Using Sentinal for Creative Writing



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Using Sentinel: Descendants in Time to Enhance the 7th Grade Writing and Language Arts Curriculum

Eric Allen

Table of Contents

Teaching Guide Overview 3

Sentinel: D.I.T Description 4

Using Sentinel: D.I.T in the Classroom 6

The Advantages of Teaching with Games 7

Goals and Objectives 9

Grade Level Standards and Content Area 9

Where the Game fits into the Curriculum 12

What Teachers Need to Know Before Beginning 12

Hardware Requirements 14

Minimum System Requirements 14

Recommended System Requirements 14

Lessons Overview 15

Lesson One 15

Lesson One Goals and Objectives 16

Lesson One Setup 16

Lesson One Activity/Gameplay 17

Lesson One Follow-up/Debriefing 18

Lesson Two 19

Lesson Two Goals and Objectives 19

Lesson Two Setup 20

Lesson Two Activity/Gameplay 20

Lesson Two Follow-up/Debriefing 20

Lesson Two Extensions 21

Teacher Resources 22

References 23

Appendix 1: Student Handout: 24

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SENTINEL Descendants in Time is a puzzle-oriented, first-person, 3D adventure game based on the work of award-winning science fiction writer Terry Dowling. It rewards the player for logical, careful thought rather than quick reflexes. No action elements. No timed puzzles. No tricky jump sequences. Just slow, steady exploration of the beautiful worlds of (the fictional) Tastan civilization.

~ from the creator’s PR website for the game’s original release

Teaching Guide Overview

I have always been suspicious of video games in the classroom. But as a teacher who prides themselves on doing everything possible to increase their students’ chances of coming to know good writing as it emerges from their own pen and/or keyboard, I recently set aside my own biases and trepidation with the medium and forced myself to focus instead on the end result while conducting an experiment in which a carefully controlled and age-appropriate video game environment was introduced into my seventh grade writing curriculum. Standards-based and, because of the students’ eagerness to be involved, almost as easily deployed as playing a movie, the results yielded unprecedented student interest and participation. Most exciting of all, though, was my own experience of watching my students successfully use the game as a jumping off point for finding new ways of becoming invested in their writing, and, as a result, in themselves.

This guide is an attempt to be a one-stop-shop for other teachers who are ready to experiment with the medium as a way of enhancing their own writing curriculums. It takes as its catalyst the game used for my original experiment—Sentinel: Descendents in Time (2004)—although it inevitably incorporates all of the modifications and improvements that have come about as a result of having been revisited a few times over. The largest of these is that the scope of the unit has actually been pared back quite a bit over time, although this plan is sure to reference some of the myriad ways it is possible to extend the exercise in case there is either time and/or sustained student interest with which to do so.

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Sentinel: D.I.T Description

Perhaps the creators’ own PR website for the game sums it up best:

SENTINEL Descendants in Time is a puzzle-oriented, first-person, 3D adventure game based on the work of award-winning science fiction writer Terry Dowling. It rewards the player for logical, careful thought rather than quick reflexes. No action elements. No timed puzzles. No tricky jump sequences. Just slow, steady exploration of the beautiful worlds of (the fictional) Tastan civilization.

✓ Platform: Made for PC (up through Windows XP, although it is possible to

run it on Vista if you have a bit of computer knowledge).

✓ Genre: First person adventure/puzzle game.

Sentinel, D.I.T is a warm and inviting game in which there is no violence, there are no time limits, and there is no competition. It features an exquisitely rendered three-dimensional environment that makes the most of both the audio and visual spectrums—

a fact that only further diversifies its appeal to different types of learners, be they visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or even utilizing a multiple intelligences approach—and also allows its players to enjoy a degree of freedom of movement that had previously been denied to most players of so-called puzzler games (i.e. video games whose main objective is to work consistently at solving puzzles). It includes some twenty environment-dependant puzzles spread out across all eight of its different “worlds”, and is easily adapted to either individual or small-group playing.

