Posts on “ GameUp ”

GameUp is buzzing with its newest game, Lord of the Flies!  Developed by Nobelprize.org, this game guides students in exploring the symbolism and themes of William Golding’s novel.  The objective of the game is to challenge the reader’s memory through playing the game and introduce some basic analytical aspects of the book.  The game presents students with one possible interpretation of Golding’s book, but they will create their own interpretations of the book by analyzing various elements. Perfect for an author study or English Literature unit, we’ve created a lesson plan to guide you in integrating the use of this game into your curriculum.  Utilizing BrainPOP resources such as our Lord of the Flies movie, our lesson plan includes some excellent tips for preparation and extension activities so you can get the most out of this interactive game.   

Wednesday, September 26th at 4:30 PM ET- Play Seriously With GameUp Join our own Allisyn Levy, Senior Director of Educator Experience, for an in-depth tour of BrainPOP’s GameUp, our free online games portal. Allisyn will highlight the ways this curated collection of top educational games can be powerful learning tools. She’ll show you how to successfully bring them into your classroom to inspire inquiry, cultivate critical reasoning, and encourage creative, interactive problem solving.

Help put BrainPOP on the SXSWedu map! A BrainPOP panel is up for inclusion in the education arm of the famed SXSW festival! Organized by Kari Stubbs (VP, Learning and Innovation) and featuring Arturo Guajardo (District Relations Manager), “Got Game? Learning through Play. Seriously.” deals with the role of games in learning and teaching. It also features Filament Games, Learning Games Network, and E-Line Media. We need your help!  To nab an official spot on the SXSWedu line-up, the panel needs to rake in the popular votes, which can be cast through the SXSW Panel Picker.  You will need to quickly create a free SXSW username and password.  Once you’ve created an account, just click the “Thumbs Up” icon on the left side of the page.   We hope you’ll all cast your vote for our session and spread the word! SXSWedu will take place in Austin from March 4-7. Hope to see you there!

BrainPOP is pleased to partner with Mangahigh in announcing the addition of the Flower Power game to BrainPOP’s GameUp! This fun, free online math game provides students in grades 3-8 with practice in comparing and ordering fractions and decimals. The object of this math game is to make as much money as possible by growing and harvesting valuable and exotic flowers. Students use fraction and decimal ordering skills to correctly order the blooms in the garden, and then harvest mature stems and sell them. Students must balance pollination and harvesting to achieve a high score, and demonstrate a mastery of fractions and horticulture. Each bloom (which is labeled with a fraction early in the game and fraction or decimal later on) grows on the flower stems. The numbers must be ordered by dragging large blooms to the top and small blooms to the bottom. Buds will flower into blooms if released, or if not positioned quickly enough. When a stem grows to its full height of seven blooms, it will stop growing, and the player has the opportunity to either harvest it, or wait and allow it to be pollinated by a bee. When a bee pollinates the flower, it… Read the Rest»

BrainPOP Superstar Educator, Andrea Keller, Reflects on the Podstock Conference The middle of July marked the 4th annual Podstock Conference in Wichita, Kansas. Podstock is that conference that once you go, you will keep going back.  I have to say that I am a Podstock Original. Why do people come to Podstock? As their website says, “So what is Podstock? It’s a tech integration conference. But it’s more than a conference. It’s conversation. It’s family.  It’s a bunch of cool folks getting together to learn more about how to improve education.  And we’ll use whatever it takes -technology, PBL, gaming, online tools . . . we’ll try anything as long as it helps kids learn.  Podstock is about creativity, about inspiration, about what’s good for kids. Our formal and informal conversations change how we do school.” The conference is already on my calendar for next year (July 17, 18, and 19, 2013). Podstock is a voice, family, and friendship, and is so much more than just a conference to me. It is a family with the same ideals. It is those who are making a change or who want to make a change to give all of our students the… Read the Rest»

