Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chess Instruction Design
Chess Instruction Design
Martha Rice
Abstract
I designed these instructional units to teach middle school students chess and to teach
them how to play chess and then to regularly use an online chess application called chesskid.com
(www.chesskid.com). According to research, the skills students learn and hone in learning and
playing chess, especially critical thinking skills, can help them become better math students as
well as better self-directed learners. Students in the project will be 7th graders taking technology
applications at Pewitt Junior High School. These students will need to learn chess basics and
advanced chess strategies. They will also need to be able to use chess symbols to both document
game play and also to use in problem solving situations. As students become comfortable with
playing chess in sequential instructional units, they will learn tactics and strategies to enhance
their chess skills. They will use these tactics and strategies to practice problem solving tasks
using chess problems. In the final instructional units, students will use problem solving skills to
solve arithmetic problems and puzzles using chess symbols. Goals in the project include
Introduction
The purpose of the project is to teach 7th grade students at Pewitt Junior High School
(PJHS) taking technology applications classes to play chess online. These students are also
studying to be successful in mathematics and other standardized tests. Students do not like
mathematics because they feel uncertain and nervous about mathematics (Geist, 2010). Over the
years 2003-2009, Texas 7th grade students have not performed as well on mathematics TAKS
tests as they have on reading TAKS tests (“Percent of Students,” 2009). During that same
period, from 2003-2009, PJHS 7th grade students performed better on reading TAKS tests than
on mathematics TAKS tests in all but two years ("TAKS Campus Aggregate," 2009). Research
suggests that learning and playing chess enhances learners' attitudes toward problem solving and
increases aptitude in skills like memory, visualization, and critical thinking which aid
mathematical performance. When students learn and regularly play chess, they should become
Problem Identification
Students need to build skills and confidence in mathematics. Researchers have suggested
that there is a link between mathematics and chess. Gobet and Campitelli (2005) suggest that
students who learn and play chess do better scholastically. Mathematics success depends on
memory (Ashcraft & Krause, 2007), and according to Ferguson (n.d.), learning and working to
Ferguson also suggests that success in chess encourages all kids to practice self-regulated
learning (SRL) and peer-guided learning. Ferguson also suggests that no matter what their
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 4
learning style, students benefit in playing chess because chess poses many problems to solve in a
competitive environment in which they want to succeed. Ho (2005) found that SRL has a
positive connection with academic achievement. Samuelsson (2008) found that problem-solving
increases students’ SRL, which in turn, alleviates mathematics anxiety. Marcou and Philippou
suggest that the key to SRL, which, in itself, is an important characteristic successful
mathematics students use, is the students’ belief in the task, the goal, and themselves. In fact,
SRL has become more important in schools, with teachers attempting to empower their students
Teachers can help encourage students to practice SRL by promoting their students’
feelings that they will be successful. Students who understand that accurately gauging their self-
efficiency will increase their success in mathematics will feel more confident, and in turn, do
better in mathematics. Teachers who teach students problem-solving strategies produced the
greatest gains in a study carried out by Samuelsson (2008). When students used problem-solving
skills together with their peers, they were more interested in mathematics and more self-
confident about themselves and their abilities to solve problems and be successful in
mathematics. In fact, Reid (1992) found that cooperative learners benefited from individual
level in mathematics. Intergroup competition seemed to be one of the reasons that these students
benefitted.
achievement (Root, 2008; Buky, 2007). Frank (1979) proved that chess can increase students’
mathematics (and verbal) scores. Ferguson (n.d.) proved that chess can increase students’
critical thinking skills. Buky (2007) and Buky and Ho (2008) proved that specific mathematics
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 5
skills can be improved when coupled with chess lessons. Margulies (1991) proved that the
process of learning chess increases students’ self-confidence in other problem solving situations,
a conclusion reinforced by Unterrainer, Kaller, Halsband, and Rahm (2006). Therefore, learning
Needs Assessment
Goal analysis
Aim: To increase success in mathematics performance and attitude of 7th grade students taking
To reach these four goals, I began with a set of behaviors I wanted the students to attain upon
completion of the project. I wanted students to improve their grades in mathematics class,
improve their attitudes toward doing mathematics, be better able to solve problems in
inventories, and become better and more advanced chess players. In becoming better chess
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 6
players, I wanted the students to increase their arithmetic reasoning and computational skills, and
I refined these goals, keeping in mind that the goals would have to be measurable and that I
needed to be more specific. The second set of goals, ranked in order, included improving
assessments, and improving students’ chess skills. I felt that overall, improving students’
attitudes toward mathematics would probably be the most effective, long-term method of
I ultimately dropped the goal of improving students’ scores in mathematics class because this
goal is too dependent upon too many variables, including teacher personalities, testing day
problems, student absenteeism, and other factors. I also dropped the goals about improving
students’ chess skills because the skill of the chess player does not necessarily influence
mathematics performance more than the simple fact of learning and continue to play chess does,
Learner analysis
The learners involved in this project are 12 or 13 year old children enrolled in the 7th
grade at PJHS and take technology applications. These students tend to become engrossed in
what they like to do and resist doing what they do not like, as most children do. As digital
natives, these students enjoy technology, especially video gaming, and have been enthusiastic
this semester when given the opportunity to spend long periods of time playing educational video
games. These students are very creative and like to solve problems, especially when they
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 7
are collaborating with peers in accomplishing projects. These students are more intelligent than
they tend to show; although they portray lackadaisical attitudes outwardly, they do want to
succeed and will dedicate themselves to improving their skills. These students learn better from
each other than from a teacher and learn better from experimentation than from a teacher.
