Entry: Micro-teaching Lesson Plan

Micro Teaching Criteria

Name: Jacob Brunner

Topic: 象棋 (Chinese Chess - Xiàngqí)

Objectives & Goals	The purpose of this session is to teach the students the basic rules of the game, so that they are able to go and practice amongst themselves.
Hook	I will introduce the lesson by showing them the game board and asking them questions about it. This will hopefully spark some curiosity, as well as test prior knowledge in preparation of the activities.
Materials	To teach this lesson, it is required to have 1 complete Chinese Chess set.
Prior Knowledge Check	First, it is necessary to check if the students are already familiar with the game. If several students are familiar, then it would be best to have them help demonstrate with you. Instead of simply explaining the rules, you could have the rules explained by having them answer questions. You could also have two of them demonstrate a game (slowly) while you point out each move and how it is made. If they are not familiar with Chinese Chess, but are familiar with Western Chess, then you would switch the rules explanation to be in relation to those rules (which are quite similar). Instead of simply explaining how the soldier moves, you would explain it and additionally ask which piece it is similar to in Western chess, as well as how they differ.
Activities	2 Minutes: I will explain the rules for each piece (there are only 7 and some have very simple rules). 2 Minutes: Then I will go over the rules of the game (again, these are very simple). 4 Minutes: Then I will have a demonstration game which will end quickly to show them what it looks like. 2 Minutes: Lastly, I will answer any questions they have.
Ideas and Skills	They will learn the basic ruleset for a game that involves a lot of mathematics. The idea is that they use these skills to practice the game on their own time, hopefully building an interest in it, which will improve their logical thinking skills.
Closing	The closing section will be the end of the activity. That is where I answer any questions that they have about it. In a 10 minute teaching session, there is not much time to have a summary of events, so I think that the Q&A segment will be sufficient.
Assessment	I will assess the students’ learning by seeing if they understand the rules of the game. This is quite simple as I can simply let them make a few moves and see if they make any errors. I am not worried about their strategy, only that they know the rules and are able to play outside of the classroom.
Applications	This game is a good example of Zero-Sum Game Theory and logical thinking. It helps prepare the student for other games that they will encounter in their life and get them thinking about more complex strategies which can loosely be applied to programming, economics, political science, biology, etc.