Intentionally built with exploration rather than competition in mind, it has the added bonus of including a built-in hint system designed to prevent debilitating frustration and/or impatience with one puzzle or the next. This, combined with the advantages associated with its having no ‘ticking clock’ component , make it especially student-friendly, as students are able to pause the game at any time in order to either reflect on what either they have discovered or how their playing experience might best be parlayed into core elements of the writing assignments associated with it.

Finally, and particularly in light of its being used as a tool for the teaching of writing, it should be noted that Sentinel: D.I.T is itself based on a short story—The Ichneumon and the Dormeuse—by renowned sci-fi writer Terry Dowling.

Using Sentinel: D.I.T in the Classroom

✓ Age appropriate: Sentinel: D.I.T is entirely appropriate for seventh graders. In fact it was rated ‘E’ for everyone by the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board), as the following label and definition from their website attests.

✓ Affordable: Though now some five years old (the

game was originally released in December of 2004), brand new copies of it in CD form are readily available for around a mere $5/ea. from websites such as Amazon or eBay. Also, as of Jan. 26, 2010 the game was made available for download from for $20/ea.

✓ Inspirational: The key is using the game as a writing catalyst rather than as

merely another entertainment. Sentinel: D.I.T allows teachers the chance to fire their students’ imaginations by utilizing a language (video games) with which most of those students are already fluent. Thus the learning curve on teaching the actual game is minimal (my own experiences saw essentially none at all, for example), although the inspiration it is capable of supplying for writing exercises is virtually unlimited.

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The Advantages of Teaching with Games

The phenomenon of the videogame as an agent of mental training is largely unstudied; more often, games are denigrated for being violent or they're just plain ignored. They shouldn't be. Young gamers today aren't training to be gun-toting carjackers. They're learning how to learn. (Gee, ¶ 3)

Once one accepts even the possibility of experimenting with a video game in a classroom setting, there are many advantages to consider when evaluating the relative merits of actually proceeding with the idea. Perhaps the most obvious is that the novelty of allowing games into the curriculum inevitably helps to break down students’ customary resistance to the ‘deeper linkages’ between subject matters. What’s more, as the use of games is unavoidably a hands-on approach to learning, it simultaneously enables the students to expand their conceptions of what is a worthy motivation for embracing rather than spurning curriculum-based assignments.

How does Gameplay[1] create motivation? By keeping the player engaged at every

moment. It makes every second (or nanosecond in some cases) of the game a challenge –

physically, intellectually, and/or emotionally. And it is this continuous challenge – at the

precise context-and-user-appropriate level – that motivates. (Prensky, pg. 9, all

formatting his)

Also, students are far more apt to be unaware of exactly how much they’re learning; or, to bring in Reading Professor James Gee again, “Kids often say it doesn't feel like learning when they're gaming - they're much too focused on playing” (final ¶). And this form of unconscious learning allows them—both as individuals and in small groups—to braid together high levels of cognition and organization with nuts-and-bolts writing requirements such as editing, reflection, and composition.

And finally, as regards the use of video games to enhance a writing curriculum in particular, the “off game” or unplugged mental processes that can be stimulated during a properly controlled gaming lesson are not to be taken lightly. In fact, in many ways they may well be one of the greatest untapped resources of student interest and/or investment in schoolwork. After all, to quote Hostetter’s usage of an earlier Prensky observation on this topic:

Fantasy is a part of the ´real´ world to the game generation. They love being a part of

it. Many gamers´ worlds are wrapped up in solving and playing the game while they are

away from the computer. Game generations should have plenty to write about since

they love playing games in the fantasy world.

Goals and Objectives

The goals of this plan are very much akin to those of any exercise, albeit with a different medium as a catalyst. In essence, then, this plan allows for the incorporation of all targeted state standards (see below), while at the same time substantially altering the usual schoolwork paradigm by empowering students to be invigorated by—rather than simply tolerant of—the raw materials with which they are working.

