, and will implement the Staircase Method. In addition, the workout presents to the students a few other examples of the implementation of the Staircase method, outside the game.
• Leading game: Mole in the hole
  Mole in the hole is a fun puzzle game that offers a progressive difficulty level. The objective is to connect every two moles of the same color by a hole without crossing any other holes. To solve the game challenges, players should apply logical thinking, seek out key anchors, and sometimes create unintuitive paths.

Mathematical Thinking: Move Order

• Description: In this workout, students will learn the concept of Move Order. Specific game positions in which they will try to win, illustrate the importance of acting in a specific order. They will see how the same actions in different order yield a different result. First, this concept is demonstrated in the game, and later on, other examples from other domains are shown.
• Leading game: Mancala
  Mancala is an ancient two-player strategy board game. It is among the oldest known games to still be widely played today. It has a unique gameplay mechanism: The game board is composed of two lines of pits and two banks. Each player has his own bank and a line of pits with a certain number of seeds in each pit. The objective is to plant the most seeds in the bank. In each turn, a player picks one of their pits, taking all the seeds in it and sowing them in the following pits in sequence and in their own bank, skipping the opponent’s bank. This game requires both strategic and tactical thinking: identifying threats and preventing them, planning, and calculating.

Mathematical Thinking: Calculation

• Description: This workout focuses on practicing students’ ability to accurately calculate different addition exercises until ten. By facing advanced game positions, in which their objective is to gain exactly ten points at the end of the game, students are required to weigh their possibilities and calculate their game result before playing.
• Leading game: MaxIt
  Maxit is a two-player strategy game played on an 8×8 square board. The board is randomly filled with numbers and a star is placed on one of the squares. One player plays in the rows and the other in the columns. The objective of the game is to collect more points than the opponent by selecting squares that maximize the sum of their numbers. However, players must also anticipate and adapt to a constantly changing board, adding a layer of complexity to the game that requires planning and strategy.

Mathematical Thinking: Analysis and Deduction

• Description: In this workout, students will practice logical thinking. Facing game challenges of increasing difficulty, students will get to know the concept of anchors and will see how to use them in order to find a starting point.
• Leading game: LightsOn
  LightsOn is an engaging puzzle game that offers a progressive difficulty level. The objective is to strategically place light bulbs to illuminate the game board. To succeed, students must apply logical reasoning and seek out key anchors that will systematically guide them towards the goal. As they navigate through the challenges, their ability to think critically and strategically will be sharpened.

Mathematical Thinking: Move Order-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will continue their practice of the concept of Move Order, and their ability to find the correct move order that will maximize their points.
• Leading game: Mancala
  Mancala is an ancient two-player strategy board game. It is among the oldest known games to still be widely played today. It has a unique gameplay mechanism: The game board is composed of two lines of pits and two banks. Each player has his own bank and a line of pits with a certain number of seeds in each pit. The objective is to plant the most seeds in the bank. In each turn, a player picks one of their pits, taking all the seeds in it and sowing them in the follosung pits in sequence and in their own bank, skipping the opponent’s bank. This game requires both strategic and tactical thinking: identifying threats and preventing them, planning, and calculating.

Mathematical Thinking: Calculation-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will continue practicing their addition ability in more complex game positions, which include the number zero. The meaning of zero and how it affects our calculations are discussed.
• Leading game: MaxIt
  Maxit is a two-player strategy game played on an 8×8 square board. The board is randomly filled with numbers and a star is placed on one of the squares. One player plays in the rows and the other in the columns. The objective of the game is to collect more points than the opponent by selecting squares that maximize the sum of their numbers. However, players must also anticipate and adapt to a constantly changing board, adding a layer of complexity to the game that requires planning and strategy.

Mathematical Thinking: Analysis and Deduction-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will continue practicing their logical thinking and the use of Anchors, facing even more complex game challenges.
• Leading game: LightsOn
  LightsOn is an engaging puzzle game that offers a progressive difficulty level. The objective is to strategically place light bulbs to illuminate the game board. To succeed, students must apply logical reasoning and seek out key anchors that will systematically guide them towards the goal. As they navigate through the challenges, their ability to think critically and strategically will be sharpened.

Scientific Thinking: Cause and Effect

• Description: In this workout, students will delve into the concept of cause and effect. They will see how different actions cause different results. First, the idea is presented and demonstrated in the context of the game. Next, different examples from other domains are discussed. And finally, the relation of the concept of Cause and Effect to science and to scientists’ research is also discussed.
• Leading game: Treasure island
  Treasure island is a puzzle game requiring good planning. The objective of the game is to lead the pirate to the treasure in a given number of moves. Since the pirate walks to the treasure in the shortest possible way, the player needs to extend its route using the given barriers. In each game level, the board structure changes, as do the given barriers and the required number of moves to the treasure; hence, the difficulty level of the challenges can also be widely changed.

Scientific Thinking: Asking Questions

• Description: In this workout, students will improve their ability to ask questions. They will see how asking questions in a systematic manner can help us solve different problems, such as the game challenges.
• Leading game: Move It
  Move It is a puzzle game where players maneuver through a room cluttered with furniture and boxes. Their objective is to strategically shift obstacles like sofas, tables, and bookshelves to forge a pathway for the mover to the exit. This game enhances problem-solving skills, promotes forward-thinking, and offers an engaging experience while progressively honing students’ spatial reasoning and strategic thinking abilities.

