BP3_2010031 Web2.0Tool1 (Game Classroom)

http://www.go2web20.net/app/?a=GameClassroom


I love this site.

Kids will have fun spending time on this site. Game Classroom offers games that aim to both entertain and educate. You’ll find games for kids from kindergarten through the 6th grade covering subjects from grammar to math.

I can direct my pre-kindergarten students during center time for those who are in the computer center to visit this site and play the games about “Connect the letters”. This game will connect the letters to make a picture with this fun alphabet game. They can learn to recognize both letters and letter sounds.

For my kindergarten students since we have both in a split class (8 kinder and 15 pre-kindergarten, and 2 special education students), they can play ABC Order, Count Your Chickens, Mr. E’s Matching Game, Number Train, Rats, and TimeWorks.

There are other games that are classified on different grade level but there is no harm in trying to introduce it to them if they can do it.

If you want to be a member, you have to pay $39.95 per year to get unlimited access to the latest interactive learning tools, games and activities. There is a 10-day trial as well.

“The European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA, 2006) has produced a report on games and education with support from the Department for Education and Skills; Unlimited Learning: computer and video games in the learning landscape suggests that computer games offer the potential for learners to enjoy fully personalized learning experiences and opportunities for personal growth. It proposes positioning games in the classroom on three grounds: (1) as motivational stimuli for learning; (2) as enabling social development and promoting basic skills; and (3) as means of removing the barriers to learning for hard-to-reach young people” (Williamson, 2007, pp. 99-100).

Other software like Clicker 5 can reinforce the learning of these students from games.

“The rapid rise in the breadth and depth of educational technology, including computer software, is offering early childhood education professionals new and powerful tools in teaching early literacy” (Parette, Hourcade, Dinelli, & Boeckmann, 2009, p.355).

References:

Parette, H., Hourcade, J., Dinelli, J., & Boeckmann, N. (2009). Using Clicker 5 to
Enhance Emergent Literacy in Young Learners. Early Childhood Education

Journal, 36(4), 355-363. doi:10.1007/s10643-008-0288-6.


The Game Classroom image is from http://www.go2web20.net/app/?a=GameClassroom


Williamson, B. (2007). Viewpoints: Teaching and learning with games? Learning, Media, &

Technology, 32(1), 99-105. doi:10.1080/17439880601141492.