New Kickstarter 'World of Classcraft' Lets Students Unlock Real-World Powers Video games in the classroom are becoming a popular way to integrate game-based learning into curricula. But Shawn Young of Sherbrooke, Canada has taken it one step further and actually built his own education version of World of Warcraft. He put his own spin on the extremely popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) and dubbed it ‘ World of Classcraft .’ Shawn emailed Edudemic to alert us to this idea and we’re glad he did. It’s a fantastic idea and lets students benefit from the lessons of World of Warcraft but in a safer, education-friendly environment. The World of Classcraft has gotten quite a bit of buzz over the past few months (mentioned by the BBC!) If You’ve Never Heard of World of Warcraft So what is World of Warcraft? What Is World of Classcraft? Lucky for you, Shawn is running a Kickstarter campaign right now and describes the game in a bit more detail than I could: The basic mechanics of the game are simple. During every class, a random event occurs.
5 Useful iPad Apps For ESL Students Getting the hang of a new language is tough. As someone attempting to re-learn French, I can say this without absolute certainty. Lucky for students like myself, technology is a huge help. It makes it easier to hear a native speaker ‘pronounce’ something for you. It lets you Skype with people in the country whose language you’re attempting to master. When you’re talking about language learning here in the U.S., you’re talking about ESL most of the time. WordBook XL – English Dictionary & Thesaurus for iPad – This one is by far one of the most elaborate apps for iPad available. Sentence Builder for iPad – One of the most popular ESL iPad apps available, Sentence Builder is best for younger students (elementary school, mostly) who want to be challenged with grammar and vocabulary. Intro to Letters – Another useful one for younger students, Intro to Letters is probably the simplest but effective methods of learning English. Hello-Hello English – This app-app is great!
Mobile 1Twenty QuestionsDo you remember car trips as a child playing twenty questions in the back seat? You think of a person or object and your siblings have twenty opportunities to ask yes/no questions to determine what object you are thinking of. This is an easy and short activity for you to do with your ESL class when you have a few minutes to spare. The first time you play, your students will need specific direction as to the types of questions to ask. You should help them understand how to ask strategic questions to identify the object. Make the most of the minutes by using one of these engaging and entertaining time filling techniques.
Running Dictation I’m sure you all have at least some kind of experience with dictations in the classroom. Most of the time, dictations are considered boring and can get really frustrating for students, especially if they are still learning how to write in their L1. Here is an idea for practicing dictations and making them less painful. Running dictation is a type of dictation in which your students are responsible for it from the start. They should work in pairs and it goes like this: You should come up with a story that you will write on a piece of paper and hang it onto the wall in your classroom. It’s best to give them a story in form of a riddle or something similar because then if someone is done before the others, you can tell them to try and solve it (matter of discipline in the classroom). Here are some links with stories that can be used for a running dictation. How do you get along with dictations?
ESL Games for the Classroom Alphabet Shout Out Randomly choose an alphabet flashcard and award a point to the first student who shouts out a word beginning with that letter. Alphabet Writing Relay Divide and line up the students into two teams. Divide the board into two halves and have one student from each team run to the board, write 'A', then run to the back of the line. Alphabet Erase relay As 'Alphabet Writing Relay', but this time, write the alphabet on each half of the board and have each team race to erase the letters in order. Alphabet Sculptures Divide the students into teams and call out a letter of the alphabet. Alphabet Soup Give each student an alphabet flashcard and have them skip around the room to the 'ABC Song'. Alphabet Touch Call out letters and have the students find and touch them in the classroom, on posters, etc. Alphabet Wave Give each student a few ordered alphabet flashcards and play the 'ABC Song'. Animal Crackers Take a big dice and assign an animal to each number.
Logic Riddles and Answers A riddle is a statement that has a secret meaning - your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to crack the puzzle and find that meaning. Let's start with an easy one - answer this. Brothers and sisters I have none but this man's father is my father's son. Who is the man? This funny riddle often amuses both teens and adults. If "Display Answer" button does not display the answer, then please disable any adblocker extensions in your internet browser or open this page in another browser - eg. Good Riddle What is greater than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, you'll die? Nothing. Hard Riddle Who makes it, has no need of it. Easy Riddle What can travel around the world while staying in a corner? Fun Quiz During these challenging times facing coronavirus when we all have to stay home, we would like to keep you entertained while we all learn also something new. Key Player What has many keys but can't open a single lock? Runner Bud Reverse Even 1.
Games Crossword GameJust like an old-fashioned word search! Using the mouse and the wordlist, find and highlight the hidden English words in the box! As the levels get harder, the words start appearing in different orientations. But hurry, the clock is running! Quizzes Based On VOA Programs There are 102 multiple-choice quizzes. Other VOA Sections: America - History - Mosaic - People - Places - Quizzes - Studying - Words - RSS - More Quiz yourself on English grammar and vocabulary while reading scripts from VOA Special English.Not only can you practice English, but you can learn many interesting things while doing so. Games with Words These are games and quizzes by Charles Kelly that use words from the VOA Special English Word Book. Other Things
ESL TREASURE: Games & Activities Back and forthDivide students into two teams. Get a student from each team to stand up. You set the category i.e. days of the week or fruit etc. The students must say one word then the next student quickly says another related word. When one of them breaks the order (A: Monday B: Tuesday A: Wednesday B: Saturday), takes more than 5 seconds to respond or says an irrelevant word to the category they lose. BingoGive each student a blank sheet of paper. Chair SwapMake one student stand up and turn their chair around so that nobody can sit on it. CharadesBring a student to the front of the class. Concentration Use two copies of the flashcard set. Concentration wordsMake a set of word only cards and do a copy. Crossing the lakeDraw a big lake on the floor. Fast flashcard collectingReveal flashcards to the class one by one. Flashcard Show downTwo students are back to back holding one flashcard each in the centre of the room. Four cornersPut a flashcard in each corner of the room .
77 Educational Games and Game Builders I'm often asked if I know of any games for subject "x," "y," or "z" for a particular grade level or age group. My answer is usually yes, but I need to search my archives. Therefore, I've gone through my archives and dug up many of games that I've mentioned over the last four years that are still active online. Consider this my humongous list of educational games. 1. 2.Spin and Spell has been featured on a number of blogs over the last year. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. the World Food Programme's website offers students a large selection of educational online games and activities. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56.