―Game‖ Lesson Plan
1. Who wants to play a game? (hands shoot up) I’m tired of teaching, and I think we
should just play a game today. Who’s in? (all hands may be raised) Don’t you even
want to know what the game is? (“NO” – “Anything but another Holloway lecture”)
It doesn’t matter? (“Nope”) What if the game is Russian Roulette? (grumble) Or
who can come the closest to a moving bus? (grumble, grumble) Anyone in for those
games? (―Those aren’t games.‖) Yet so many of you raised your hands to play a
game! Why? Because of the word ―game.‖ Game is just a positive word –
connotation.
2. (Distribute handout) Game can mean many things, though – just like the word watch
could be a time piece, the verb meaning to observe, a person whose job it is to look
out, etc. What about game? Jot down on the top of this WS what game could mean?
Ponder all of the possibilities. a child? an athlete? a daredevil? a hunter?
3. The music maker that hung on my wall as a baby plays ―Guten Abend, gut Nacht.‖
You need to play that while the kids are writing.
4. Take roll – cue video – partner share – class share
5. Today we are going to be reading a story called ―Game.‖ When we are finished, I
will want you to respond in writing about the title. As you read, ask yourself why this
story is called Game.
6. Before we read, though, we need to build your background information. This story
takes place during the Cold War more than likely, when Nuclear Bombs fears were at
their height. In the fifties, people had their own bomb shelters and launching sites
were hidden into the mountains and deserts out West. Check out this video…It’s
from the Eighties (as is Mrs. Holloway’s outfit), but it’s a day in the life of two men
just like the ones we’ll read about today. http://fzeenglishdept.pbworks.com/GameBBK-Videos
Topics for discussion of first video
 Pulling an alert means spending 24 hours in a space no bigger than a living room.
 Why is there a nuclear missile silo 60 feet underground in North Dakota? Why so
far down, and why there?
 What are ―critical components‖?
 The food during alert ―never varies‖ and will make you balloon up.
 Do a lot of reading – sometimes it’s real boring.
 What if they lost communication with the people up top? How might that affect
their job? What if their relief didn’t come? What would they do?
7. What would happen if they for some reason fired a nuclear weapon? Pair/Class
share.
8. Look at this real life False Alarm that happened in 1995. View video 
http://fzeenglishdept.pbworks.com/Game-BBK-Videos
9. What did you think of that last statement? ―The grave danger that confronts humanity
today: the launch of a nuclear missile by accident or miscalculation.‖ Do we still
have that fear today? How is our technology different from what we just saw?
10. One more thing before we start – the guy that wrote this…Donald Barthelme (Barth –
ul- me) also wrote a story in 1967 called Snow White. No, not the Walt Disney Snow
White, but a novel with that same story line only in modern day…like a Modern Day
Beauty and the Beast. His take on Snow White was one that poked fun at the
absurdities and complexities of modern life.
11. Anyway, his Snow White’s sentiments were Barthelme’s own when she said, ―Oh I
wish there were some words in the world that were not the words I always hear.‖
His interest lay in the form and sound of language, and he played with words, made
art out of fragments, and dabbled with unconventional plots. You will see that in this
piece.
12. Turn to page 975 in your books - take a pencil and number your paragraphs – I want
you to write down ten lines that stand out to you as you read. These can be
13. Look at the quote on page 975 in yellow. That’s one that I wrote down for you. I
mean, that’s an interesting line for a number of reasons: 1) what determines
―behaving strangely?‖ 2) who is Shotwell? (nice name! I wonder if he’ll miss if he
does shoot whoever said this quote?) 3) why is Shotwell supposed to shoot him?
Whose rules are those? -- That’s why I would write this quote down.
14. But you are just going to underline the ones that really stand out as we listen to the
story. I’ll pause in between each paragraph so that you can catch your breath, and we
can check for comprehension.
15. Paragraph one and two –
 point of view
 the game of jacks
 possible character inferences
16. Paragraph three  console – bird flies – insert keys – under ground – certain events – fail safe
 133 days?
 strangely?
17. Paragraph four –
 Does Shotwell know about the narrator’s other gun?
 ruse – synonym for ―Game‖ – ah, the title…be thinking about that question
 repetition of the last line – I heart this – see his love of language – beautiful –
that, my friends, is mellifluous don’t say that – it might give them too much
for the test on Friday
18. Paragraph five and six –
 What are ways that they have relaxed in their 133 days?
 weird that he brought jacks
 I really like the simplicity of the six paragraph – I’m going to write that line
down
19. Paragraph seven –
 what lucid details: name of text book, walls, pen color, one third of his
attention (I heart this too)
20. Paragraph eight –
 why have they been down there so long? what are the possibilities? tie in
with title?
 food details – we were grossed out just watching that guy for one day
 pale green walls
 What are some things that Shotwell says/does that help you measure his
sanity? The POV from our narrator is askew, so we can’t trust his assessment
of Shotwell? What does Shotwell do/say that clues you in to his character?
(like Shotwell picking the locks of the attaché case – is that sane?)
21. Paragraph nine –
 what’s is up with Lucy? who is she? how does that add to the story?
 Shotwell in a black speedo trying to stretch so far to reach both key slots?
 Who had already envisioned a guy trying to stretch the distance?
22. Paragraph ten and eleven
 lots of repetitions in these paragraphs – any ones that stand out?
 any new ones – what about the ―stolidly he shucks‖ one?
 love that … ―rattles them suggestively‖
23. Paragraph twelve -- start the lullaby and let it play while you finish
 What ―overture‖ did Shotwell make?
 What did he ask the narrator to do?
 What does this tell you about Shotwell?
 The narrator says he’ll acquiesce if Shotwell will allow him to play with the
jacks. What does that tell you about the narrator’s character?
 Thus, what theme is Barthelme trying to portray as a result of this final quid
pro quo?
24. Final thoughts/comments – have students respond to the question about why this story
is called ―Game.‖
25. Take some time to copy your ten favorite lines and any other random phrases or
words that stuck out to you as we read the story.
26. Pair share lines, phrases, and response to title question.
27. Tonight in your writer’s notebook, I want you to construct a Found Poem—where
you are selecting words from the original piece. You simply select and combine
memorable words and phrases from a text to create or "find" a poem. In doing so, it
challenges you to look closely at the words and see how authors use them in a piece.
28. When you start selecting words from a piece of literature to create a found poem, it’s
important that you chose words that work together—that convey a similar mood so
your poem will be cohesive.
29. Let’s look at an example of a found poem. Distribute copies of the model. Students
should complete this at home.
30. Independent Writing Time