Game Based Learning Articles from Edutopia

Okay - a bit of a hiccup to the start of Term 2 - nothing is ever meant to be easy but let's get this back on track again.  

Below are some links from Edutopia - mainly about Game-Based Learning.  As I am not a teacher, I have no idea of how useful these could be, but I am just tossing it out there for you on the off chance that there may be something that you can use. It is a US based site and probably a 'slightly' different clientele than ours, but you never know – there may be a small gem you can use or adapt for your needs.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/10-free-financial-literacy-games-high-school-students

https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-gamification-increase-engagement-during-hybrid-learning

https://www.edutopia.org/article/game-based-learning-middle-school-math

https://www.edutopia.org/article/turning-math-game

https://www.edutopia.org/article/does-our-natural-affinity-games-have-place-classroom

https://www.edutopia.org/article/when-implementing-games-your-classroom-dont-forget-about-chess

https://www.edutopia.org/article/coding-across-curriculum

Edutopia Articles that may be of interest

 Below are a few weblinks from the Edutopia website, that could be of some use for you all - and if you check the site out, you may find lots more for your interest.  

https://www.edutopia.org/article/strategy-exploring-student-creativity-collaboratively

https://www.edutopia.org/article/school-wide-focus-choice-reading

https://www.edutopia.org/article/10-new-focused-attention-practices

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-find-games-classroom-learning

https://www.edutopia.org/article/game-based-learning-middle-school-math

https://www.edutopia.org/article/does-our-natural-affinity-games-have-place-classroom

https://www.edutopia.org/article/coding-across-curriculum

I hope that you get something from these articles - and the home site for Edutopia is:

https://www.edutopia.org/

Enjoy the upcoming weekend - and carry on being your awesome selves! 

Infotopia Weblinks

Infotopia is an academic search engine providing trusted websites that have been previously selected by both Librarians and teachers for use by teachers and with students.  

As you would expect from something put together by Library professionals,  it covers a huge variety of subjects and areas, possibly making it one of the better sites for providing resources in schools and at home.

Below are a couple of links I have taken from the site for you to have a browse though and see what you think.

http://www.infotopia.info/

http://www.infotopia.info/citations.html

http://www.infotopia.info/games_educational.html

http://www.infotopia.info/mathematics.html

Games Day in the Library

On Friday we ran with the theme of International Games Day in the Library, which is an activity promoted by ALIA. (Australian Library and Information Association)   Various board games were set out, especially the ever popular Connect 4, along with Pick Up Sticks and Chess.
  
There were also a variety of Minute to Win It Challenges happening during recess and lunch as well, which were very popular with the students.... or maybe it was the M&Ms contest and eating them that was the highlight?

 Kalheel currently holds most of the top scores, successfully defending his title against all comers.  He came back when the lunch bell rang to go back to class, concerned in case he had been toppled off his perch, and was very happy to be assured that he was still top dog.


A couple of the boys challenged Mr Marday to a game of chess - so he took them both on at the  same time.  Very impressive!
 
On asking the students for feedback, it seems they all had fun, and would like to see more of that type of thing happening in the Library -so something to plan for - although maybe not everyday as was requested.  And nobody appeared all that upset that the computers were off-limits for the day, so bonus!  

A very enjoyable day for all involved it seems.  My thanks to the teachers who came in and helped supervise, and challenged the kids to some of the activities.

Links for NLNW Activities

Just as a quick follow up to my post about National Literacy and Numeracy Week, please find a couple of links below with online games and activities that you may be able to use in your class.

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/students/events/pages/litnumweekchildren.aspx

http://missreynolds1234.blogspot.com.au/

Hope this helps in some way.

Weblinks

Just a few weblinks that may be of interest to staff.  There is probably (definitely) a bias on the subject of QR Codes, but that is mainly because I find them a really good hook to get kids involved. It has worked really well here in the Library and also in scavenger hunts for Guides. (A useful way of using those phones they are always attached to)

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/links-literacy.html   
(Activities and games with a literacy theme)

http://www.edudemic.com/7-fun-ways-to-use-qr-codes-in-education/  
(Pretty much as the title says)

http://www.fractuslearning.com/2012/02/20/qr-codes-in-education/  
(Ideas for using QR codes in classrooms)

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/213921051020118190/
(A Pinterest board with lots of QR Code ideas for use in an educational setting)

https://www.spectronicsinoz.com/blog/apps-and-mobile-learning/qr-codes-what-are-they-and-how-can-i-use-them-in-my-classroom/
(General article about the use of QR codes in teaching and learning)

Play games to feed the hungry

www.freerice.com

 Check out the link above to the Freerice website. Freerice is a website where the users play a variety of educational multiple-choice games and help to fight world hunger while doing so. For each question that you answer correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated.  The categories include English vocabulary, multiplication tables, chemical symbols, English grammar, geography, art and literature.

As you answer questions, your total score is displayed as a mound of rice and the amount.

I think that one of the best parts of the game is that it is self-levelling so everyone has an even playing field. If you get a series of questions right, you will move up a level, get them wrong and move down a level.  It doesn’t change the scores you can get, or the amount of rice that is donated according to your score.  It just provides you with questions at a level that suits you and as your knowledge improves, up the levels go.

This would be a good game to play in class – whether Maths, English, Science or SOSE. Divide the class into groups and have a challenge to see who can donate the most rice – maybe have a small prize for the winning team as an extra incentive?  I have run this in the Library for classes and challenged them to beat my score.  Once they realised that the levels adjusted to suit them – it was ON!  And yes – by the end of 20 mins, I was soundly beaten – it was brilliant to watch.

Check out the FAQ on the Freerice website to get an idea of how much is donated each year/day and where it all goes.

The game does come with a warning on the website that people should read and is something to be aware of.  It says........

WARNING:  This game may make you smarter.  It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, and your grades.

Of course the question may arise as to how true this is – does rice REALLY get donated to people who need it just by playing a game on the web?

Check out the following link.  Snopes is a type of ‘mythbuster’ for the Internet and ferrets out the truth from the fiction in all the ‘stuff’ that is out there.  This could be a good site to introduce to the students so that they can check and evaluate websites and information.

http://www.snopes.com

Have a play with these sites and see what you think.