Also, as relates specifically to the targeted writing exercises, the plan directs both cumulative (diary/journaling) and terminal (final story) learning processes, while simultaneously rewarding imaginative effort and repeated attempts to capture it on paper.

Grade Level Standards and Content Area

This plan was intentionally designed with seventh grade writing standards in mind. Though the regimen as outlined will inevitably touch on several others as well, the primary standards targeted, as per the English and Language Arts standards for State of CA (7th Grade), are:

1. Writing Strategies

Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays. The writing exhibits students’ awareness of audience and purpose. Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions. Students progress through the stages of the writing process as needed.

Organization and Focus

1.1 Create an organizational structure that balances all aspects of the composition and uses effective transitions between sentences to unify important ideas.

1.2 Support all statements and claims with anecdotes, descriptions, facts and statistics, and specific examples.

1.3 Use strategies of note taking, outlining, and summarizing to impose structure on composition drafts.

Research and Technology

1.4 Identify topics; ask and evaluate questions; and develop ideas leading to inquiry, investigation, and research.

--

1.6 Create documents by using word-processing skills and publishing

programs….

Evaluation and Revision

1.7 Revise writing to improve organization and word choice after

checking the logic of the ideas and the precision of the vocabulary.

2. Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)

Students write narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive texts of at least 500

to 700 words in each genre. The writing demonstrates a command of standard American English and the research, organizational, and drafting strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.

Using the writing strategies of grade seven outlined in Writing Standard 1.0, students:

2.1 Write fictional or autobiographical narratives:

a. Develop a standard plot line (having a beginning, conflict, rising action, climax, and denouement) and point of view.

b. Develop complex major and minor characters and a definite setting.

c. Use a range of appropriate strategies (e.g., dialogue; suspense; naming of specific narrative action, including movement, gestures, and expressions).

2. Speaking Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)

Students deliver well-organized formal presentations employing traditional

rhetorical strategies (e.g., narration, exposition, persuasion, description). Student speaking demonstrates a command of standard American English and the organizational and delivery strategies outlined in Listening and Speaking Standard 1.0.

Using the speaking strategies of grade seven outlined in Listening and Speaking

Standard 1.0, students:

2.1 Deliver narrative presentations:

a. Establish a context, standard plot line (having a beginning,

conflict, rising action, climax, and denouement), and point of view.

b. Describe complex major and minor characters and a definite

setting.

c. Use a range of appropriate strategies, including dialogue, suspense,

and naming of specific narrative action (e.g., movement, gestures,

expressions).

Where the Game fits into the Curriculum

The use of the game Sentinel: D.I.T is designed to fit into the curriculum as a tool for enhancing both the quality of students’ writing, and, more importantly, their devotion to improving it. As such, it implements strategies and exercises that help students compose original short stories (based on the game’s environment), and incorporate several of the process’s most critical elements: characterization, thematic organization, dialogue, theme, tension, and of course editing and revision as well.

What Teachers Need to Know Before Beginning

Fellow teachers should continually keep in mind that, barring use of the extensions, the suggested exercises require students to access only the first two worlds of the game, and thus it is not necessary to devote more time than is required to explore them. Also, if time is at an absolute premium—or if a teacher would like to experience the feel and/or design of the entire game without the time investment of actually playing through it—access to a walkthrough[2] is included in the Teacher Resources section of this document.

It is obviously a good idea to spend as much time as possible actually playing the game before teaching with it. As there are no instruction manuals necessary, simply start the game, spend a few moments clicking on the different preference settings—though most of them will be correctly assumed for you without doing anything at all—and then push the button and launch yourself into your first magical experience with the game. This will obviously help you acquire a general sense of how to navigate and what students will be encountering when they enter the game at your behest. Also, a brief handout designed for introducing students to the game is included in the appendices, and will conveniently double as a reference sheet should any teacher find themselves confused by their first encounter with the navigation controls.

