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Epic Fail or Win? Gamifying Learning in My Classroom

Epic Fail or Win? Gamifying Learning in My Classroom
Every week for 17 years, I've heard my students ask, "What do I need to do to get an A?" Historically, many have focused on their grade rather than on fundamental skills. My attempt to change this mindset started two years ago when I gamified learning in my classes. After researching gamification and its potential to help students master skills and processes, I used the 3DGameLab and then Gradecraft to develop and implement game-based learning. In each class, students could choose "quests" that, if completed successfully, earned them badges and experience points. Steps to Gamify Learning 1. Using gamification software alleviates the time it takes to build quests, award points, and track progress. 2. Using a gamifying management system, I modified traditional assignments into quests -- short learning activities that take 10-25 minutes to complete. 3. Associate each quest with a certain number of points relative to its level of difficulty. 4. Build choice into the gaming structure. 5. 6. Related:  Games and quizzesGamification

The Starr Spangled Planner: Kaboom! Possibly The Best Center Game Ever! Do you use Kaboom! in your classroom? It has been my go-to center for the past few years, whether I'm teaching Firsties, or now third graders. If Kaboom! When I was first introduced to this game by a dear, sweet teacher friend, I didn't believe it! Well, I was happily proved wrong! When I say that I find a way to use Kaboom! Number Identification & CountingCoins/MoneyTimeOne More/One Less and Ten More/Ten LessAddition/Subtraction (fact fluency, missing addends, combinations to ten…etc.)Greater Than/Less Than (with whole numbers and fractions)Identifying Fractions (including unit fractions & mixed fractions)Multiplication factsArea/PerimeterPlace ValueJumps on the Hundred ChartEstimation (estimating the sum of two 3-digit numbers)RoundingTranslating standard form into expanded form Defining Key Terms/VocabularyTrue/False StatementsGeographyTime Line- Which happened first? Well... 1. 2. 3. I prefer to use the wide popsicle sticks, and I love grabbing them on sale at Target! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

3D GameLab | Heroic learning, come play! Horse race dictation It is enjoyable because students are asked to predict the first word, in the same way people try to guess which horse will come first in a race, giving a strong motivation for the short but very intensive listening activity, in the form of a horse race commentary, which gives the solution. PreparationChoose a sentence and write words in random order on the left of the board, as in the example below. You also need to prepare a commentary, which should be challenging enough to make it interesting but not too difficult. In the example below there is only one major change in order, when, and other minor changes during the race. finallywaso’clockelevenhomewhenIitgot Example commentaryThey’re off! Example answer: When I finally got home it was eleven o’clock. Procedure By Simon Mumford

Alphabet Soup Game - Build words from missing letters! Begin Game! alphabet-soup con__ve!@#$@!concave;connive$%^%$p_a_t! On the screen you will see a word with two missing letters. In the first round there will be two words which can be created. The amount of time allotted per round gradually increases as you progress through the game. In each round, the game will quickly enter "hint mode," in which letters begin disappearing from the display one at a time. Your score is based on a combination of speed and accuracy. Valid words are words which are found in the Enable2K word list. Click here for more word games.

6 Factors Of Classroom Gamification 6 Factors Of Classroom Gamification by Nellie Mitchell I was 11 the year my summer camp director transformed the regular schedule, procedures, and lingo that we were used to—into the most memorable, enriching experience I had ever encountered at that point in my life. I had no idea that he had ‘gamified’ the week; I just knew that it was the best summer ever. Instead of grouping us by numbers, we were named after the Greek alphabet. We competed daily against the other groups in volleyball, softball, kickball, and on the final night —a chariot and Olympic flame opened an epic Olympic Game contest at midnight. The director, or ‘game master’ as we were inclined to call him, even made everyone reset the clocks and watches—so we never knew what the real time was, the entire schedule was set on some sort of crazy alternate schedule. Daily we played games, wrote skits, went swimming, and competed for cleanest cabins. Getting Started With Gamification 6 Factors Of Success In Gamification 1. 2. 3.

