Sep 11, 2025 4-min read

Vol. 95 😎 Let’s get Iterative

3 projects we're inspired to iterate on this school year.

Dylan

Jen

Carlo

Board Games with Jen ♟️

Last year, we worked with a few different classes to create board games from scratch. It turned out to be a long-form project that stretched across several areas of the curriculum:

Social studies (the rise and fall of ancient civilizations, hierarchies, technological developments)
ADST (designing with Canva)
Art (drawing, painting, cardboard construction)
Language arts (instructional writing, action cards, storytelling)

Students weren’t just inventing games—they had to tie their creations back to the units they were studying. Patricia's Grade 7 class focused on ancient civilizations and ended up diving far deeper into research than they would have otherwise. Some students apparently exhausted their online resources and asked to look for books in the school library!

This year, I’ve already met with Patricia, the Grade 7 teacher who ran this project last time, to think through adjustments. One challenge she noticed was how confusing the game instructions were to peers trying to play.

So this year, before starting the board games, students will work through a unit on instructional writing in Language Arts. Writing clear, step-by-step instructions sounds simple, but it’s deceptively hard—especially when you can’t assume your reader knows anything about the task. This should give them the foundation they need for better-designed, playable games.

Here’s what the process will look like this year. So many opportunities for assessment and reflection!

Gold Rush Roleplay with Carlo 💛

Two Grade 4 classes I worked with last year really dug into their gold rush units. After interactive sessions with Yukon Dan combined with their own online research, students turned their knowledge into podcasts. They scripted, recorded, and edited audio; designed digital artwork; and collaborated as production teams.

I like podcast projects because they’re multi-modal—students can shine in different areas, whether it’s scriptwriting, art, or voice acting. But I think we could take it even further. Imagine a classroom transformed into a gold rush boomtown, with each student role-playing a character from the 1850s. Not everyone was a prospector—some ran shops, cooked meals, cut hair, or practiced medicine.

Through this roleplay, students could combine historical thinking with math (by creating a working in-class economy), art (by designing signs and props), and language arts (by writing character backstories). It would be a playful, immersive way to connect curriculum areas and deepen their understanding of BC’s gold rush era.

Here’s how I would plan this project this year.

Invasive Species Card Game with Dylan 🦗

Last year, I helped a Grade 4 class design Pokémon-inspired cards to show how animals adapt to their surroundings. Later in the year, another group of Grade 4’s expanded the idea in two ways: they created a playable card game, and they linked it to invasive species education.

Examples of cards made for the invasive species game.

Here’s what worked:

With the monster cards, students showed their understanding of the physical and behavioral adaptations of animals in a creative way.
With the invasive species game, they applied this knowledge to ecosystems under threat. Animals with stronger adaptations could outcompete native species, leading to reduced diversity. This also led to interesting conversations about the moral choices humans make when introducing new species, either by accident or on purpose.

Here’s what I’d change:

Both groups spent so much time designing the cards that game mechanics weren’t fully developed. This was especially true of the Pokémon cards, which didn’t really have any mechanics besides rating the animals skills.
Students didn’t have enough time to analyze an existing game to borrow mechanics or be inspired to create new ones. There also wasn’t enough time to properly test playability. Starting earlier in the year with time set aside to do both of these things could demonstrate
Next time, clearer expectations are needed in three areas:
- the type of game they’re creating
- how their knowledge of invasive species or animal adaptations is demonstrated in the game
- how card design affects gameplay.

I like how these two projects could build on each other. Starting with animal adaptations earlier in the year and moving into invasive species later strengthens retention. And creating games together invites collaboration, feedback, and iteration. With a tighter timeline and clearer expectations, this project could be even more powerful.

Here’s what it could look like this year.

Iterating Inventor 💡

Simone Giertz is an inventor, Youtuber and the embodiment of try, try again. Watch how she goes from "what if" to working prototype in 10 minutes!