what i lived for
Lesson overview
Henry Thoreau spent hours of every day walking the woods of Walden and the shore of Walden Pond – taking in its beauties, reflecting on life and the importance of maintaining a connection to nature. In this game-based learning experience, students are asked to take a mindful walk around the in-game Walden Pond, stopping to appreciate the virtual environment around them. As they explore, they will cultivate skills for being “awake” in the present moment, as Thoreau described. A set of modular social and emotional learning lessons support the 15-30 minute gameplay experience, prompting students to transfer these skills into their own lives through embodied practices.
After completing this lesson students will be able to:
Practice breathing and walking/movement meditation exercises.
Identify their sensations, thoughts, and emotions.
Identify and appreciate why Thoreau spent time outdoors.
Identify and analyze connections between bodily motion and mindfulness in literature, including Thoreau’s writings.
Create a trail map that engenders a sense of place and appreciation of the natural world.
Compare and contrast their own mindfulness practices with Thoreau’s.
Lesson Materials
CASEL SEL FRAMEWORK
Aligns with these CASEL SEL Framework items:
CASEL Self-Awareness, the abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts.
From CASEL’s District Resource Center: “Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens” (Greater Good Science Center). “By helping students become aware of and then embody the connection between their emotions, thoughts, and bodily sensations, students are better able to regulate their emotions, which then impacts things such as their behavior, stress levels, relationships, and ability to focus.” (Lantieri & Zakrzewski, 2015).
Gameplay
The What I Lived For game module is a first person exploration game that prompts students to take a mindful walk around the shore of Walden Pond, stopping to breathe deeply along with Thoreau at the stone cairns that they encounter. The module is 30 minutes long, but can be ended early if class time is limited.
During the game, students will:
Explore the woods along the shore of the pond, appreciating the virtual environment filled with life
Take time to breathe along with Thoreau and practice in-game mindfulness
Discover passages from Thoreau’s writings by gathering arrowheads
At the end of the game module, students will be shown a recap screen reviewing their walk along the shore by the number of stone cairns they visited and the length of time they spent breathing along with Thoreau. 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 cultivating mindfulness and direct experience of nature). It also includes records of their interactions with other objects in the virtual environment such as plants and animals.
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.
Trouble-shooting
If you have any trouble launching the game, please check your setup using our Walden EDU test tool, here.
More info about minimum requirements, known issues and support for the game can be found at the Educators FAQ.
