Educational online games are valuable tools that can be
used to engage students in learning new concepts. Research has found that any game; including
digital games stimulate chemicals in the brain that enhances the physical act of
learning and “by requiring students to demonstrate mastery before moving to the
next level, games cultivate student persistence, an essential component of
learning.” (“More than child’s play,”) Additionally educational “video games offer
students an enjoyable way of mastering subject skills versus the monotonous
basic practice tactics and busy work.
(“How to Incorporate Educational,”)
The online educational game website Spelling City is very
versatile because you can customize the games to include words that your
students are learning in your classroom.
With most if not all online games you can’t choose which words your
students will utilize while playing a specific game. Spelling City games uses spelling word lists
that the teacher inputs into the site, each list can be named and saved. Then students log into the site either at
school or at home and choose the spelling list they are currently learning, and
then they can play any of the 14 free games or an additional 12 games that are
available with premium membership.
My content area is Early Childhood Education and at first
I thought it would be too difficult to use this educational online game site
for children as young as 4-6 years old.
After further exploration of the site I realized that there are a few
games such as Unscramble and Missing Letter that use your customized word list
for your grade level. The site also
provides ready-made word lists such as the Dolch-Sight word lists which
consists of “service words" that must be quickly
recognized in order to achieve reading fluency.
The Dolch Word List or Sight Word includes the most frequently used
words in the English language. Sight words make up 50 to 70 percent of any
general text. Therefore, teaching The Dolch Word List is a crucial goal of
education in grades kindergarten through 3.”
(from pp. 2-3, What are Dolch Words?) Additionally, there are printable resources available
through the site, such as flashcards and writing worksheets that can be used for
young children.
Students, who are 7-9 years old in grades 1st
through 3rd, will have an easier time playing and navigating the
site and should be able to utilize more of the games, such as the ones that
teach definitions and sentence building.
The students will still need to be supervised and will need guidance
until they get familiar with the games and how to access them.
The
Spelling City website also keeps records of the student’s progress, it instantly
records the students test or game scores and the teacher is able to assess individual
students or the entire class results.
This tool makes it easy for the teacher to see which words the student
needs additional help with. The games
also allow the student to progress at their own pace until they have mastered a
specific word list.
Once I receive my degree I will be able to teach
Preschool through 3rd grade. Whichever
grade level I end up teaching this website and the games and other resources available
through either the free version or the premium membership will be an excellent resource
to build essential literacy skills in my class room.
Philips, V. & Popovic, Z. (October 2012). More than child’s play: Games have potential learning and assessment
tools. Phi Delta Kappan, 94, 26-30.
http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/94/2/26.full.pdf+html?sid=fc3002b2-cf62-4d05-91e3-2dff92920d4f
Chaffin, J. (March 12, 2011). How to Incorporate Educational Technology
Games in the Classroom. Retrieved October 3, 2012 from http://www.howtolearn.com/2011/03/how-to-incorporate-educational-technology-games-in-the-classroom
Perkins, J. (n.d.). What are Dolch Words? Retrieved October 1, 2012 from http://www.mrsperkins.com/what_are_dolch_words.html
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