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The Republia Times Educator Review | Common Sense Education

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The Republia Times Educator Review | Common Sense Education

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This is a game that's best played solo or in pairs, because students will need to focus and do some reading. Since it only takes 10-15 minutes to play, it serves as a great discussion starter and introduction to a lesson or unit on media messages, or even persuasive writing. Let your students dive in and play without any instruction, so they can discover the game's point on their own and get excited for discussion. For less focused students, give a brief introduction to get them thinking about bias before jumping in. After students play the game, encourage them to draw connections to the world around them. Get them to identify media they believe is biased and to explain how they can tell. Get students to consider whether gossip and sports -- like they do in the game -- distract us from more important current events. As an extension activity, have students copy the headlines out of a newspaper or political magazine and then rewrite them to reframe their points of view. They could also swap out images.

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The Republia Times is a browser-based game that's part of a growing genre of smaller games that explore serious, challenging, and often political social issues. This game's issue is media bias and political power. The player assumes the role of an editor overseeing what articles appear on the front page of a newspaper in a fictional country that's just had a political revolution. Since the new government officials want the newspaper to build reader loyalty, it's up to the player to choose favorable articles.

The game is measured out in days, and with each new day a stream of headlines appears on the player's desk. These articles can be selected, sized, and placed on the page. Once the page is populated, the player can end the day and see how the newspaper has impacted the size of the readership and their loyalty. If the player doesn't meet expectations, the game ends.

Initially, students might find the game a bit boring. It's very simplistic and looks like a Mac interface from the 1980s. But after digging in, they should start to figure out the game's point. By balancing the number and size of articles ranging from political headlines to celebrity gossip, students will have to make tough coverage decisions, evaluating what will or won't hurt loyalty and readership. For instance, on a slow day for favorable political news, students might decide to devote more page space to a sports story, pushing a headline about social upheaval to a small corner. The fictionalized setting helps focus players more on broader issues of rhetoric, bias, media, and politics, leaving class discussion to make more direct connections to the real world.

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The Republia Times Review for Teachers | Common Sense Education

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Is The Republia Times good for learning? Use Common Sense Education's reviews and learning ratings to find the best media and edtech resources for your classroom.

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Citelighter Educator Review | Common Sense Education

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Citelighter Educator Review | Common Sense Education

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Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century.

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How to Structure a Thesis Sentence by Shmoop

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Learn how to write a strong thesis statement or suffer death-by-zombie. Boy, we sure know how to motivate! Visit our essay lab for more tips to write essays: http://www.shmoop.com/essay-lab/

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Writing a Persuasive or Argumentative Thesis (in response to a prompt)

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The single most important line in an essay is the thesis statement. It's a line found in an introduction, usually the last line thereof, which sets up the rest of the paper.

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How to Know if Your Thesis Sentence is Actually a Thesis Sentence by Shmoop

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We'll teach you how to get your thesis statement to stand on its own two feet instead of wobbling around like a newborn Rudolph. No stumbles allowed, but glowing noses are certainly encouraged. Visit our essay lab for more essay writing tips and tricks. http://www.shmoop.com/essay-lab/

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How are serial killers and great thesis statements have similar? They both have strength, clarity of purpose, specific targets, and an interesting story. Thankfully for your teacher the resemblance stops there. Learn more about writing on our website: http://www.shmoop.com/essay-lab/

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How to Write an Effective Thesis Statement for Your Essay