Which Word Game - Pick the right word to fit the context I * to go to a private school, but I don't any more.!@#$@! "Used to" is the correct phrase. !@#$@! "Stationery" is writing paper. ! "Alot" is not a word. ! "Veins" are what blood flows through, while "vain" is an adjective meaning "conceited." ! In most instances, "effect" is a noun, and "affect" is a verb. ! A "reel" is a part of a fishing rod, while "real" means genuine. ! "Lend" and "borrow" are opposite sides of a transaction; the person who is borrowing receives, while the person who lends is the one who gives. ! "Won" is the past tense of "win," while "one" is a singular number. ! To "shoo" is to tell or motion something or someone to go away, while a "shoe" is a piece of footwear. ! "Lone" means only one, while a "loan" is something (usually money) that has been borrowed. ! Each game consists of ten sentences with a word missing (represented by a blank line in the sentence). This game is similar to Proof It! Click here for more games.

Proof It! - A Fun Proofreading Game at Portland Proof Begin Game! proof-it The speaker called out, "/Ladys/Ladies/, choose your partner for the next dance!"!@#$@! Every quiz consists of ten sentences, which will appear one at a time on the screen. The mistake might be a misspelled word, an incorrect punctuation mark, an improperly used word, or a capitalization error. The mistake might also be a missing word, or a missing punctuation mark. If your selection is incorrect, the word will turn red, and a message will appear telling you that your selection is incorrect. If your selection is correct, the word will turn green. In the text box, type the correct word or punctuation mark, and then either click "Submit" or press "Enter" on your keyboard. If you are correct, the next sentence will be displayed. Skipping Questions If at any time you cannot figure out the error in a sentence, you may click the "Skip" button. Scoring Your score will be based on two factors: the number of mistakes you make, and the amount of time it takes to solve each problem.

How Games Naturally Promote A Growth Mindset How Games Naturally Promote A Growth Mindset by Mary Wissinger Let’s face it: our students are playing games. In a growth mindset, there are larger factors than the outcome. With a game, kids already expect a learning curve. We can bridge this gap by incorporating games that allow practice of educational concepts, such as word games or logic puzzles. The Challenges Of A Fixed Mindset To a student locked in a fixed mindset, every school task either keeps them on track, or derails their dreams. Games give students a chance to practice saying yet. It’s tough, though, for students to persist when they get a low grade or see themselves repeatedly not meeting the objectives of a unit. The true beauty of a game is that, like a growth mindset, the outcome is never fixed. Mary Wissinger is a writer, educator and Creativity Coach found at Chin Up Heat Open.

ESL Warm-up Games and Activities Divide the students into 2 teams. Have 2 desks at the front of the class, facing each other, with an eraser in the middle of the 2 desks. One student from each team comes and sits in the hot seat. Rotate through so that all the students get a chance to play. You then ask a question of some sort. This week in class, we're studying "When I _________, I ______/ I __________when I ________. So, I would say something like, "When I feel happy, I _________." And of course, to make it even more exciting or if one team is behind by a lot of points, have a "Bonus Round," where the teams pick their best 3 players and each question is worth 2 or 3 points, or something like that. Finding the game-like challenge!* *With minimal preparation involved… Following a recent Friday workshop on teaching teenagers, in which, amongst other things, we discussed the difference between playing games for the sake of playing games and adding a game-like challenge into the activities we do in class, I have been thinking about different ways we can do this, without spending heaps of extra time on preparation. Here are some of the ideas I’ve come up with: 1. Board it and collaborate Instead of (or as well as/before) having learners complete a table in their books, individually, why not put them in teams, put the table on the board and get them to race to complete the table accurately: Linking words with teenagers Here is an example from a teenager class of mine, looking at linking words in a writing lesson. 2. The age-old game of bingo can be used to liven up writing activities, as Sandy explains here or speaking activities, as I describe here. Bingo with L9 3. 60 seconds…starting now! 4. Kinaesthetic to the max! 5.

Game-Based Learning: What it is, Why it Works, and Where it's Going Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. –William Butler Yeats Introduction Deconstruct the fun in any good game, and it becomes clear that what makes it enjoyable is the built-in learning process. To progress in a game is to learn; when we are actively engaged with a game, our minds are experiencing the pleasure of grappling with (and coming to understand) a new system. This is true whether the game is considered “entertainment” (e.g., World of Warcraft) or “serious” (e.g., an FAA-approved flight simulator). The implications of delivering game experiences for education and training are enormous. Because of good game design, more than 11 million subscribers spend an average of 23 hours per week immersed in World of Warcraft. What is Effective Game-based Learning, and Why Does it Work? When education or training feels dull, we are not being engaged and motivated. Game-based Learning vs. Fig. 1: Comparison of Traditional Training, Hands-on, and Game-based Learning

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