The teenage boy making headlines, for winning 3 million dollars in a Fortnite Tournament is making headlines, and convincing parents all over that video games may not be a waste of time after all. In fact as a society video games and playing video games have a stigma around them, that they are not a productive use of time. As video games become more popular with students of all ages finding ways to use them in our instructional day could show a slew of benefits. Mainly in the area of student engagement. Think about it, whether it be Super Mario Brothers, or Candy Crush there is a fixation with getting to the next level, getting more points, and improving. What if we could pull that engagement for the greater good of our classroom assessments? The game I have designed is made to do just that.
Overview/ Objective:
In the game the student will become the word worker, and will go on a journey to defeat the Word Wizard, who has captured the Dictionary Damsel. The Word Worker must solve each riddle by identifying either the antonym, synonym, or homonym. If they get the riddle correct they move on to the next riddle, if they get it wrong though they are redirected to a review station, and start over. They Have 7 riddles to solve in order to save the Damsel. This goes along with 2nd grade Language standards which help students to identify word meaning. With each riddle there is one correct answer as well as 2 incorrect answers meant to trick the player.
External Grammar:
Students will have to draw on their knowledge of word meaning to help them solve each riddle. The different types of words will be reinforced throughout the game, giving students multiple times to review with short videos on antonyms, synonyms, and homonyms. Students will have to understand the types of words and be able to identify them in order to move on.
Internal Grammar:
The students will have to understand how the words relate to each other. In some of the riddles both synonyms and antonyms occur. So the students need to know the relationship between the words they are searching for. They will have to read the sentence, and then be able to decipher what words are the words they are looking for. The adventure will take them to either a congratulations page, or a review page to help them understand better if need be.
Procedural Rhetoric:
When the game starts you are taken to the first riddle. At the top it tells you the relating words you are looking for whether it is synonyms, antonyms, or homonyms. Then as the player reads the riddle they are faced with 3 word options. If they choose the right one they are brought to a congratulations page with the link to move on to the next riddle. If they choose incorrectly they are to directed to the review page where they watch 2 review video then start over. 1 of the videos is on antonyms and synonyms and the other is on homonyms. Once they have successfully completed all riddles the last page asks them to either finish the game or start over if they feel they need more practice. Thinking about this page a little more I cold really split it up into 2 reviews, so I can see if more students are getting hung up on synonyms and antonyms or homonyms and adjust my instruction based off of that. For right now thought the review is together.
GBA and My ADC:
When thinking back to my assessment design checklist. I feel that the Game Based Assessment hits many major parts. It has lessons embedded in the game with the review page, These videos could easily be used in lessons to help the assessment reflect the lessons taught. With the welcome page the objective of the assessment is clear, as well as the success criteria. With each question there is a place for review but I think along with the review link I could also offer some more meaningful feedback they can consider for their next round. At the end students are able to self reflect by either being done, if they think feel they are successful, or starting over for more practice. So all in all the assessment hits the major questions, and i feel it will really engage students into the content.
The game I created to take students through a journey of words can be played using the link here.
Learning with Lindsay 