Game Playing

Everyone knows that games are more fun. More fun than work. More fun than practice. But the great thing is, great games are work. Great games are practice. So, the question is, how do we find those great games?

In Sharon we use two curricula in elementary and middle school: Everyday Math and Prentice Hall. On their website, Everyday Math says, "The curriculum has a wide variety of fact practice games. Because children find these games much more engaging than standard drill exercises, they are willing and eager to spend more time practicing their basic facts."

(http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/faq),

The Pearson website goes on better: they have teamed up with Tabula Digita to create video games involving math. "Research shows that when kids learn in an engaging, motivating environment with research-based, standards-aligned curriculum, their test scores soar," said Mike Evans, Pearson's senior vice president for mathematics. "What better way to engage young learners than with the video games that they love customized to teach the critical math concepts that they will need to be successful in our 21st century economy"

(http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZdFe)

When looking for online games, you will find that there is a wealth of resources. However, just because a game is good and effective, it may still not be what you need. If you truly wish to provide games so that the students may practice every concept and skill, then you will have to create your own.

I have found the place to do just that: Quia.com. Here you will find hundreds of games created by math teachers from around the world. You can sign up for a 30 day free trial, but if you wish to keep your games available, A one-year individual subscription to Quia costs only $49." Not only can you use the games created by others, you can copy them to your account then make any revisions, changes, or modifications that you wish, then save it as a new game.

( http://www.quia.com/shared/math/ )

In this way you can tailor each game to meet the needs of your students. Need a game to practice division with remainders? Can't find one? Make it! Need a game for identifying properties such as the associative or distributive? No luck? Make it! Anything and everything is now possible!And, once you have made a game, it will always be available: you can even share it with others on the web, adding to the wealth.

How great is that?!

They have 16 options available, you just make up the questions and answers and --Voila!-- you have a game!

• Create 16 types of games and learning activities (as well as many formats for quizes):
• Matching game
• Flash cards
• Concentration game
• Word search puzzle
• Battleship
• Challenge board
• Columns activity
• Hangman game
• Jumbled words
• Ordered list activity
• Picture perfect activity
• Pop-ups
• Rags-to-riches game
• Scavenger hunt
• Cloze activity
• Patterns
• Create quizzes with 10 types of questions:
• Multiple choice
• True-false
• Pop-up
• Multiple correct
• Fill-in
• Initial answer
• Short answer
• Essay
• Matching
• Ordering

I really recommend that you try it out. Let me know what you think, and, if you know of a better website or software program to make your own games, please let me know.