Scientific Thinking: Patterns

• Description: In this workout, students will be introduced to the concept of Patterns. They will learn to recognize different repeated patterns in the game of Pingwins and will see that recognizing repeated patterns can help us solve the game challenges. In addition, we will discuss other examples of repeated patterns in different domains.
• Leading game: PingWins
  Ping-Wins is a puzzle game requiring analysis abilities. Players must use their logical and problem-solving skills to complete levels. As they progress, the levels become more challenging and more complex. The game is characterized by problems requiring high analytical skills and the identification of anchors that lead to conclusions and finally a solution.

Scientific Thinking: Cause and Effect-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will continue to practice the concept of Cause and Effect at more advanced game levels.
• Leading game: Treasure island
  Treasure island is a puzzle game requiring good planning. The objective of the game is to lead the pirate to the treasure in a given number of moves. Since the pirate walks to the treasure in the shortest possible way, the player needs to extend its route using the given barriers. In each game level, the board structure changes, as do the given barriers and the required number of moves to the treasure; hence, the difficulty level of the challenges can also be widely changed.

Scientific Thinking: Asking Questions-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will face more complex game challenges that will require them to ask questions systematically in order to solve them efficiently.
• Leading game: Move It
  Move It is a puzzle game where players maneuver through a room cluttered with furniture and boxes. Their objective is to strategically shift obstacles like sofas, tables, and bookshelves to forge a pathway for the mover to the exit. This game enhances problem-solving skills, promotes forward-thinking, and offers an engaging experience while progressively honing students’ spatial reasoning and strategic thinking abilities.

Scientific Thinking: Patterns-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will continue to practice their ability to recognize different repeated patterns in the game of Pingwins.
• Leading game: PingWins
  Ping-Wins is a puzzle game requiring analysis abilities. Players must use their logical and problem-solving skills to complete levels. As they progress, the levels become more challenging and more complex. The game is characterized by problems requiring high analytical skills and the identification of anchors that lead to conclusions and finally a solution.

Flexible Thinking: The Staircase method

• Description: In this workout, students will deepen their understanding of the Staircase Method, which is used for breaking down a problem into smaller steps. The staircase method helps us divide a complex task into a few smaller problems. This workout also highlights the importance of the order in which we solve the smaller problems. It shows how, in some cases, the order can be crucial.
• Leading game: Roboban
  Roboban is a puzzle game played on a rectangular gameboard. In each puzzle, there are one or more barrels and one or more robots. The objective is to bring each barrel to its target square. Each robot can push a barrel of its color if the square to which it is being pushed is empty. The robots can freely move on the board, but they cannot push barrels of other colors. Since a barrel can only be pushed and cannot be pulled, some moves may be irreversible, and that means one can easily reach a dead end while solving a challenge. This challenging game requires both good planning ability and flexible thinking.

Flexible Thinking: Changing Perspective

• Description: This workout deals with the importance of the ability to change our perspective and look at situations from different points of view. Specifically, it will show the students why it is important, when playing a strategy game, to look at the boardgame from the other player’s point of view, and this will help them figure out what their plans are.By letting the students play the same game position once as the red player and once as the yellow player, they will practice this ability.
• Leading game: Poolies
  Poolies is a strategy game for two players. The objective is to be the first player to create a sequence of four game pieces in a row, a column, or diagonally. The game requires the players to be attentive, to identify threats on time, and to create opportunities for their own threats.

Flexible Thinking: Dealing with Changes

• Description: This workout practices the students’ ability to deal with changes. They will face the same game position a few times, each time with a different change. We will discuss the way we react to changes and what can help us deal with them better. We will also discuss changes we face in real-life situations and the emotions and feelings they evoke.
• Leading game: PingWins
  Ping-Wins is a puzzle game requiring analysis abilities. Players must use their logical and problem-solving skills to complete levels. As they progress, the levels become more challenging and more complex. The game is characterized by problems requiring high analytical skills and the identification of anchors that lead to conclusions and finally a solution.

Flexible Thinking: The Staircase method-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will continue to practice their ability to break down a problem into smaller parts and to find the correct order in which they should solve it. By implementing the Staircase method, students will be able to solve complex game levels of Roboban.
• Leading game: Roboban
  Roboban is a puzzle game played on a rectangular gameboard. In each puzzle, there are one or more barrels and one or more robots. The objective is to bring each barrel to its target square. Each robot can push a barrel of its color if the square to which it is being pushed is empty. The robots can freely move on the board, but they cannot push barrels of other colors. Since a barrel can only be pushed and cannot be pulled, some moves may be irreversible, and that means one can easily reach a dead end while solving a challenge. This challenging game requires both good planning ability and flexible thinking.

Flexible Thinking: Changing Perspective-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will continue to practice their ability to change perspective and to look at game positions from different points of view. Students will face the same game positions, once as the red player and once as the yellow player, and will see how stepping into the other player’s shoes can help us win a strategy game.
• Leading game: Poolies
  Poolies is a strategy game for two players. The objective is to be the first player to create a sequence of four game pieces in a row, a column, or diagonally. The game requires the players to be attentive, to identify threats on time, and to create opportunities for their own threats.

Flexible Thinking: Dealing with Changes-b

• Description: In this advanced workout, students will face additional series of game challenges that are based on the same game position, each time with a different change. This is in order to practice the students’ ability to deal with changes.
• Leading game: PingWins
  Ping-Wins is a puzzle game requiring analysis abilities. Players must use their logical and problem-solving skills to complete levels. As they progress, the levels become more challenging and more complex. The game is characterized by problems requiring high analytical skills and the identification of anchors that lead to conclusions and finally a solution.