Rolling the Dice to Learn in Social Studies

Abstract

Board games are enjoying increased popularity with thousands of new games introduced annually. The most popular mechanical element of board games is rolling dice and economic topics rank in the top three most common board game themes. The dice game Left, Center, Right employs dice and is easy to learn. This essay presents a variety of social topics illustrated while playing the game. The game is not intended to teach specific disciplinary concepts or topics, but a teacher can employ the game to introduce topics and to encourage discussion that contributes to schema formation needed for effective learning.