Have your students signed up for individual accounts? If you have a school-wide subscription to BrainPOP, students will be able to use our SnapThought ® tool to play People’s Pie.

The SnapThought tool allows students to capture meaningful moments in their game play with opportunities for brief written reflection. To use the tool, start by making sure students are logged into My BrainPOP with their own individual accounts. Once students are logged in, the SnapThought tool will appear below any games that offer this capability.

During game play, students can click the SnapThought tool up to five times. A thumbnail, or “snapshot” is generated and stored on the bottom left of the screen.  At any point in the game, students can click their snapshot(s), type a brief reflection, which may be a response to an open-ended prompt, and save or submit to the teacher’s account for you to review and respond to.

You can use the SnapThought tool to facilitate discussion around game play and strategies, or have students submit their snapshots to you for assessment or accountability. Here are a few ideas and prompts for using the SnapThought tool in People’s Pie.

  • As you set the levels for corporate, payroll, and income taxes, take a snapshot and explain your choices.
  • When you set the age for Social Security and Medicare benefits, take a snapshot and explain why you chose that age.
  • As you accept and reject the various government agency programs, take snapshots and explain your decisions.
  • After playing a full round of the game (either by making budget decisions for every government agency, or by depleting citizen satisfaction), take a snapshot. What did you find most challenging about this process?

 

Filed as:  People's Pie