Contextual analysis
The program will be conducted through the 7th grade technology applications class at
PJHS. Each Monday and Friday, technology applications students will be given time to learn
chess strategies and play online chess with their fellow 7th grade students as part of a chess club
using www.ChessKid.com. The learners will be using desktop computers with Internet access
in my classroom, which is the computer lab at Pewitt Junior High School. The computer lab has
22 desktop computers. I teach five 50-minute technology applications classes each day. Each
class consists of from 10-20 students. I would be the sole instructor of the chess program. All
7th grade students in technology applications classes at PJHS will play chess online for at least 30
http://pjhtechapps.freewebclass.com. Each student logs into the class Moodle every day to get
daily assignments and submit work. The chess strategy lessons will be available on our Moodle.
All resources will be linked on the class Moodle. I will also be using SchoolTube.com,
Wikispaces.com, and other Web resources to provide interactive and multimedia lessons to the
students.
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 8
Students will play chess using the online chess club ChessKid.com. Students will be able
to play each other live, play games over time with students in other classes, and play games
against the computer. Students can also play games against the computer in which the program
analyzes flaws and weaknesses and the student can remake moves. Students will be able to hone
chess skills like problem solving, visualization, and critical thinking that they will be able to
Task Analysis
The purpose of this task analysis is to identify the necessary elements learners will need
to master in order to be successful at attaining the educational goals of the instructional unit.
First, students will need to be able to identify each chess piece. Students will also need to be
able to move each chess piece. Once learners master these topics, they should be able to master
the rules of chess, including more obscure chess situations, chess terminology, chess symbols,
and recording chess games. Next, learners will begin to learn to use the online chess application
chesskid.com, where they can play against other learners and learn more advanced tactics and
strategies. Finally, students will use what they know about chess symbols and practice critical
thinking skills through solving chess problems and mathematic logic problems using chess
symbols.
In all, I identified four objectives: given a set of chess pieces, the learner will correctly
name each piece and describe its movement on the board; after initial instruction on chess basics,
the learner will successfully complete a game of chess with another student; given a chess
problem, the learner will use problem solving techniques (hypothesis, testing, revising
hypothesis, testing) to respond with an appropriate chess move; and given a code using chess
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 9
symbols to represent numbers, the learner will solve Sudoku logic problems and mathematical
equations. I sequenced these objectives in this order because learners logically need to gain
necessary knowledge of chess in this order, chronologically. Task Analysis detail is in Appendix
B.
Instructional Objectives
The purpose of this project is to plan instructional units to introduce learners to chess
rules and to have learners review problem solving methodology and to apply problem solving
methodology to solving real-world chess problems. The project addresses two objectives. The
first objective dictates that the learner will be able to name 100% of all chess pieces and will
describe their initial setup on the chessboard and how these pieces move. Initially, this objective
did not include how the chess pieces are first placed on the chessboard. The second objective
says that given a chess problem, the learner will use problem solving techniques (evaluating
to respond with an appropriate chess move. In re-evaluating this objective, I specifically noted
the phases of problem solving that the learners would be using as they solve chess problems.
Objective 1: Student will be able to name 100% of all chess pieces, describe their movements,
Objective 2: Given a chess problem, the learner will use problem solving techniques (hypothesis,
Instructional Strategy
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 10
I chose to concentrate on two instructional goals in this project: learning chess piece
names, setup, and movements; and problem solving basics. These are the two most basic tenets
necessary for students to improve their critical thinking through elements of chess. I used
multimedia elements including slideshows, online videos, and interactive online quizzes.
