Hi all!
I'm sure that a lot of my concerns here derive from the time of year but I'm wondering how other people have experienced the Urbanization Game in their classes and what modifications you've made to it.
I've used the game the last few years and I find it really stressful to facilitate! Between the directions, the timing, the reading (which I left out this year...), and the non-stop questions, it's a lot to manage in one class period. I've used these slides that I adapted from Anne Koschmider which helps with the pacing but there are lots of questions about what to draw (even though it's on the slide...), how to draw it, where to place things, etc. so that they get it "right" despite my disclaimer that the assessment comes from the reflection post-activity and not the drawing itself,
Ultimately I get the learning I want--the Industrial Revolution and the resulting urbanization was stressful and rapid for those who experienced it--but it's gotten to the point where I almost want to nix it entirely because I dread facilitating the activity so much.
So what I'm looking for is what others have done to make the experience enjoyable for students AND teacher
In more positive news, I found this video to show the following day to recap the effects of urbanization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKKzUcqZgMY