Final Project
Overview
Kids are naturally playful. They enjoy playing games, thus incorporating such in the lessons could help a lot in teaching. Also, including a lot of visuals in these games, such as putting vibrant colours, illustrations, and fonts, is an effective way to extend the attention span.
Language Assistant Shelly’s House of Games aims to put fun and excitement in the lessons. These games are very educational, which cover topics or lessons taught in English and Sciences (Social and Natural). The target pupils are 1st and 2nd grade students, who are pupils I’ve been familiar with for the past months as a language assistant in CEIP Marqués de Leganés.
In this final project, I designed four educational games that can be used by 1st and 2nd grade students. It covers the English and Science topics. To play each game online, click each game. To play it offline, click the download link.
Project objectives
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| Photo credit: techaradar.com |
The main objective of Language Assistant Shelly’s House of Games is to present an alternative and exciting learning portal, which goes beyond books and other forms of conventional learning. Nowadays, kids are very much involved in their mobile phones and tablets. With that, this project aims to create a somewhat similar set of games as what the phone apps have. In the form of online educational games, the teaching approach is more fun, but without sacrificing its academic significance and effective learning.
With my current experience in the primary level, particularly among 1st and 2nd grade students, she noticed the short attention span of these students. With that, she thought that incorporating games in the lessons could be a good way to keep the interests of these younger students. In this Language Assistant Shelly’s House of Games, the games aren’t just simply self-made games, but rather they were designed in an eye-capturing way. Child psychology says that when kids are presented with multiple visuals such as different colors, drawings, and text, they pay much attention to it and the recall and retain of lessons are more accurate.
Also, the games invite social interaction with others. First, since the game instructions should be given first by the teacher, the skills of students in listening carefully to the teacher, asking questions if there’s any, and following instructions are being applied. Second, as these games can be played either as an individual, partner, or group, it promotes teamwork and good sportsmanship.
Content in general
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| Photo credit: Google generic clipart |
Each educational game has a story or plot, and the objective/s for gamers vary per game. The general instruction is to choose the best answer out of multiple-choice type of questions or items. Since the target players are 1st and 2nd grade students, who are very young, it’s easier for them to play a game where they only have to choose, instead of them creating their own answers. Each question may consist of 3-4 options only. Having a smaller number of possible answers makes it less overwhelming for the student.
The games may cover several topics in school. In general, it tackles lessons in English, Social Science, and Natural Science subjects. The topics included in the game were based on Shelly’s personal experience on the topics that her students found quite hard to study, retain, and recall.
Usage instructions for teachers / assistants
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| Photo credit: lg.com |
Each game has its own set of instructions. The instructor must read it first before executing the game in class. It is his / her responsibility to explain it to 1st or 2nd grade students in a simplified way or whatever way to best explain to kids. The instructor may begin by doing a sample item or game first, so that the students can understand well on what to do and how to play the game.
For best game performance, it’s recommended to run the game in a laptop or computer then flash it through the projector. If possible, a digital board would be the best to use as these games are tap/touchscreen-ready.
For individual gaming instructions
If the instructor would like to execute the game for one student only, he/she needs to write on the board or in any other way that tallying is visible on the student’s score. Each correct answer is one point. In case the student commits a mistake, the score remains the same and no deduction.
For partner gaming instructions
If the instructor would like to execute the game for a pair of students only, the game begins letting these two pupils do a simple rocks, papers, scissors to know who plays first. Otherwise, the instructor may simply select who goes first or ask for a volunteer to be the first player. If the first player is correct, he/she gets one point. If wrong, he/she doesn’t get the point and the turn goes to the second player. Then, the second player plays next. The turn in answering is just alternating. Whoever gets the highest score in the end is the winner of the game.
For group gaming instructions
The instructor play the game with two teams. Each team may consist of 5 game players. Before the game starts, to make it more fun, each team has to come up with their cheer or chant first. Then, to begin, each team should have a team captain to go in front. They’ll do a simple rocks, papers, scissors to know who plays first. The team answers out of teamwork. They talk about the question then decide on a final answer. If the first team is correct, they get one point. If wrong, they don’t get the point and the turn goes to the second team. Then, the second team plays next. The turn in answering is simply alternating. Whichever team gets the highest score in the end is the winner of the game.
Alternate mode of usage
Welcome to Language Assistant Shelly's House of Games!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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