Because I will be using the instructional unit in my middle school technology class, I also
used face-to-face instruction and demonstration and practice. As I use the unit, I plan on making
original instructional videos using my students (or allowing them to make their own videos) in
order to have original instructional multimedia. I created the slideshows and interactive online
quizzes myself. Luckily, learners will be able to access the chesskid.com online instructional
videos in order to enrich any independent chess instruction in tactics and strategy. Instructional
I set up the message matrix to organize strategies according to specific objective. For my
first objective, chess basics, I planned for a five minute introduction followed by three 30-minute
sessions which include slideshow, demonstration lesson, and instructional video. Each lesson
builds in hands-on practice time for learners to play chess with each other. Each lesson also
builds on the one before it, from chess piece names to chess board setup to chess piece moves.
The second objective, problem solving, similarly begins with a brief introduction which
uses humor to stress the importance of problem solving. The three-30 minute lessons include
slideshow, learner practice, and application videos. Most of the lesson content and all objectives
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 11
include opportunities for learners to stop and check their understanding by participating in online
Instructional Unit
Following my instructional message plan, I imagined how I would teach these lessons to
my middle school students. Because these students respond best to multimedia and hands-on
lessons, I tried to avoid lectures in favor of multimedia and hands-on practice with intermittent
quizzes. I created slideshows called "Chess Pieces and Moves" for the introduction to chess
basics and "Problem Solving" for the introduction to problem solving. I also used a script
writing app to create html code to write the quizzes I posted online for all topics. I used
professional online videos from chesskid.com; these videos are narrated by master chess players.
I also used a couple of YouTube videos to pique learner interest by using humor. Instructional
Evaluation
I designed several online quizzes using html code and embedding that code in my wiki
class site so students could easily access quizzes. The quizzes tested learners' knowledge of
chess piece names, chess piece movements, and problem solving terminology. I tried to make
simple, quick quizzes that tested the necessary basics of each objective. I also set up hands-on
practice so that students could demonstrate that they understood how to set up chess boards and
how to move pieces. I created rubrics so that learners could understand how they earned points
Conclusion
Working through this project was confusing at times. It was sometimes confusing
knowing exactly why I needed to do the steps required. When it all came together, however, I
understood better than ever before the work that truly goes into an instructional unit. I felt most
comfortable with the initial research: finding out what needed to be taught and why. Instead of
working through task analysis next, however, I was directly inclined to what I usually do as a
classroom teacher: designing the instruction and writing lesson plans. I had to be redirected
toward my task analysis, and I can already see how task analysis will strengthen my classroom
teaching. Today as I planned a lesson for my middle school students on designing a multimedia
holiday card, I found myself doing task analysis before writing my lesson plans.
In future, when I plan instructional units, I believe I will begin with a more organized
process. I need to re-evaluate my past thoughts and beliefs about what goals are and what
objectives are. I need to pay more attention to the enabling goals that my students will need to
learn to be successful. In retrospect, the entire project seems so logical, and is very logically
constructed. In the midst of putting it together, I was confused several times; but in overcoming
my confusion, I believe that I have a far better grasp of what is necessary for building a
successful instructional unit, from the preparation in research, to the organization in writing
goals and objectives and analyzing the elements of the task, and ultimately to the imagination of
References
Ability profiler administration manual. (2002). [Career Cruising: The Complete Guidance
http://www.careercruising.com/newmedia/docs/American/AP_AdminManual_US.pdf
Ashcraft, M.H., & Krause, J.A. (2007). Working memory, math performance, and math anxiety.
journals.org/content/14/2/243.long
Buky, J.P. (2007). The Chess, math and extended response workbook. Purchased from
http://www.thechessacademy.org
Buky, J.P, & Ho, F. (2008, July 7). The Effect of math and chess integrated instruction on math
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess
Ferguson, R. Developing Critical and Creative Thinking through Chess, report on ESEA
Title IV-C project presented at the annual conference of the Pennsylvania Association for
Gifted Education, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 11-12, 1986. In Ferguson, R.C. (n.d.).
Teacher's guide: research and benefits of chess. Retrieved (2010, June 15)
from http://chesscenter.net/files/BenefitsofChess.doc
rhyme.blogspot.com/2007/10/chess-and-aptitudes.html
Geist, E. (2010). The Anti-Anxiety Curriculum: Combating Math Anxiety in the Classroom.
database. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=50303275-
&site=ehost-live
Gobet, F., & Campitelli, G. (2005). Educational benefits of chess instruction: a critical review,
Ho, E. (2004). Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement of Hong Kong Secondary
School Students. Education Journal, 32(2), 87-107. Retrieved from ERIC database.
http://search.ebscohost.com.dbproxy.tamut.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ805521&site=ehost-live
v=NPyuNpYfrDc
http://www.emis.de/proceedings/PME29/PME29RRPapers/PME29Vol3MarcouPhilippou
Margulies, S. (1991). The Effect of chess on reading scores: district nine chess program second
year report. The benefits of chess in education: a collection of studies and papers. P.R.
http://www.psmcd.net/otherfiles/BenefitsOfChessInEdScreen2.pdf
Morrison, G.R., Ross, S.M., Kalman, H.K., Kemp, J.E. (2011). Designing effective instruction.
