Instructional Methods and Materials
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Experienced teachers have developed a variety of curricula, handouts and other materials for use by instructors, available here for download. Choose the method that suits your style, or develop your own approach.
The Capture Game This method was developed by a professional go teacher in Japan, and is widely used in the US, especially with young children and special populations.
River Mountain Go Volume One and Volume Two Oliver Richman developed this material while teaching Go to children in the classroom, now available for download, nearly 200 pages of clear basic instruction organized in book form with clear easy-to-read diagrams.
Video Go Tutorial: Part I, Part II, Part IIIA and Part IIIB. Total running time about two hours.
Teaching Children To Become Go Players Longtime Portland organizer Peter Freedman shares lessons learned from teaching go in schools for many year. His program is designed not merely to teach go to children, but to create "people who independently seek opportunities to play and improve their games."
A Curriculum for Beginners Peter Freedman and Fritz Balwit introduce non-players to the game in ten brief lessons, with specific goals, activities and talking points. Intended mainly for classroom use. This is a beta version -- if you try it out, please send feedback and suggestions to Peter.
The Michigan Method A detailed curriculum developed and used extensively in Michigan public schools by AGF teacher of the Year Susan Weir.
Go: Game and Culture Syllabus for college course taught for years at the University of Rochester by Prof. Dave Weimer.
Middlebury College Course Syllabus for a course currently on offer at Middlebury College, by Prof. Peter Schumer.
Concepts In Go Twelve page discussion of basic concepts by Ian Davis.
Introductory Comic Book Download and print out Andreas Fecke's cartoon introducing Mr. and Mrs. Chesspiece to the game.
Dariush 3D -- Free Download for Beginners Animated avatars race a cross the board to place their stones in this lively piece of freeware, which plays both "AtariGo" (Capture Go) and Go on a 9x9 board, offering three levels of expertise. Developed specifically to appeal to children. Dariush, another free download that plays 19X19, is also available.
200 Go Puzzles for Beginners Paul Smith created this set of 200 problems for the British Go Association. Intended for absolute beginners, they present basic knowledge in three levels of 11 sheets that address specific themes for organized study. Smith takes nothing for granted -- we're so sure you can solve them, we didn't even include the answers! (Write to agf@usgo.org if you're not sure about something.) The American Go Foundation is grateful to Paul and the BGA for allowing us to make them available online for the first time.
Notable Quotes Great people say great things about the world's greatest game. Post them at the club; use them to spice up a press release for your next event; or just enjoy!
Some Quotes From Over Two Thousand Years of Go History Some examples of what has been said about go throughout history , especially in China. Compiled by Peter Shotwell from his other downloads on this page.
Shape Up! Teach Yourself Go author Charles Matthews offers his thoughts on the hard-to-grasp concept of good shape.
STE@M: Integrating aspects of go into the core curriculum Georgette Yakman developed this presentation based on the STEM educational approach, arguing that the arts are a natural way to bridge the "silos" of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, including the art of go.
An Integrated Curriculum for Go In the Schools Retired educator and superintendent Dr. Gordon Castanza has written a complete curriculum -- more than 200 pages! -- that aligns with student performance standards in Washington and Alaska, and closely examines the pedagogy of go instruction. A complete set of lesson plans is also available.
One Page Summary of AGA Rules Peter Drake developed this simple summary of AGA rules for use with beginners.
Bringing Go Into the Public Schools Tips on how to establish a successful teaching program in your local school, from AGF Teacher of the Year Sasha Orr.
Improve Fast At Go Go For Kids author Milton Bradley (no relation to the game company) wrote this freely accessible workbook to help beginners make it to the SDK (single-digit kyu) range.
A Trip with Yasuda Sensei The American Go Foundation sponsored Jean DeMaiffe's 2001 trip to Japan to learn more about the "Capture Game" from its creator and observe him in action. This is her report.