I have been writing lesson plans for several years now. Like any other craft, you are bound to improve when you practice over a long time. This was made painfully aware to me as I read over some of my lesson plans from Volume One. Most of those lessons were published in 2018, a whopping four years ago. Several months ago, I finished updating Volume Two, and I could see the improvement between the two. First, however, I needed to rework a few lessons from the ground up. Recently, I finished updating Volume Three and am very proud of the new version. Finally, Volume IV has also gone through the editing and updating process. Let’s look at how this updated Volume IV is better.

 The instructions are more straightforward.

While I always test my lessons many times before I create the write-up, there is no replacement for time and experience. Since most of these lessons were written in 2020 and 2021, and now it is almost 2023, I have played these games so many more times now. With all this extra experience, I could look more critically at rule sets and game mechanics, and I had more opportunities to try out different variations. As a result, my comprehension of these games got better. When it was time to look back at my old instructions, I knew where I could condense information or expound on an area that was not so clear the first time around. I stumbled across successful and popular variations with students of different ages. These variations made a game more accessible and fun for any age. I also found new talking points to be included in the post-game debrief.

However, most importantly, I ran every game through Grammarly, so any clunky writing conventions were hopefully corrected. Also, having another set of (digital) eyes looking over my work caught a lot of mistakes I was blind to. This should dramatically increase the readability of these lessons.

 Added Diagrams

A picture speaks a thousand words. My write-ups are already pretty lengthy. I wanted to simplify the instructions, not write novel-length lesson plans. One way I could make my instructions clearer is with simple pictures and diagrams that show the orientation of the playing area and where the players and materials are in relation to each other. I always appreciate when instructions include pictures or diagrams, and I bet you are no different. Now, every lesson has diagrams included within the lesson plan write-up.

Lots of New Lessons

Dark Matter

Meteors

Camouflage

Ta Kurt Om El Mahag

Mesoamerican Ball Game

Wavelengths

If you have already purchased Volume Four, your new copy is on the way. If you have not purchased Volume Four, click the button above!