Percent of Students Meeting Panel-Recommended Standard Spring 2003 - Spring 2009. (2009).
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Texas assessment of knowledge and skills [Data file]. Retrieved (2010, June 14) from
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/reporting/results/swresults/taks/met_standar
d_charts_All_Students.pdf
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Reid, J.J. (1992). The Effects of cooperative learning with intergroup competition on the math
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direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED355106&site=ehost-live
Root, A.W. (2008). Science, math, checkmate. Westport, Conn.: Teacher Ideas Press.
Samuelsson, J. (2008). The impact of different teaching methods on students' arithmetic and self-
doi:10.1080/02667360802256790. http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article-
&id=doi:10.1080/02667360802256790
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Shenk, D. (2006). The Immortal Game: A History of Chess. New York: Anchor Books.
TAKS Campus Aggregate Results. (2009). Student assessment TAKS aggregate data system
student.assessment/reporting/taksagg/index.hsql
Watkins, J.J. (2004). Across the Board: The Mathematics of Chessboard Problems. Princeton,
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from http://www.crosspulseconsultants.com/MMAI.pdf
Unterrainer, J., Kaller, C., Halsband, U., & Rahm, B. (2006). Planning abilities and chess: A
comparison of chess and non-chess players on the Tower of London task. British Journal
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live
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 17
Appendix A:
Goal Analysis
Terminal goal
To gain skills that may contribute to better math scores, students will learn how to play chess,
Sub goals
1. The student will learn to play chess and will play chess online.
2. The student will become more comfortable with arithmetic by working with chess symbols.
4. The student will become more successful independent problem solvers through continually
Sequencing Instruction
I used Reigeluth’s Elaboration Theory to sequence instruction. I began with instructional units
that address the simplest facets of learning chess: facts about chess pieces, then rules of chess.
As students learn to play chess, I added complexity, teaching students to record their games
using Algebraic chess notation. Next, as students repeatedly play games of chess and begin to
seriously learn chess tactics and strategies, they not only review the basics they have learned, but
also begin to understand the relationships between problem solving and success at chess.
Finally, as students apply the problem solving skills they have practiced in learning to play chess
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 18
better, they demonstrate assimilation of those problem solving skills in successfully solving
Enabling goals
1. Student will be able to name 100% of all chess pieces, describe their movements, and describe
their symbols.
2. Student will be able to correctly describe 90% of the rules of chess and will be able to
4. Student will be able to describe five chess tactics or strategies after watching chess strategy
5. Student will be able to apply at least five chess tactics or strategies during game(s) of chess
and will be able to explain what strategy or tactics he used and why.
6. Student will be able to describe problem solving steps he used to successfully solve given
chess problem.
7. Student will use chess symbols to solve arithmetic problems with 70% accuracy.
8. Student will use chess symbols to solve Sudoku puzzles with 70% accuracy.
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 19
Appendix B:
Task Analysis
Enabling goal: Student will be able to name 100% of all chess pieces, describe their movements,
Topic Analysis:
1.1. Pawn
1.2. Rook
1.3. Knight
1.4. Bishop
1.5. Queen
1.6. King
2.1. Pawn
2.1.6. Starting position--8 pawns fill the front row of each side.
2.2. Rook
2.3. Knight
2.3.1. Movement--L shape, two up and one over, or one up and two over
2.3.4. Starting position--to the right and to the left of the two Rooks.
2.4. Bishop
2.4.4. Starting position--to the right and to the left of the two Knights.
2.5. Queen
2.5.3. Starting position--on the open space to the right of the left bishop (the Queen on
her color--the black Queen will be on a black square, the white Queen will be on a
white square).
2.6. King
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 21
2.6.1. Can move or capture enemy pieces within one space in any direction.
2.6.2. Special move: castling--when spaces between King's Rook and King are vacant,
King can move toward Rook and Rook can "jump" over King to be on his left.
2.6.4. Starting position--on the open space to the left of the right bishop.
2.6.5. Special significance--the King must be protected above all other pieces; when he
3.1. Pawn:
3.2. Rook:
3.3. Knight:
3.4. Bishop:
3.5. Queen:
3.6. King:
Enabling goal: Student will be able to correctly describe 90% of the rules of chess and will be
Topic Analysis:
1.2. The Knight is the only piece that can jump other pieces.
1.3. To capture an enemy piece, move to that enemy piece's square and take the enemy piece
1.4.1.2. Place another piece between the attacker and the King.
2. Chess terminology
2.3. Correspondence chess: chess game in which players make moves and transmit them to
each other; usually suggests that the game takes days or months (or longer) to play.
