Pregame Lesson Plan Two 90 mins

Objectives:
Students will learn what roles they play. Students will practice problem solving activities.

In preparation for this class, assign roles to all of the students.
Put these roles on the board as the students come in.
Xtensica
• Prime Minister
• Minister of Finance
• Minister of Interior
• Minister of Army
• Diplomat to United Nations
• Diplomat to Filios
• Diplomat to Intelibus.
Intelibus
• Prime Minister
• Minister of Finance
• Minister of Interior
• Minister of Army
• Diplomat to United Nations
• Diplomat to Filios
• Diplomat to Xtensica
Filios
• Prime Minister
• Minister of Finance
• Minister of Interior
• Minister of Army
• Diplomat to United Nations
• Diplomat to Xtensica
• Diplomat to Intelibus.
Central Bank Manager
Central Bank Employee
Arms Trader
Real Estate Developer
Head of United Nations
Assistant Game Head
Game Head

Materials Needed:
3 coat hangers.

Bellwork: (20 min.)
Watch: “Why City Flags may be the worst designed thing you never noticed.”

Activities (60 min.)
Divide students in their country or non-country groups. (All of the students without a country should be in one group.)
Play the following group games to help facilitate trust, creative thinking and cooperation.
I have copied the instructions for these games from this webpage although I have played these games for a long time. Feel free to use your own, or other ones from the page. http://web.stanford.edu/group/ree/archives/archive07/usa/notes/2004-897_Final.pdf

• • Write down all the ways that you can use a coat hanger. Give the students 2 minutes to write. Then have them read their ideas to the group. Hand out one coat hanger and have them choose to make one of their items.
• • The nine-dot problem. The well-known “nine dots” problem 3 is used to explore unexpected “out-of-the-box” solutions to a problem. In this problem the students are asked to first connect the three rows of three dots in each row with five connected straight lines, then with four, then with three, and finally with one. Folding the paper (adding a dimension) provides multiple solutions to the last part of the problem.
• • Have each group design a flag or logo for their country. Have each non-country student design a logo for their workplace. Give them a time limit that is very short to see how they solve problems quickly.

Conclusion (10 mins.)
Students think about their group dynamics by giving names and examples about the following things:
Who in my group is calm under pressure?
Who in my group comes up with creative ideas?
Who in my group is good at eliciting cooperation?
Who in my group can persuade others?