Table Top Role Playing Games in English Class
Table Top Roll Playing Games, or TTRPGs, are analog games that help students tell stories together. While Dungeons and Dragons is the most well known, there are lots of TTRPGs that bring more play and engagement into English class! My favorite for middle schoolers is Kids on Bikes 2e from Hunters entertainment. It's an easy to play game that encourages narrative over combat. 8th graders in my class will all plan a character and a setting. Then, students will have the option to play in a small group as part of a unit on games as literature. This high-interest unit is a fan favorite and I look forward to watching more of these wild and wacky stories unfold in my classroom.
In addition to having fun with students in English class, I am currently a doctoral candidate in English Literature and Pedagogy at Murray State University. As part of my capstone project for my degree, in the fall of 2024, my 12th grade students dedicated time each week to playing Dungeons and Dragons in order to research the effect it had on their ELA skill growth. Please look forward to my upcoming publication in Board Game Academics Volume 4, Serious Fun: A Quantitative Study on Using Dungeons and Dragons to Build Essential Skills in the ELA Classroom.
Please explore the resources on this page to learn more about how DnD helps make kids better readers, writer, speakers, and members of a classroom community.
I was invited to present on my work using DnD at MAUHS on a panel at the National Council for Teaching English in Boston in 2024. I brought dice and lots of student and administrative testimony supporting this activity!
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