The final game I played for this blog is called Paralaughs. It's on the ever-profilic Mr. Nussbaum site which is filled with games for all types of subjects and ages.
http://www.mrnussbaum.com/paralaughsindex.htm
Curriculum Connection: Students in 4th grade are expected to identify parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns.
Game Overview: Paralaughs is basically Mad Libs on line. Students choose a topic. I chose Mammals. Then, a list of parts of speech are given and the player gives a word for each part of speech. After the list is complete, the player hits Submit. The words the player gave are incorporated into a story or paragraph to varying degrees of humor depending on how silly/grotesque the words are. My students would enjoy this as a diversion in class, though there is no way to guarantee that they will actually supply words that are the correct parts of speech. Since the paragraph doesn't make sense anyway, I don't think they'd realize if they had made a mistake.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Multimeaning Words
Multimeaning Words
http://www.smarttutor.com/home/lessons/Vocabulary_MMWords_L1_V1_T4a.swf
Curriculum Connection: Students in 4th grade are expected to use context clues to show the difference between homonyms.
Game Overview: In this activity, students watch a tutorial with a cartoon pilot teaching 2 boys about multimeaning words. Then, the students read two sets of definitions and choose the multimeaning word that match the definitions. Each correct answer earns the player a "ticket." Once they've completed the activity, they play a game. The game I played involved using the mouse to make a cartoon girl run to catch water balloons. The more tickets you have, the longer the game goes. While the description sounds pretty fun, in actuality, it was a pretty weird experience. From the pilot tutorial to the primitive feeling balloon game, I don't think my students would be highly engaged and I don't feel like the educational content was strong enough to overcome these drawbacks.
http://www.smarttutor.com/home/lessons/Vocabulary_MMWords_L1_V1_T4a.swf
Curriculum Connection: Students in 4th grade are expected to use context clues to show the difference between homonyms.
Game Overview: In this activity, students watch a tutorial with a cartoon pilot teaching 2 boys about multimeaning words. Then, the students read two sets of definitions and choose the multimeaning word that match the definitions. Each correct answer earns the player a "ticket." Once they've completed the activity, they play a game. The game I played involved using the mouse to make a cartoon girl run to catch water balloons. The more tickets you have, the longer the game goes. While the description sounds pretty fun, in actuality, it was a pretty weird experience. From the pilot tutorial to the primitive feeling balloon game, I don't think my students would be highly engaged and I don't feel like the educational content was strong enough to overcome these drawbacks.
Construct a Word
I just played "Construct a Word."
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/construct/index.html
Curriculum Connection: Students are expected to know how to use consonant blends and word parts to encode words correctly.
Game Overview: In "Construct a Word," students choose a word ending and then click on word beginnings (both single consonants and digraphs) to put as many words as possible into a word bank. This game would be effective and engaging for my students who struggle with phonics, but in general, this game is probably too simplistic for most of my 4th graders. I imagine teachers in 1st or 2nd grade might find this game appropriate for their classes.
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/construct/index.html
Curriculum Connection: Students are expected to know how to use consonant blends and word parts to encode words correctly.
Game Overview: In "Construct a Word," students choose a word ending and then click on word beginnings (both single consonants and digraphs) to put as many words as possible into a word bank. This game would be effective and engaging for my students who struggle with phonics, but in general, this game is probably too simplistic for most of my 4th graders. I imagine teachers in 1st or 2nd grade might find this game appropriate for their classes.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Look Out Below!
I just played Look Out Below!
http://pbskids.org/lions/cornerstones/joseph/games/lookout.html
Curriculum Connection: Students are expected to recognize phonemes when decoding.
Game Overview: In Look Out Below, a large word is displayed. Three choices of small words are given and the player chooses the small word that contains all letters that can be found in the big word. It seemed like it would be simple, but it was surprisingly challenging. I think my 4th graders would enjoy it even though it doesn't have a lot of curricular connection. I think it will still get my students to think creatively and flexibly about word parts. Also, the game is bright and colorful and fun to listen to because a little marionette-like character hosts the game.
http://pbskids.org/lions/cornerstones/joseph/games/lookout.html
Curriculum Connection: Students are expected to recognize phonemes when decoding.
Game Overview: In Look Out Below, a large word is displayed. Three choices of small words are given and the player chooses the small word that contains all letters that can be found in the big word. It seemed like it would be simple, but it was surprisingly challenging. I think my 4th graders would enjoy it even though it doesn't have a lot of curricular connection. I think it will still get my students to think creatively and flexibly about word parts. Also, the game is bright and colorful and fun to listen to because a little marionette-like character hosts the game.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Alien Hangman
I also played Alien Hangman tonight.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2literacy.html#alienhangman
Curriculum Connection: Though there isn't a lot in the current state curriculum related to spelling, there certainly will be in the Common Core Writing Standards that will be in place within the next few years in Baltimore County.