Finally, if the teacher is interested in viewing a quick, minute and a half PR video that the game creators released for Sentinel: D.I.T—which shows glimpses of the different worlds and puzzles—they will find a YouTube version of it here.

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Hardware Requirements

This plan is specifically designed to take advantage of AHA’s phenomenally well resourced computer lab. Thus, hardware requirements (computers, headphones, etc.) will already be well surpassed for use by both individual students and small groups. Still, in case the plan is adopted by fellow teachers outside of our school, the based hardware requirements—as listed on the write-up—are as follows:

Minimum System Requirements

System: 1.0 GHz PIII or equivalent

RAM: 128 MB

Video Memory: 64 MB

Hard Drive Space: 1600 MB

Other: Mouse and Keyboard; DirectX-compatible 3D video card

Recommended System Requirements

System: 2.0 GHz or equivalent

RAM: 256 MB

Video Memory: 128 MB

Headphones

CD-Rom drive for versions using a fixed, non-downloaded copy of the game

Lessons Overview

After playing the game for themselves in order to navigate the first two worlds and gain a sense of what the students will be seeing and working with, the teacher will commence with the lessons.

Lesson 1 will allow every student to play the game on their own, so that they can each focus on personal journal-writing, story organization and idea brainstorming, while Lesson 2 will be devoted to small group exercises in which the second level (the organic world of “Tregett”) will first be explored as a team and then used as a catalyst for peer-review description sessions (sharing and fleshing out the students’ individual stories). Finally, the entire unit will culminate with all students reading their favorite paragraphs aloud to the class with no hint as to the context from which they were pulled.

During Lesson 1 the teacher will serve mostly as a “roving cheerleader” whose primary role is to encourage students’ devotion to their journal entries and make suggestions about story organization techniques and/or content. Once into the Lesson 2, however, the teacher will both facilitate equal-time gameplay and discussions amongst the small groups, as well as schedule and oversee the closing paragraph readings.

Lesson One

It is in lesson one that students are carefully introduced to the game, learn exactly how it is to be used for the purpose of the class, and briefly dialogue about just how its usage relates to the writing exercises that have been previously developed throughout the curriculum.

Standards emphasized in this fist lesson are predominantly related to the aforementioned “chapter 1” listings (i.e. both the Organization and Focus and Research and Technology categories).

Lesson One Goals and Objectives

The goals of the first lesson are to have a student keep a personal journal chronicling their exploration of the game’s opening world (the labyrinthine “Tomb 35”). The more detailed the journal the better, as it will be ultimately be used as source material for the creation of each student’s own short story. This story is to take place within the game’s physical environment, although it is not to involve the characters as currently existing in the game. In short, each student is required to create their own original characters, dialogue, and story, although they are to animate them within the game’s lush, 3D visual environment.

Lesson One Setup

When entering class for the first day, the teacher should begin the lesson by engaging all of the students in a brief, free-association dialogue about the different story elements that they have been working with for the past several weeks. This, combined with another brief class discussion about how the cornerstone storytelling elements do and do not change depending on different creative mediums (print, film, audio, game, etc.), should only take about ten minutes.

Following these prefatory discussions, the teacher will introduce the game by name, and offer a very brief explanation of the back-story by saying something along the lines of:

“Your name is Beni, you live far in the future where a bad guy named Dobra is holding your sister hostage, and in order for her to be released you have to explore the ancient worlds of the now extinct Tashtan civilization and solve its various puzzles in order to advance to the next challenge… but be careful of the Dormeuse. Who exactly is she? And why does she keep popping up to talk to you?”

With student appetites thus whetted, the teacher will re-emphasize that the game is being used as a tool for inspiring writing and imagination, and will perhaps even outline their own rules regarding the penalties for a student’s not either using it as such or following the instructions as outlined.

Lesson One Activity/Gameplay

At this point the teacher will offer each student the one-page handout explaining the gameplay essentials such as the general navigation controls of the mouse and/or keyboard, as well as the journal which each student is to keep in as detailed a fashion as possible.