This spring, we told you about a national math challenge for middle schoolers run by The MIT Education Arcade and supported by BrainPOP. Between April 1st and June 15th, nearly 1,000 teachers and other adult mentors enrolled more than 30,000 students in the Labyrinth Challenge, centered on the educational game Lure of the Labyrinth. Over the course of the 10 weeks, students collectively spent half a trillion minutes (that’s more than 950 years!) collaborating on the solving of mathematical puzzles to save pets from the “Tasti-Pet Factory.” In addition to gaining problem-solving confidence and bragging rights, students earned chances to win some amazing prizes. Those who worked together with their teammates to reach certain levels in the game were entered into a drawing for a complimentary home subscription to BrainPOP, animation software from FableVision, and Lenovo ThinkPad Tablets. Teachers also had chances to win by completing pre- and post-Challenge surveys. In total, 20 teachers and nearly 100 students were awarded prizes for their participation. “Our partnerships with BrainPOP and Lenovo were critical to recruiting so many players to participate in the Labyrinth Challenge,” said Carole Urbano, Outreach Director for The MIT Education Arcade. “Offering prizes provided that extra incentive to… Read the Rest»

The popularity of gaming in the classroom is rapidly growing and more studies are proving that it’s not just fun, it actually helps students learn!  iCivics, the developer of GameUp games Supreme Decision, Executive Command, Court Quest, Win the White House, Law Craft, Branches of Power, and Argument Wars, has recently released a video showing how the use of iCivics’ games is being implemented in the Waco Independent School District. To collect data that supports the success of a curriculum that integrates the use of these games, iCivics joined with Baylor University to get their games into the classroom.  The movie begins by explaining some of the important concepts students can learn through playing these games and further goes on to discuss the experiences of students and teachers in Waco ISD.  The positive response from the students and teachers featured in this movie is truly inspiring and motivating.  Be sure to visit the iCivics teachers’ section where you can find a collection of useful resources on how you can integrate the use of their games into your own classroom.    

The popularity of gaming in the classroom is rapidly growing and more studies are proving that it’s not just fun, it actually helps students learn!  iCivics, the developer of GameUp games Supreme Decision, Executive Command, Court Quest, Win the White House, Law Craft, Branches of Power, and Argument Wars, has recently released a video showing how the use of iCivics’ games is being implemented in the Waco Independent School District. To collect data that supports the success of a curriculum that integrates the use of these games, iCivics joined with Baylor University to get their games into the classroom.  The movie begins by explaining some of the important concepts students can learn through playing these games and further goes on to discuss the experiences of students and teachers in Waco ISD.  The positive response from the students and teachers featured in this movie is truly inspiring and motivating.  Be sure to visit the iCivics teachers’ section where you can find a collection of useful resources on how you can integrate the use of their games into your own classroom.  

Filament Games, the developers of GameUp games You Make Me Sick, Cell Command, and Crazy Plant Shop, is hosting a lesson plan contest!  They are looking for educators who are supporters of game-based learning and who have created innovative lesson plans for You Make Me Sick.  The best lesson designer will receive a full classroom set of Cell Command, You Make Me Sick, Crazy Plant Shop, and Prisoner of Echo.  Additionally, two runner-ups will receive a full classroom set of the game of their choice from the collection of the four games. Judged by educational consultant, Andrew Miller, and a group of master educators, the lesson plans will be assessed using the following criteria: The game is used as a sound pedagogical tool to perform an intentional function in the classroom learning experience. The lesson presents the game as an innovative and engaging tool to learn. The lesson is aligned to key content standards and/or 21st century skills. The lesson includes clear, coherent directions and useful materials. Be sure to submit your lesson plans by September 7th!  The winners will be notified on October 1st.  

GameUp continues to grow and we’ve just added another new game!  Budget Hero, developed by the Woodrow Wilson Center, American Public Media and 360KID, is now available in the math section of GameUp and is an online game in which players try their best to balance the federal budget.  Throughout the game, players make policy changes that affect the budget deficit/surplus, the size of government as a percentage of GDP, the national debt as a percentage of GDP, and the projected year in which the budget “busts.”  While experimenting with budget cuts and government investments, students can identify budget priorities that they find interesting such as green initiatives, health and wellness, energy efficiency, and more. Perfect for middle school and highschool Math or Social Studies classes, our Budgets, Comparing Prices, and Money movies can help students understand the necessary concepts for successfully playing Budget Hero.  We’ve also created a lesson plan for teachers to use when integrating the use of the game into their curriculum.  Not only does our lesson plan include tips and tricks for playing the game, but we’ve included an additional resource students can use to guide them through gameplay.  So, do you think your students have… Read the Rest»