2.4. Gambit: an intentional sacrifice, perhaps as bait for a trap, made early in the game to
2.5. Grandmaster: a top-ranking master player who has accumulated more than 2500 points.
2.8. Tempo: gaining advantage early on by making an opponent move a piece twice or
3. Recording play
3.1.1.The bottom row of the board should begin with a black square.
3.1.2. Rows are horizontal and are numbered from the bottom, 1-8.
3.1.3. Columns are vertical and are lettered a-h from left to right.
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 23
3.1.4. Individual squares are named by corresponding row number and column letter; for
3.2.1.2. Rook: R
3.2.1.3. Knight: N
3.2.1.4. Bishop: B
3.2.1.5. Queen: Q
3.2.1.6. King: K
3.2.2.1. Use letter of piece with coordinate of square where piece moves to (Nc3
3.2.2.2. Use x between the letter of the piece and the coordinate of the square
when the moving piece takes the piece on that square (Nxc3 means the Knight
3.2.2.3. Castling is denoted as 0-0 or 0-0-0 depending on side (0-0 for kingside).
Enabling goal: Student will be able to play a complete chess game online at ChessKid.com.
Procedural Analysis:
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 24
1.1. Go to www.chesskid.com.
2. Available games
2.1. Online Chess: challenge or accept challenges from PJH Chess Club members (can be
correspondence game).
2.1.1.2. If there are challenges that your club members have made, the program
2.1.1.3. If there are no unanswered challenges, your challenge will be queued until
2.1.2.1. Depending on whether you are assigned white or black, you will either go
first or second.
2.1.2.4. Your opponent will have up to 3 days to respond with his move.
2.3. vs. Computer: play versus the computer; the game automatically starts.
Enabling goal: Student will be able to describe five chess tactics or strategies after watching
chess strategy and tactic videos in the online chess application chesskid.com.
Procedural analysis:
Enabling goal: Student will be able to apply at least five chess tactics or strategies during
game(s) of chess and will be able to explain what strategy or tactics he used and why.
Procedural analysis:
1.2. Look on the right to see whether the move was beneficial or damaging to game score.
Enabling goal: Student will be able to describe problem solving steps he used to successfully
Procedural analysis:
2. Solving puzzles
Enabling goal: Student will use chess symbols to solve arithmetic problems with 70% accuracy.
Procedural analysis:
1. Examine the code the puzzlemaker uses, where each number is represented by a chess
symbol.
4. Substitute the chess symbol for the number to submit your answer in chess symbol.
Enabling goal: Student will use chess symbols to solve Sudoku puzzles with 70% accuracy.
1. Sudoku form
1.6. Each 3 x 3 subgrid, row, and column cannot duplicate any of the numbers from 1-9.
2.1. Examine the puzzlemaker's code, where each number is represented by a symbol.
2.2. Substitute the number for the symbol in the Sudoku puzzle.
2.3. Solve the Sudoku puzzle using chess symbols instead of numbers.
Objectives
1. Given a set of chess pieces, the learner will correctly name each piece and describe its
2. After initial instruction on chess basics, the learner will successfully complete a game of
3. Given a chess problem, the learner will use problem solving techniques (hypothesis, testing,
4. Given a code using chess symbols to represent numbers, the learner will solve Sudoku logic
Appendix C:
Instructional Strategy
Instructional Goal: The learner will be able to name 100% of all chess pieces and will describe
their initial setup on the chessboard and how these pieces move.
Objective 1: Student will be able to name 100% of all chess pieces, describe their movements,
Topics:
c. Chessboard setup
Type of content: facts about pieces' initial settings, rules of game of chess
Initial Presentation
Introduction to the chess pieces (objective 1-a) and their movements will be introduced to
Slideshow contains one slide describing initial setup of the chessboard and one slide for each
chess piece: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king, to describe its movement and any other
demonstration moves (objective 1-b). The Instructor will show proper board setup (with black
square at bottom left corner) and will place each piece on its proper starting position. The
Learners will watch a multimedia online instructional video demonstrating the basics of chess,
explains chessboard setup (objective 1-c), initial starting positions for each piece, movements
each piece can make, and poses intermediate quizzes to check for learners' understanding of how
Generative strategies
Learners practice setting up a chessboard and making practice moves with a partner.
