7th Graders Have Fun Creating "The Empire Game"

The 7th graders enjoyed working in groups to create board games about the Roman and Byzantine empires called "The Empire Game." Students decided on a focus, discussed the design of the game board, brainstormed ideas, identified events, places, and people to include on the game board, divided game-making tasks, and shared the game with the rest of the class.

Here are some students' responses to the question, "How did making a board game deepen your understanding of the Roman and Byzantine empires?"

"We learned some subjects, the Roman and Byzantine Empires, while having fun."
"We had to write questions and answers based on our knowledge of the Roman and Byzantine Empires."
"While we were researching answers to questions, we found out more without even realizing it."
"If you didn't know the facts, you wouldn't be able to create the game."
"It helped deepen my understanding of which empire owned what."
"It made the facts sink into my head."
"It made learning fun, and by making it fun I enjoyed learning about it."
"I understand more what their day to day lives were like."
"It shows and lets me know how different and alike the two empires were."
"It shows how they progressed."
"It helped me understanding by teaching me the many different things that they have built, and what their lives were like all those years ago."
"Creating a board game about the Roman and Byzantine Empires deepened our understanding of the history of these empires because we learned and had fun at the same time. We also played the game many times which helped to get the information into our heads."