Posts on “ literacy ”

BrainPOP’s Allisyn Levy shares her experience integrating assessment into game-based learning. For a long time, I was on a hunt for an amazing English Language Arts game that tied into curriculum and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). A big part of my role at BrainPOP® is vetting games for GameUp®, our online games portal. I focus a lot on working with teachers and students to play-test new games and features so we can shape our offerings to meet our audience’s needs. For months my search continued, and for every huge handful of games we saw, only one or two were really gems. We did discover some outstanding Language Arts games, including Classroom Inc.’s TSN2, Learning Games Network’s Quandary, and many of the iCivics games, all featured on GameUp. But we started to realize that you can actually tie digital games across all subject areas into English Language Arts (ELA) using assessment. In one of my favorite student challenges, I ask the class to create a “cheat sheet” or walk-through. This involves the kind of 21st-century skills the CCSS focus on, both in terms of ELA and literacy in the content areas. Quality digital games are a powerful way to teach the formulation of evidence-based arguments, for… Read the Rest»

Joli Barker, 2nd Grade Educator at Earl H. Slaughter Elementary McKinney ISD, McKinney, Texas www.tinyurl.com/xbrox360   Ms. Barker has been teaching for 15 years and has been recognized as a 2011 and 2012 Microsoft Partners in Learning US Forum winner and a 2012 Global Forum Winner.  She is a finalist as the TCEA 2013 Classroom Teacher of the Year and nominated for the Kay L. Bitter Award at ISTE 2012 and 2013.  She is a Discovery Education Network (DEN) Star Educator and on the DEN Texas Leadership Council and Innovation Team, a GlogsterEDU Ambassador and Reseller (code 5E9515), an ePals Ambassador, and a Smithsonian Classroom Teacher.  And of course she is an avid BrainPOP user!   Times are changing.  It is no longer enough to know content.  The days of “reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic” for the sake of passing a test are gone.  As educators, it is now our obligation to guide students through problem solving situations that require content knowledge and building, collaboration, and resourcefulness in order to successfully find a solution…if there is a solution at all.  As a second grade teacher, I found this transition of pedagogy easier in math and science than I did for language arts.  Seven… Read the Rest»

Today, we are proud to announce that one of our favorite BrainPOP features,  closed captioning,  has arrived in BrainPOP Español!  With closed captioning available in every movie, understanding and following Tim and Moby in Spanish has never been easier!  This feature is sure to help both native Spanish speakers, and students learning the language. Closed Captioning: Helps students identify the words they are listening to. Assists reading comprehension in Spanish. Provides access for students with hearing disabilities. Allows classrooms, or computer labs with poor audio equipment to use BrainPOP Movies without missing a thing! If you’ve never seen BrainPOP Espanol, be sure to check it out. Tim has an excellent accent!

Interactive Fiction (IF), also known as “text adventures”, is a type of game where the player interacts with the game world primarily via text. Written descriptions of a location are displayed, and the player can then examine individual items, pick up and use objects, combine objects; explore the game world and much more via text on screen. IF is a great way of combining game play with reading in order to improve literacy, in addition, many teachers find it is also a compelling tool for teaching writing, and history. A list of vetted educational titles can be found on Emily Short’s Interactive Storytelling blog. Many of the most popular games can also be downloaded for free from the expansive Interactive Fiction Archive,  although some of titles found here may not suitable for young students so be sure to screen them before using them in school or simply stick to Emily’s list. That said, the genera has reemerged as a educational tool and is growing in popularity in the UK with the development of new tools that do not require coding skills that companies like Interactive Opportunities (iO) have developed.  They would like to engage with as many teachers as possible to develop this game genera as… Read the Rest»