Assessment Plan
1. Learners will demonstrate recall of facts about chessboard in answering multiple choice
questions about chess piece names with an accuracy of at least 80% (4 questions of 5 answered
2. Learners will answer multiple choice questions about chess piece movements with an accuracy
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/ChessQuiz
Objective 2: Given a chess problem, the learner will use problem solving techniques (hypothesis,
Topics:
Initial Presentation
1. Learners watch multimedia example of the lack of problem solving to pique learners’
v=idx8ZhiNImg&feature=related). In the video, two people are trying to decide which vendor to
use. Instead of trying to solve the problem, one of the people holds his breath like a child until
2. Learners review basic problem solving steps through watching a slideshow available at
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/Problem+Solving.pptx
3. Learners watch application of problem solving steps through watching a multimedia video
clip from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" in which a group of people pose a question to a
wise man and the wise man uses problem solving skills to create a hypothesis based on observed
evidence, then the group tests the hypothesis. The film clip is annotated and discussed by a
Generative Strategy
Learners apply problem solving steps by analyzing chess problems, creating hypothesized
solutions, and trying out hypothesis. As learners’ hypotheses fail, learners will re-evaluate and
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 31
retest hypotheses. Learners will be solving problems posed by the online chess application
ChessKid.com. The application sets up a chess problem with several acceptable answers but
only one true answer. The learner must evaluate the problem situation, formulate a hypothesis,
test that hypothesis, and evaluate results. If the learner's hypothesis is not the best answer, he can
reformulate another hypothesis and try to answer again. Learners gain problem solving points to
gain in ranking when they are successful. If the learner cannot answer successfully, he can see
Assessment Plan:
1. Learners will match definitions to problem solving method terms with an accuracy of at least
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/problemsolvingquiz
2. Learners will apply problem solving skills to improving their chess problem solving ratings by
Appendix D:
hypotheses.
Appendix E:
Introduction
Chess overview
How many of you have ever played or tried to play chess? How many of you have looked at a
chessboard and wanted to learn to play chess? Well, today we are going to talk about how to set
up the chessboard, how the chess pieces move, and basically how to play chess.
Why would anybody need to play chess? Well, nobody really does, but lots and lots of people
all over the world love playing chess. People have been playing chess for centuries. Chess was
probably invented in India or the Middle East, and it was so popular that it had spread to China,
Russia, and Europe by the Middle Ages. And of course, chess came to the rest of the world in
time.
Why has chess been so popular for so long? Basically, chess is a great way for people to
compete, using their brains instead of luck, to see who is more clever…at least at that moment!
And recently, studies have suggested that people who play chess are better at math, are better
problem solvers, are better at visualizing situations, are better at critical thinking, and even that
young chess players are actually helping their brains stay more ready to learn throughout their
lives!
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/chess+intro.pptx)
Chessboard
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/chess+intro.pptx)
As you see on the slide, the chessboard is made up of 8 columns and 8 rows, which chess players
call files (vertical) and ranks (horizontal). So if you multiply 8 times 8, you get a total of how
many squares? That’s right, there are 64 squares on the chessboard! And always remember to
turn the board so that each player has a black (or dark) square in the lower left hand corner.
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/chess+intro.pptx)
As you can see on this slide, all those small pieces that look alike go in the second row, without
skipping any places. Then the bigger pieces line up with the castle-looking guys on the outside
corners, the “horseys” next, the guys with the pointy hats next, and the two tall ones in the
center. The one with the cross goes on the color opposite his color (this means don’t put a light
cross-guy on a light squre). But if you want to be taken seriously as a chess player, you most
definitely want to call the pieces by their real names: pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, queens, and
kings.
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/chess+intro.pptx)
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 36
The little guys are called pawns. Pawns, like all the other chess pieces, have their own special
moves. Pawns can move one space directly forward normally. But initially, or on their first
move, they can move either one or two spaces straight forward. When the pawn captures an
enemy piece by replacing him on his space and taking him off the board, the pawn must capture
one space diagonally. Some people say the pawns are useless, but if you’re careful, you might
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/chess+intro.pptx)
Those “castle” guys are called rooks. Rooks can move horizontally or vertically in a straight line
as far as you have a free open line. Rooks, like almost every other chess piece, cannot jump over
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/chess+intro.pptx)
My favorite chess pieces are probably those “horseys.” They are really called knights. A long
time ago, knights actually looked like guys on horseback, like real knights, but now they are just
horses. Knights are really cool because not only are they the ONLY piece that can jump any
other piece, but they also move in a really cool way—like an L basically. They go up two-over
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/chess+intro.pptx)
The pointy-hat guys are called bishops. Like rooks that can move across the board in one line as
long as the way is not blocked, bishops can move as far as possible across the board. But rooks
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/chess+intro.pptx)
The most powerful piece in the game is the queen. She wears the crown. She can move just like
the rook and the bishop put together—as far as possible in any straight line—until she is blocked
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/chess+intro.pptx)
The guy with the cross on his hat is the king. He has to be protected, because when your enemy
takes your king, you lose in checkmate! The king can only move one space in any direction, and
he can never move into danger. If your king is in danger, you have to move it or move another
Now let’s see how much you remember about setting up a chessboard! With a partner, take a
few minutes and set up your chessboard. See if you and your partner can do this perfectly!
