An Intro to Game-Based Learning Resources: Elementary and Middle School

If you read my blog from last week, hopefully I’ve piqued your curiosity a bit about what types of educational games are readily available for public use.  Researching educational games quickly became overwhelming when I realized how many there out there—literally thousands.  Sometimes, having an overabundance of resources can be just as ineffective as a shortage if you don’t know how to sift through them to find ones that you can actually use.

After a few hours of scrolling around on the internet and clicking on link after link, I’ve been able to narrow my quest for games down to a few reliable sites that I would recommend.  In this week’s post, I’m going to focus on sites that are designed for elementary and middle schoolers (I’ll cover high school next week).  This list is certainly not exhaustive and I am sure that I will amend it in the future, but will it will provide you with an effective starting point for introducing your kids to game-based learning.

1.  http://pbskids.org/http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/76/PBS_Kids_Logo.svg/150px-PBS_Kids_Logo.svg.png

I trust this website because of its source.  The majority of Americans are familiar with PBS and the various educational shows that it offers children.  PBS has earned a trusted reputation in the American family, and it has always provided quality resources.  Moving from musical cartoon shows and documentaries to educational games is hardly a leap—the games on the site look great!

The site is really easy to navigate and is displayed in an aesthetically pleasing way designed for children in grades k-8.  Intriguing games that I found included, “Feel the Music,” a music composition game, “Vegetable Planting,” which teaches about gardening, “Miguel’s Sketchpad,” for art skills, and “Weather Wheel,” to teach students about meteorology.  Many of its games include familiar characters, which is great for getting kids to buy in!

2http://www.newportlibraryri.org/npl/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Fun-Brain.jpg. http://www.funbrain.com/

The two main educational themes on this site are math and reading—which we all know are essential skills for success in school.  The games are functional but simplistic, and the site is very colorful and whimsical.  The games on this site are designed for grades 1-8, but I think that they would be best suited for younger kids.

3. http://www.arcademics.com/http://www.level-up-games.co.in/images/arcademic.gif

The visuals on this site are very colorful and cartoon-like, and the games are designed for students in grades 1-6.   You can select games for a variety of elementary subjects (anything from geography to spelling) and there’s also a game that teaches children how to type.  Additionally, you can pay for a data-tracking feature that will give you insight into how these games are impacting your children’s skill levels.  Titles include “Verb Viper,” “Sailboat Subtraction,” “Tugboat Addition,” and “Word Frog.”

4. http://www.jumpstart.com/parents/games/educational-gameshttp://www.smartkidssoftware.com/Images/headimage/jumpstart.jpg

The games on jumpstart.com are for grades k-8, and they are adventure-based learning games sorted by grade level.  Adventure-based games are typically more complex games that involve more choice on the user’s part and a robust world.  They are great for kids who get bored easily by simple games and need more stimulation to keep them engaged.

Examples of games on jumpstart.com include “Madagascar: Math Ops,” a game based off of the Movie characters, and “Pet Rescue,” which is designed to teach critical thinking, reading comprehension, and listening skills all at once.

5. http://www.sporcle.com/games/tags/sat

Many of my teacher friends use this site for times when the lesson plan goes by a little more quickly than planned or even just for planned test review.  Sporcle games are pretty simple—they involve listing items in a category while being timed.  Before writing this, I just completed one that was on the 50 states.  Once I wrote in a state name, it appeared on the blank map below until I had done all of them.  Despite this simplicity, kids from all backgrounds and of all ages really get into it (the classroom can get VERY lively if you don’t watch out) and it can really help them with studying.  They tend to get excited every time they shave a few seconds off of their time, especially if it means that they beat their friend’s time.

Sporcle has games in every content area and for most topics that you can think of.  The games don’t help with critical thinking as much, but they are a great tool for memorization and fluency.  Users can create their own games, which can be very useful when you are preparing for a quiz.

Stay tuned for more posts about Game-Based Learning.  This week, I’ll be researching game-based learning options for high schoolers, including games designed for ACT and SAT prep.  I’ll let you know what I find!

Interested in finding games designed for a specific need?  Comment on this post and I’ll see what I can do for you!