As this plan assumes that all software (complete with the game’s in-built hint system) is preinstalled on the new desktops of the AHA lab, it is at this point that the teacher should reiterate the contents of the handout by going over basic navigation controls, and, most importantly of all, the assignments that are to result from the exercises; video games are all fun and well, but for the purpose of their use in this classroom, they are to be used as though they were a moving painting to which you (the students) will be adding the characters, dialogue, action, and story.

Lesson One Follow-up/Debriefing

After a class period of playing the game and moving around in the first world (“Tomb 35”), students use their journals as the starting point for writing the first draft of their short stories. All story elements except for the game’s physical world must of course be their own—plotting, characters, dialogue, etc.—and each student must continually bear in mind that, whenever organically possible, they should also include such “B-level” story devices as sustained tone, friction, confrontation and resolution.

Lesson One Extensions

As will become immediately apparent to any teacher who plays Sentinel: D.I.T with writing exercises in mind, this lesson plan essentially has no ending beyond time and subject constraints. With six more entirely unique worlds to explore in the game, and each one as chock full of curriculum possibilities as the first two, there is essentially no end to the standards-matching that could be achieved with a game like Sentinel. For not only does the game contain substantial amounts of “rough clay” from which the students can craft their own creations, but if enough time were allotted there is even the very real possibility of having every student continue the process as either learner-customized homework or with a view toward expanding/improving the stories over (extracurricular) time so that they might be bound together as a student compendium of what might be called “A Book of Sentinels.”

Lesson Two

Lesson two expands on the standards and explorations of the previous lesson by moving the interactions from individual to small groups. It involves small-group playing of the game’s second world, as well as ‘auditioning’ of each student’s story for constructive feedback from the other members of the group. Finally, after each student edits and rewrites their story to their satisfaction, this second lesson concludes with each student reading aloud the paragraph they feel is the strongest… intentionally stripped of the context of the story from which it was taken. This ‘floating paragraph’ component is designed to help students gain a greater appreciation of both the crucial interdependence of every word, sentence, and paragraph in a story, as well as hopefully generate a curiosity among fellow classmates such that further conversation (and writing!) on the topic might continue once the class is concluded.

It is into this lesson that many of the standards listed in the aforementioned “chapter 2” listings are incorporated (i.e. both the Using the writing strategies of grade seven outlined in Writing Standard 1.0 and Using the speaking strategies of grade seven outlined in Listening and Speaking categories.)

Lesson Two Goals and Objectives

The goals of the second lesson are built around interpersonal skills and involve students working in small groups of preferably not more than four. It is during this lesson that students work together both to navigate the game’s second world (the organic “Tregett”) and to briefly try out their respective stories on the other members of the group.

Lesson Two Setup

Due to the fact that there will be far fewer machines used because of the small

group format of this second lesson, the teacher should pre-navigate only a select number of machines to the beginning of the game’s second world, Tregett.

Lesson Two Activity/Gameplay

To begin this lesson the teacher will assemble the students into appropriately matched groups of what will hopefully be no more than three. After explaining that the day’s lesson will consist of a set amount of time (30 minutes at the bare minimum, but preferably a full class period) and that every member of the group is to be given a turn “driving” the mouse, the group is turned loose to explore the luscious landscape of Tregett… and to try to solve its challenging puzzles.

Lesson Two Follow-up/Debriefing

The follow-ups are especially crucial, as they are where the lion’s share of the standards-based curriculum will be achieved in this second lesson. For after the established time period of small group exploration, another time allotment is given for each member of the group to share their story from the first lesson with their fellow group members. After respectfully listening to the piece, all other group members will offer constructive criticism and/or encouragement pertaining to which points were either confusing and/or especially strong. Following this will be a third allotted time frame—preferably as a homework component—in which every student reflects on the feedback they’ve received, makes any story additions inspired by their group playing of the second world (Tregett), and ultimately selects the paragraph they feel is the strongest in all those comprising the story.

