Thinking Journey for Grade 4

Description

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

Learning Strategies: The Stoplight Method

• Description:In this workout, the students will be introduced to the Stoplight method, which helps us analyze game positions and different situations in real life. Students will learn what a double threat is and how it can lead to winning the game. They will practice the implementation of the Stoplight method and the creation of double threats in different game positions.
• 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: Patterns

• Description:In this workout, students will explore the concept of patterns and learn how to identify a winning pattern in the Night Watch game. They will also discuss different patterns in other domains: in nature, in math, and more.
• Leading Game: Video

Learning Strategies: Anchors

• Description:In this workout, students will learn the puzzle game Mole in the Hole. They will learn the concept of Anchors, and will see how identifying anchors can be helpful in problem solving.
• 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, students will deepen their understanding of the new concepts they have learned, including the stoplight method and double threat. They will practice the implementation of the method in more complex game positions and will be required to identify opportunities for creating double threats.
• 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: Patterns-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will deepen their understanding of the concept of patterns and will practice how to keep the winning pattern throughout the game of Night Watch.
• Leading Game:Night Watch
  Night Watch game is a strategic game played on a checkered board, featuring 4 guards and a thief. Both sides have opposing goals, with the thief aiming to find an escape route while the guards collaborate to capture and restrict the thief’s movements. This game encourages players to delve into the mindset of the opposing party to understand their game plan, adding an element of strategic thinking and empathy to the gameplay.

Learning Strategies: Anchors-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will sharpen their ability to identify anchors and use them in order to solve more complex game challenges.
• 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 strategy game called Mancala. They will also be introduced to the concept of Move Order. They will see how the same actions in different order may yield different results. This idea will be first illustrated in the game, and then other examples will be discussed.
• 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: The thinking tree method

• Description:In this workout, students will learn an important decision-making method called the thinking tree method. This method helps us analyze situations and game positions in which we have a few optional decisions to make. The method guides us on how to review our options in an organized manner, evaluate each option, and make wiser choices.
• Leading Game:Checkers is a classic 2-player board game played on an 8×8 checkered board. Move diagonally to capture opponent’s pieces or block their moves. Promote your piece to a king for versatile movement. Simple rules, deep strategy, timeless fun.

Mathematical Thinking: End to Beginning

• Description:In this workout, students will learn and practice an interesting method for planning and problem solving called End to Beginning.
• 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.

Mathematical Thinking: Move Order-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will continue to practice their ability to find the correct move order that will lead to their winning in different game positions.
• 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: The thinking tree method-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will practice the implementation of the thinking tree method in more complex game positions.
• Leading Game:Checkers is a classic 2-player board game played on an 8×8 checkered board. Move diagonally to capture opponent’s pieces or block their moves. Promote your piece to a king for versatile movement. Simple rules, deep strategy, timeless fun.

Mathematical Thinking: End to Beginning-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will sharpen their planning abilities by implementing the End to Beginning method for solving complex challenges in the Move It game.
• 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: Anchors and Constraints

• Description:In this workout, students will explore the concept of constraints and see how constraints in problem solving can sometimes be translated into anchors, which will advance us toward the solution of the problem.
• 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: Chain Reaction

• Description:In this workout, students will learn the strategy game Elements and the concept of Chain Reaction: a chain of events in which each even caused another one. Students will see how predicting the chain of reactions in the game can help us play better.
• Leading Game:Elements
  Elements is a strategy game designed for two players. Both players try to control the game board. Control will be achieved if you identify the key points and catch them before the opponent. Attention to detail and timing are essential to success. The game is characterized by a changing environment. The game position changes dramatically with each move. The game requires adjusting the game plan and identifying the key points that will remain stable throughout the game.

Scientific Thinking: Self Block

• Description:In this workout, students will learn and play the strategy game of Blocker. This advanced game requires planning ability, strategic thinking, and resource management skills. The students will learn a solution pattern called self-block, in which we use our resources in an unintuitive way. Students will practice the use of self-blocking in different game positions and discuss its implementation in other domains.
• Leading Game:Blocker
  Blocker is a two-player strategy game. Players are presented with various dilemmas that require them to make decisions, manage their resources, and decide when to act.The key to winning the game is identifying the critical path and using (limited) resources effectively.

Scientific Thinking: Anchors and Constraints-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will continue to practice their ability to translate constraints into anchors in order to solve the more advanced challenges of the game.
• 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: Chain Reaction-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will practice their ability to predict the chain reaction of their moves in the game and to play in accordance.
• Leading Game:Elements
  Elements is a strategy game designed for two players. Both players try to control the game board. Control will be achieved if you identify the key points and catch them before the opponent. Attention to detail and timing are essential to success. The game is characterized by a changing environment. The game position changes dramatically with each move. The game requires adjusting the game plan and identifying the key points that will remain stable throughout the game.

Scientific Thinking: Self Block-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will practice the implementation of self-block in advanced game positions.
• Leading Game:Blocker
  Blocker is a two-player strategy game. Players are presented with various dilemmas that require them to make decisions, manage their resources, and decide when to act.The key to winning the game is identifying the critical path and using (limited) resources effectively.

Flexible Thinking: Reaching a Dead End

• Description:In this workout, students will learn the puzzle game Roboban and will be introduced to the concept of Dead End. Students will explore the question of how to avoid reaching dead ends in the game.
• 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: The Alpinist Method

• Description:In this workout, students will get to know the Alpinist Method, which guides us on how to better deal with difficult tasks and unexpected surprises. The Alpinist Method has a few guiding principles that the students will learn and practice in the game of Climb Up: The route to our goal is not necessarily the shortest one; When planning our route to our goal, we need to take into consideration the resources we have; and some more. Students will discuss the implementation of these principles in the game Climb Up and in other real-life situations.
• Leading Game:ClimbUp
  ClimbUp is a puzzle game requiring good planning and flexibility. The objective of ClimbUp is to help the alpinist reach the top of the mountain by rearranging the available resources to form a path. The game is characterized by the need for resourcefulness and flexibility from the players. The game levels illustrate that progress toward a goal does not always follow a straight path.

Flexible Thinking:Changing Perspective

• Description:In this workout, students will play the game of Maxit, which is a two-player strategy game. They will learn the importance of stepping into the other player’s shoes and looking at the board from their point of view in order to predict their next move and play accordingly. Students will discuss also the importance of this ability in other real-life domains.
• 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.

Flexible Thinking: Reaching a Dead End-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will continue to practice their ability to avoid dead ends in more complex game levels.
• 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: The Alpinist Method-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will practice their ability to deal with changes in the game; they will face more complex game levels, including a special element in the game called the orange rope. Climbing the new rope is irreversible; therefore, it requires us to well think and plan our way before using it.
• Leading Game:ClimbUp
  ClimbUp is a puzzle game requiring good planning and flexibility. The objective of ClimbUp is to help the alpinist reach the top of the mountain by rearranging the available resources to form a path. The game is characterized by the need for resourcefulness and flexibility from the players. The game levels illustrate that progress toward a goal does not always follow a straight path.

Flexible Thinking:Changing Perspective-b

• Description:In this advanced workout, students will continue to practice their ability to look at the board from the other player’s point of view. In order to do so, they will play the same game position twice: once as one player and once as the other ones.
• 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.