Game Overview: This is basically just like hangman, except less graphically disturbing as nobody is hanged at the end of this game. Instead you choose from letters and if you choose incorrectly, the body part of an alien appears. Once the entire alien is corporeal, the game is over. Sounds simple, but this was actually the hardest game of hangman I've ever played. You only get 5 chances and no category is given to give you an idea of what type of word you're guessing. All three of the words I worked on had only one vowel in them, so by the time I got finished guessing all of the vowels in standard hangman strategy, my alien was almost fully formed! I was very engaged and kept playing until I finally won. I will probably start playing this in my spare time, and I'm excited to add it to my Favorites in my classroom. It's curricular connections are less obvious, but I believe that wordplay is an important way to excite students about language.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2literacy.html#alienhangman
Curriculum Connection: Though there isn't a lot in the current state curriculum related to spelling, there certainly will be in the Common Core Writing Standards that will be in place within the next few years in Baltimore County.
Game Overview: This is basically just like hangman, except less graphically disturbing as nobody is hanged at the end of this game. Instead you choose from letters and if you choose incorrectly, the body part of an alien appears. Once the entire alien is corporeal, the game is over. Sounds simple, but this was actually the hardest game of hangman I've ever played. You only get 5 chances and no category is given to give you an idea of what type of word you're guessing. All three of the words I worked on had only one vowel in them, so by the time I got finished guessing all of the vowels in standard hangman strategy, my alien was almost fully formed! I was very engaged and kept playing until I finally won. I will probably start playing this in my spare time, and I'm excited to add it to my Favorites in my classroom. It's curricular connections are less obvious, but I believe that wordplay is an important way to excite students about language.
Prefixes Say Plenty
The first game I played tonight was on prefixes.
http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/vocabulary.cfm?str=vocabulary&num=1&act=1
Curriculum Connection: In 4th grade, students are expected to use knowledge of word parts, like prefixes, suffixes, base words, and root words to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Game Overview: This game was embedded within a lesson on prefixes. It was definitely a higher level of vocabulary than most of the websites that I've seen. There were 3 activities to the lesson. In the first activity, players type in the meaning of a prefix by using the context of a sentence to determine the definition. A word bank is offered. In the second activity, players drag prefixes from a central bank into blanks embedded in sentences. In the final activity, players choose between 2 possible meanings of a prefix. Though this isn't the most attractive or engaging game, the content is excellent. I will definitely use this website as a station in my classroom. In fact, I'm considering using at as a whole group lesson with the laptop cart.
http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/vocabulary.cfm?str=vocabulary&num=1&act=1
Curriculum Connection: In 4th grade, students are expected to use knowledge of word parts, like prefixes, suffixes, base words, and root words to determine the meaning of unknown words.
Game Overview: This game was embedded within a lesson on prefixes. It was definitely a higher level of vocabulary than most of the websites that I've seen. There were 3 activities to the lesson. In the first activity, players type in the meaning of a prefix by using the context of a sentence to determine the definition. A word bank is offered. In the second activity, players drag prefixes from a central bank into blanks embedded in sentences. In the final activity, players choose between 2 possible meanings of a prefix. Though this isn't the most attractive or engaging game, the content is excellent. I will definitely use this website as a station in my classroom. In fact, I'm considering using at as a whole group lesson with the laptop cart.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Whack-a-Mole
I just played a version of Whack-a-Mole at http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/wam/wam.htm
Curriculum Connection: This game connects to younger curricula (Kindergarten and 1st grade). It reinforces learning the alphabet and letter recognition.
Game Overview: Basically, moles pop out of holes in the ground holding a sign with a letter on it. Players must whack moles with their mallets in alphabetical order, waiting for the next letter to pop up amid incorrect popping letters. While this game doesn't require any higher level thinking and I don't think is particularly academically appropriate for my 4th grade classroom, it was pretty fun to whack moles over the head with a mallet.
Curriculum Connection: This game connects to younger curricula (Kindergarten and 1st grade). It reinforces learning the alphabet and letter recognition.
Game Overview: Basically, moles pop out of holes in the ground holding a sign with a letter on it. Players must whack moles with their mallets in alphabetical order, waiting for the next letter to pop up amid incorrect popping letters. While this game doesn't require any higher level thinking and I don't think is particularly academically appropriate for my 4th grade classroom, it was pretty fun to whack moles over the head with a mallet.
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