(Allow the students to set up chessboards for about five minutes. Monitor students as they
work.)
Okay, let’s review. Which pieces go up front? (pawns) Which pieces go on the corner? (rooks)
What color should be on your bottom left corner? (dark) Where do the queens go? (center,
back, on the matching color square—dark/dark or light/light) What are the horseys called?
Please visit our online class website and answer the quiz over chess basics listed for today. If
you have any questions about any of the names of the chess pieces, please let me know (online
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/chesspieceid).
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 38
We learned about the chess piece names and moves yesterday. We also learned about setting up
the chessboard. Today we are going to review setting up the board and you will have some time
to play chess.
pawn
rook
knight
bishop
king
queen
If you ever need to review how to set up a chessboard on your own, please go to the link
(Place a chessboard on the document camera so that students can see it via the digital projector.)
Let’s review a couple of facts about the chessboard itself first. How many files? (8) What else
can you call files? (columns) How many ranks? (8) What else can you call ranks? (rows) How
many squares in all? (64) Which color square should be at your lower left? (dark/black)
Okay, let’s see how many pieces you can remember the names of.
What is this piece? (pawn) Where do we place pawns? (second rows from back) Great!
What is this piece? (rook) Where do we place rooks? (back corners) Right!
What is this piece? (knight) Where do we place knights? (next to rooks) Good job!
What is this piece? (bishop) Where do we place bishops? (next to knights) Fantastic!
What is this piece? (queen) Where do we place queens? (on her color on the remaining two
spaces) Yep!
What is this piece? (king) Where do we place kings? (last remaining spot) Good job! I knew
Generative strategy:
Now it’s your turn again! First, you and your partner will be able to play chess for the next 30
minutes or so. If you have any questions, please let me know as I walk around and monitor your
progress. About 10 minutes before the bell rings, I will stop you so that you can take a short quiz
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/ChessQuiz).
So you want to be a chess master? Well, you will need to be better acquainted with the rules of
the game. You know the pieces. You know the moves. Do you know all the rules yet?
Unfortunately, you will need to know more rules and more tricks and beginning tactics to be a
winner at chess. Fortunately, we are going to learn some of those rules and tricks today!
promote a pawn
(Begin clips of “The Magic of Chess” online chess instructional video from chesskid.com,
available at www.chesskid.com/video/player/the-magic-of-chess)
(Pause the video) Why do you have to protect the king? (if you lose him, the game is over) Can
the king move two spaces away from an attacker? (no, only one)
(Pause the video) If you could only choose one of these three pieces to have to protect your
king, which one would you choose, the queen, the rook, or the bishop? (probably the queen)
Why? (because she can move both diagonally, vertically, and horizontally)
(Pause the video) Why do you think there are so many pawns in a chess game? (because they
are like soldiers, but they are weak and can cause blocks, etc.) What happens if a pawn gets to
the enemy’s back row? (he turns into a more powerful piece) What can the knight do that no
other piece can do? (jump over other pieces and move in an L shape)
(End of video) Why might the king be considered the most important piece on the chessboard (if
he is lost, the game is over) If you could save your king by sacrificing another piece among a
bishop, rook, or knight, which one would you sacrifice? Why? (learner makes choice and backs
You may now play chess with your partner for a little while. I will stop you before the bell rings
so that we can close the lesson. (Students can play chess together on boards or on the online
Closure
Although you are still a beginning chess player, you have learned so much in these past few days
about how to begin playing chess well! The most important thing to remember is that chess,
although it makes you think, is still meant to be a fun game! I’d like you to take about 5 minutes
now to reflect on what you have learned about chess today and how you feel about playing chess
Have you ever had to work with somebody to solve a problem? Maybe you have in school.
Maybe you’ve had to solve word problems in math, and figure out why things happen the way
they do in science. But problems are everywhere in your life, not just in school, written in
textbooks. What about the last time you wanted to buy something but didn’t have enough
money? Wasn’t that a problem? What happens when you are playing a video game and you
can’t get through to the next level? Isn’t that a problem? What about last Christmas when Santa
brought you that new cell phone you wanted, but you couldn’t figure out how to text on it?
Have you ever had a problem with somebody else like the woman in the following video?
The man wants one solution. The woman wants another solution. Instead of working to solve the
problem, the man decides to hold his breath until he gets his way.)
This guy did NOT have a good method of solving problems, did he? Solving problems takes
If you have been successful enough as a human being to reach your 12th or 13th birthday, you are
already a problem solver. It might not feel that way when you are gazing at that story problem
Today we are going to talk about how people, including you, solve problems. There are different
steps and different methods, but we are going to talk about a certain sequence. By the end of
today’s lesson, you will know what certain problem solving terms mean:
Re-evaluate
You will also begin to see how problem solving is also a part of playing chess.