Finally, and in an order determined by the teacher, every student reads aloud their chosen paragraph… and does so without offering any hint of the context from which it was pulled. This ‘disembodied paragraph’ idea is designed to prompt wonder and pique curiosity in the class as a whole, and will hopefully inspire further conversation and/or writing long after the unit is finished.

Lesson Two Extensions

As with Lesson One, based on the further worlds of Sentinel: D.I.T, there is a staggering amount of other standards-based exercises and/or assignments that could be achieved while using it as the ‘trigger mechanism.’ Perhaps the most obvious candidate for this lesson is to have the students continue the editing process in order to maximize the incorporation of their peers’ constructive criticism. Or, given that the final paragraph reading is intentionally vague, there is of course also the option of having the students read their entire stories and then opening up the entire class—as opposed to just the small group peers—to a brainstorming session on its relative strengths and weaknesses and how to maximize the former.

Teacher Resources

Detalion’s dedicated game site:

One of the most popular gaming sites on the web, , has a characteristically wide array of goodies on Sentinel: D.I.T. Here you will find trailer videos, screenshots (over 50 of them actually), a review, press releases, etc. In short, if you are looking for background on the game and/or its reception, this is the place to start:

Arguably the most detailed walkthrough readily available on the web:

YouTube version (i.e. enlargeable version) of the teaser trailer:

References

Gameplay. (2010, February 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved March

1, 2010, from



Gee, J. (2003, May). High Score Education: games, not school, are teaching kids to think.

Wired Magazine, 11(05). Retrieved February 26, 2010, from



Hostetter, O. (2006, October). Video Games: the necessity of incorporating video games

as part of constructivist learning. Game-. Retrieved February 27,

2010, from

Prensky, M. (2002). The Motivation of Gameplay or, the REAL 21st century learning

revolution. Retrieved February 27, 2010, from



Appendix 1: Student Handout:

Sentinel: Descendants In Time

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Your name is Beni, you live far in the future where a bad guy named Dobra is holding your sister hostage, and in order for her to be released you have to explore the ancient worlds of the now extinct Tashtan civilization and solve its various puzzles in order to advance to the next challenge… but be careful of the Dormeuse. Who exactly is she? Is she helping you, or leading you astray?

To begin: Assuming the game is already loaded on your machine, simply put on your headphones, double-click the game’s icon to launch it, and then choose “New Game” to begin playing. Or, if you’d prefer, you can click on the “Settings” button to customize your gameplay (sound, cursor speed, etc.) before choosing “New Game” and entering the magical world of… Sentinel: Descendants In Time.

W/right mouse)……….. = move forward

S…………………………………….. = move backward

A…………………………………….. = step left

D…………………………………….. = step right

Space bar…………........... = jump

Enter/left mouse)…. = Action[pic][pic][pic][pic]

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[1] Gameplay: A common term that “…includes all player experiences during the interaction with game systems, especially formal games. Proper use is coupled with reference to "what the player does". Arising alongside game development in the 1980s, gameplay was used solely within the context of video or computer games, though now its popularity has begun to see use in the description of other, more traditional, game forms.” (Gameplay, ¶ 1)

[2] Walkthrough: A document, usually found online, which offers step-by-step instructions on how to safely navigate through a game, solve a puzzle, etc.

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Orig. box-art, Dec. 2004

The icy world of “Sanselard”

The volcanic world of “Corabanti”

Screen-grab of artwork appearing during the loading of the opening world,

the labyrinthine “Tomb 35”

The organic world of “Tregett”

The underwater world of “Goda”

as featured in the actual game

The labyrinthine world of the underground “Tomb 35”

The prairie world of “Argannas”

The stilted world of “Eska”

The floating, mechanical world of “Maru”

The Dormeuse or ‘sleeping woman’. Is she a friend… or a trap?

One of the puzzles of Tomb 35

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