Self-Reliance

Lesson overview

Henry David Thoreau went down to Walden Pond in 1845 to live simply in nature. In this game-based learning experience, students take on the role of Thoreau as they attend to his basic needs of life in the woods for one day of his time there. This lesson explores the nature of Thoreau’s thoughts on self-reliant living as well as his critique of the materialism he saw developing in early industrial society in America. Supporting the 15-30 minute gameplay experience, are a set of modular lessons that will extend and deepen students’ reading of the text and understanding of Thoreau’s experiment in simple, self-reliant living.

After completing this lesson students will be able to:

Identify Henry David Thoreau, his book Walden, and his historical/cultural context.

Analyze two key themes from the first two chapters of the book book: self-reliance & critique of materialism in early industrial society in America.

Compare and contrast Thoreau’s life at Walden Pond to their own lives.

Imagine their own experiment in self-reliance and freedom from materialism.

Compare and contrast this experiment to Thoreau’s.

Lesson Materials

Download Lessons

Lesson plans included in this PDF

Web-based game module for Lesson: Self-Reliance

Extra materials for activities:

Walden Intro Videos (YouTube links):

English

Spanish (subtitles)

French (subtitles)

Survival Game Cards: (free print-and-play version) or (deck for purchase)

Walden Arrowhead Excerpts

Walden, or life in the Woods, Chapters 1-2

Common core Standards

Aligns with these Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2

Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

Gameplay

The Self-Reliance game module is a first person exploration game that prompts students to understand the basic needs that Thoreau required for his simple life in Walden Woods, what he called the “necessaries of life”: food, fuel, shelter and clothing. The module is 30 minutes long, but can be ended early if class time is limited.

During the game, students will:

Gather life essentials: food, shelter, fuel, clothing

Explore the woods, and interact with plants and animals

Discover passages from Thoreau’s writings by gathering arrowheads

At the end of the game module, students will be shown a recap screen reviewing how they did at surviving in the woods. The screen will allow students to save and print their in-game journal. The journal will include the passages students found (all of them are excerpts from Walden about self-reliance and critiques of consumerism). It also includes records of their interactions with objects, and quotes about the tasks they completed.

Getting Started

The game is launched by clicking “play game”. This will open a new browser tab and load the game. The game requires an internet connection and the Chrome web browser. It will play on a PC, Mac or Chromebook. To control the game, use the keyboard and a mouse or trackpad.

Controls:

Mouse or trackpad - look around
W - walk forward
A - walk left
S - walk right
D - walk backward
W + shift - run forward
X - pick up or interact
C - inspect closely
P - pause game
J - open journal
Q & E - turn pages in books and journal
M - reread mail
R - toggle handwriting/text in mail

To end the game, press P and select “end game” from the pause menu. From the final game screen, you can print or save the player journal. Choose “Print this screen” at the bottom of the journal HTML page, and then use the print dialogue to send to a local printer device, save to a PDF, or save to Google Drive.

Play Game