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/file/view/Problem+Solving.pptx)
(Slide 2) Problems are everywhere—in school, at home, at stores, at church, at friends’ houses,
(Slide 3) How many of you have ever seen CSI or any other cop show? What kind of problem
do the investigators on CSI have each week? (murders to solve!) What is the first thing that
they do? They have to look around carefully to find or discover evidence to catch the bad guy.
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 44
The first step in solving a problem is just like CSI. Whether you’re trying to solve a math
problem or a real problem, you need to find and think about (or evaluate) all the details or clues
or evidence you can find about the problem. You might want to make a list of all the evidence
so you can see it right there in front of you as you’re working through the problem.
(Slide 4) Once you’ve looked at all the evidence, you can make some guesses about the best
ways to solve or the best solutions. This is called making hypothesis-es or hypotheses. When
the detectives on CSI bring in suspects they believe are guilty, they have made those decisions
based on investigators’ hypotheses about who is guilty. When you make a decision about what
answer you are going to put on your test paper, you are following your hypothesis about which
answer is right.
(Slide 5) The next step, once you’ve decided what is best to do, is to test your answer. Scientists,
like those guys on CSI, call this experimenting. You may be thinking, wait, those CSI scientists
usually do a bunch of experiments before the detectives start talking to the bad guys. You’re
right! The whole process of solving problems is like a cycle—you start with a problem, you
gather up clues, you think of answers, you test the answers, and if those answers fail, you look
back at the evidence. So why do you rush through your answers to those math problems?
(Slide 6) …and hypotheses have to be evaluated and when they don’t work, reevaluated and
(Slide 8-9) The placement of all the pieces and their potential moves are your details, or evidence
(Slide 10) As you look over the chessboard, your brain takes in details of the problem…
(Slide 11) …just like computer programs do when they’re playing chess.
(Slide 12-13) When you decide on your best move and make it, you are acting on your
hypothesis, or testing it. Whether it works or not shows the outcome of the test and the efficacy
of your hypothesis.
(Slide 14-17) In ChessKid.com, you can apply problem solving skills to chess problems. When
your move doesn’t work effectively, you can try again. It always feels good to finally get the
Generative strategy:
Log in to ChessKid.com. Click on the Learn button up at the top of the page, over on the right.
Click Tactics and Puzzles. Click Start Training. Work solving three problems. As you work,
your problem solving rating will increase or go down based on the accuracy of your answers.
Afterwards, please go to our online classroom site and complete a quiz over problem solving
Closure
All kinds of problems are solvable when you carefully think about evidence, create hypotheses
that make sense, test your hypotheses, and when they don’t work, make new hypotheses and test
them. As we watch this video clip from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, think of
what steps of problem solving the guys went through: evaluating evidence, making hypotheses,
Appendix F:
Evaluation
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/chesspieceid)
1. .
pawn
rook
queen
king
castle
2. .
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 48
horsey
knight
king
queen
bishop
3. .
knight
bishop
rook
queen
king
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 49
4. .
rook
king
knight
queen
bishop
5. .
bishop
knight
king
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 50
queen
rook
Rubric:
http://pjhtechapps.wikispaces.com/ChessQuiz)
red
green
black
white
it doesn't matter...just make sure you don't put anything on the red squares!
pawns in front, rooks on back corners, then knights and bishops going toward the center;
vertically
one or two square initially, then only one forward; take pieces diagonally
L shape
horizontally
vertically
diagonally
L shape
vertically or horizontally
diagonally
L shape
horizontal or diagonal
diagonal
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 52
horizontal or vertical
L shape
anywhere, anytime
L shape
king or queen
knight
bishop
rook
pawn
Rubric:
Free write to tell me what you have learned about chess and how you feel about playing chess.
Rubric:
Great thinking! Adequate response Inadequate response
25-20 pts each 19-15 pts each 14-0 pts each
Writer remembers and writes
3+ rules at least 1 rule does not mention rules
about rules
Writer comments about how
3+ moves at least 1 move does not mention move
piece(s) move
Writer comments about pieces does not mention
3+ pieces at least 1 piece
themselves pieces
Writer comments about playing
Good! Okay. Not good.
chess
Total points
Rubric:
bonus: each problem solved correctly = +5 points for up to 105 points total
1. This step is the first one, where you look at all the clues and evidence and start to form
hypotheses.
hypothesis
evidencery
evaluating evidence
testing
experimenting
2. This step is when you make one or more decisions about what the answer to the problem
might be.
Examining evidence
Testing
Re-evaluating
Hypothesis
Re-testing
Evaluation
Hypothesis
Re-examination
Examining evidence
Examine
Evaluate
Teaching middle school students to play chess online 55
Re-hypothesize
hypotheses
hypothesizes
hypothesises
hypothesis's
hippos