Thursday, October 9, 2008
Ben's Guide
One of my favorite educational websites is Ben Franklin's Guide to U.S. Government for kids. This site provides many interactive games for students. The games are also categorized into age groups. The K-2 activities include coloring books, connect the dots, place the state, and maze games. The games for 3rd through 5th grade includes games that have to do with important documents, the government, etc. The website even goes on to add activities up to 12th grade. I personally enjoy place the state. This game is where students drag the American state onto its position on the map. It is a great way for students to study for a map quiz. I highly recommend checking this website out!
Sample Integrations
I am going to give some examples on how to integrate educational games into each subject just by using funbrain.com
Language Arts: If teaching students about different parts of speech, there is a fun game that is called pre-historic mad libs where students make their own story by entering nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Students could have fun making silly stories while learning their parts of speech.
Math: If teaching basic math skills to students, Math Baseball, is a fun game for students to play. The pitch, or the question, is thrown and then the students have to enter the answer and the game decides if the hit is a single, double, triple, or home-run!
Science: When doing a weather unit, funbrain.com has a game called Weather Dog. The dog is looking out for bad weather. A sentence is given to the player, and he/she needs to fill in the blank with a weather word.
These are just three games out of a million that teachers can use in their lessons!
Language Arts: If teaching students about different parts of speech, there is a fun game that is called pre-historic mad libs where students make their own story by entering nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Students could have fun making silly stories while learning their parts of speech.
Math: If teaching basic math skills to students, Math Baseball, is a fun game for students to play. The pitch, or the question, is thrown and then the students have to enter the answer and the game decides if the hit is a single, double, triple, or home-run!
Science: When doing a weather unit, funbrain.com has a game called Weather Dog. The dog is looking out for bad weather. A sentence is given to the player, and he/she needs to fill in the blank with a weather word.
These are just three games out of a million that teachers can use in their lessons!
Impact of Educational Games
After doing some reading, I have found a lot of information stating that educational games are great for students. Students do not realize exactly what they are learning. For example, if a student needs help with their math, then they can play an educational game that is centered around math and get practice in their weak areas. Also, evidence states that games help students develop skills, abilities, and strategies. In addition, educational games enhance motor development, intellectual development, affective development, and social development. Some negative aspects of educational games is that there might not be enought time to fit it in the lesson. Also, the amount of computers availble might prevent teachers from being able to integrate educational games into their lessons.
This is the article that I read and gathered information from:
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_7/xyzgros/
This is the article that I read and gathered information from:
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_7/xyzgros/
Educational Games
The title of my blog is Educational Games. The purpose of my blog is to provide viewers with helpful information about educational games that could be used in the classroom. My name is Jenna, and I am a student at Western Illinois University majoring in Elementary Education. This blog is being created for my own reference, but also for current teachers, elementary education majors, or anyone who wants to look! Here are five websites that are based on educational games. Each site has an abundance of games for the students to play and enhance their educational skills!
1. Fun Brain: www.funbrain.com
2. Edu Games: http://www.eduplace.com/edugames.html
3. Fun School: http://funschool.kaboose.com
4. Game Goo: http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/gooey.html
5. iKnowThat: http://www.iknowthat.com/com
Please feel free to leave some comments! I would love to hear how you liked the educational games, or if you have anymore to add to the list!
1. Fun Brain: www.funbrain.com
2. Edu Games: http://www.eduplace.com/edugames.html
3. Fun School: http://funschool.kaboose.com
4. Game Goo: http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/gooey.html
5. iKnowThat: http://www.iknowthat.com/com
Please feel free to leave some comments! I would love to hear how you liked the educational games, or if you have anymore to add to the list!
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