New Wisconsin-History Video Game

After collaborating with educators and students from across Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) Education has released a new online video game, Jo Wilder and the Capitol Case, that encourages students to experience history as they discover it for themselves. The game is now available to play online for free at WPTeducation.org.

Jo Wilder and the Capitol Case, set in and around the Wisconsin State Capitol, assists educators in teaching history while engaging students as “history detectives” to immerse them in the action. Designed to address Wisconsin Academic Standards for grades three through five in social studies, English language arts and information and technology literacy, players use detective skills to solve mysteries about real artifacts from Wisconsin’s history and use evidence to prove their discoveries.

As the plot unfolds, players discover primary source materials. Then, like real historians, players engage in investigation, identification, corroboration and contextualization of evidence with their primary sources. To win each challenge, players must summarize the evidence and argue their case.

“The experience of having a window into the game production process has been incredible for my students,” said Mike Scoville, K-12 Library Media Specialist at Gibraltar Elementary School. “As we play-tested each version, we saw how WPT and Field Day incorporated students’ suggestions into the game.”