Gaming the Past

CCDS Ninth Grade Interactive Histories

The Twines here marked (CCDS AWH) were mostly designed by my ninth-graders in Ancient World History at Cincinnati Country Day School as semester long projects (there are a few from seniors in Roman Republic). The designers’ names have been replaced by their initials. I am very pleased and excited to post these as excellent examples of historical Twines and hope they will inspire similar projects at other schools and more discussion about Twine as a history pedagogy. For now, I want to include a few caveats that I think are important to appreciating the examples.

• These were selected from among the best projects. Best does not mean 100% historically accurate (whatever that means anyway) or always grammatically correct/stylistically elegant. Please remember: these are 14 and 15 year olds
  • 2017 was the first run of the project and used the 1.0 rubric: https://historicalsimulations.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/historical-twine-project-rubric-1-0.pdf
  • 2018 and 2019 and 2020 used the revised (and, I think, significantly improved) 1.5 rubric: https://historicalsimulations.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/twine-hist-rubric-9th-grade-history-1.5.pdf
• They were the product of a two quarter research and design project, that began with a short (750 word) researched paper on their historical figure. The length of the project was more than was needed, strictly, so students could take time to reflect and revise as they went.
• They were revised after an initial grading for a revision grade
• I asked the students to do one more proofread before posting
• For more details on the project and how it has developed, check out the posts I wrote during the initial launch of the project

Let me know if you have questions or comments, particularly if you’d like to try something like this in your own classes! (jmc.hst@gmail.com; @gamingthepast)

NEW! 2020 Twines

An excellent batch of Twines from Ancient World History 2020

Vercingetorix: The Battle Against Rome by EV

Octavian: The Coming of an Empire by GG

Julius Caesar by BAJ

2019 Twines

Caesar and Pompey, by SS (Roman Republic)

2018 Twines

Students developing the 2018 Twines in my Ancient World History used the revised approach to the research paper and design I outlined elsewhere on Gaming the Past. The improved research specifications and instructions for how to design a historical Twine really showed in these works.

The Trial of Socrates, by WJ (AWH)

Alexander the Great and the Conquest of Persia, by LW (AWH)

Leif Erikson, by CH (AWH)

Bodhidharma, by JW (AWH)

Ashoka, by EB (AWH)

2017 Twines

Leonidas at Thermopylae, by BB (AWH)
Thermopylae, by DM (AWH)
Brian Boru, by RT (AWH)
Henry VIII, by AN (AWH)
Mary, Bloody Mary, by LR (AWH)
Joan of Arc, by HH (AWH)