Twenty-four fourth graders at Adler Park School in Libertyville, Illinois, played their first games of
go on October 6, when Ying Wu, professor and chair of the Asian Studies Program at Lake Forest College, visited her son’s class to introduce the game.
Wu prepared with help from AGA Education Coordinator Xinming (Simon) Guo, who first introduced go to her college students in 2016. Guo shared recordings and slides from his teacher-training lectures, helped her plan the lesson, and lent her a classroom kit with a magnetic demonstration board, magnetic stones, and mini go sets for up to 32 students.
Wu began with a brief introduction to the game’s history in China, then used the demonstration board to explain the basic rules. She also introduced Guo’s beginner-friendly “population rule” for scoring: when the game ends, the player with more stones on the board wins. Students then paired up to play on the mini sets.
“The kids learned fast,” Wu said. “Within 20 minutes they all had it, without any major problems, so they spent the rest of the time playing several more games.”
Wu has offered to return to teach Adler Park’s other fourth-grade class and hopes to bring Guo back to her college classroom next spring.
report & photo by Xinming (Simon) Guo