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This Learning Activity is divided into three sections. Adults should guide children through it in the following order:

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Grade 1 Language - Writing - Learning Activity 4

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Adjectives as well as Punctuation Checklist - Beginner

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Adjectives as well as Punctuation Checklist - Beginner

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This Learning Activity is divided into three sections. Adults should guide children through it in the following order:

1. Minds On: Introduces the learning concepts to be explored in the Learning Activity.

2. Action: Offers a focused activity to explore the content and discover key concepts.

3. Consolidation: Provides students with an opportunity to deepen understanding and reflect on learning.

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Grade 2 Language - Writing - Learning Activity 2

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Editing: Commas, Quotation Marks, Sentence Structure - next steps beyond beginner

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Editing: Commas, Quotation Marks, Sentence Structure - next steps beyond beginner

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Sentence Structure and Author's Style - more advanced

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Sentence Structure and Author's Style - more advanced

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This Learning Activity is divided into three sections. Adults should guide children through it in the following order:

1. Minds On: Introduces the learning concepts to be explored in the Learning Activity.

2. Action: Offers a focused activity to explore the content and discover key concepts.

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Grade 8 Language - Writing - Learning Activity 10

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from Pinterest

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On National Child Day, meet clean water activist Autumn Peltier | CBC Kids News

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Video games for developing language skills 

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Video games for developing language skills 

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How are your New Year's Resolutions going so far this year? One of mine was to relearn French, which I haven't studied since graduating high school. Since I don't have time right now to go somewhere and take French classes, I'm using game-based learning to brush up on my skills. Et vous pouvez aussi!

Even though learning a new language can be a daunting task, educational video games can make language acquisition more fun and effective. By providing interactive learning experiences, language acquisition games can help learners build skills such as vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and cultural awareness.

In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of language acquisition with video games. If you're in the process of learning a new language, make sure to bookmark this post so you can return to it later. Also, follow Filament Games on Twitter and Facebook for daily insights on the power of game-based learning!

Immersion: an important part of effective language acquisition

Whether it's watching films and videos, listening to songs, or playing games, surrounding yourself with the language you're learning is one of the best methods to pick it faster and more effectively!

Writing for the Cambridge University blog, Maija Kozlova notes that research shows learners who are exposed to the language they're learning in an immersive way exhibit higher levels of fluency, particularly when the motivation to learn and absorb the language is high. Immersive language experiences often have remarkable results on children, who are known to be more open to learning a language intuitively through communication.

One of the biggest advantages of using video games to teach a new language is the level of immersion that they can offer. Games can simulate realistic environments and interactions that can help students to learn a new language in a way that is natural and intuitive. By placing students in a virtual world where they are surrounded by the language they are learning, they can learn through context and practice rather than just memorization and repetition.

For an example of an immersive language learning game, look no further than our portfolio! Project Colby is a language learning tool we created in collaboration with Amazon. Its main purpose is to assist non-native English speakers in enhancing their speaking, reading, and listening abilities. The game includes simulated conversations and 3D facial animations that are expressive and fully rigged. This allows English language learners to become more familiar with nonverbal expressions and emotional cues, which can reinforce their communication skills.

The power of personalized learning in language acquisition games

One of the biggest advantages of using video games to teach a new language is the level of personalization that they can offer. By adapting to the needs and abilities of each individual student, video games can provide a highly personalized and effective learning experience. This can be especially important for students who may be struggling to learn a new language through traditional classroom methods.

An example of personalized language learning can be found in one of the most popular gamified language acquisition apps, Duolingo. According to this WIRED article, the platform gives its users an adaptive placement test, which is an AI-driven approach that is able to adapt to the learner based on real-time data. Duolingo also utilizes deep learning, a subset of machine learning, to mimic the behavior of the human brain and analyze user data to make intelligent predictions. You can learn more about the ways Duolingo uses AI in the video below.

Personalized learning can be an advantage in the classroom, at home, and even at the office. This Learnlight article explores the importance of personalized learning in corporate language training. While academic learning is measured through test scores, in corporate language training, the success of the training program is measured based on the learner's use of the target language in real-life situations. Therefore, personalized content and activities that cater to the unique learning styles of individual learners are critical.

Consistency is key: motivation and effectiveness of games for language learning

The motivational aspect of video games is especially important when it comes to language acquisition. By providing a fun and engaging way to learn a new language, video games help to keep students learning over time. This can be especially important for students who may be struggling with traditional classroom methods, or who may be hesitant to learn a new language.

Natalie Schriefer's article in Paste Magazine titled "How Can Games Help with Language Acquisition?" highlights recent research on language learning through games, such as a 2022 American systematic review by Dr. Juan Li, which found that video games were effective in language acquisition, especially when real-world options were unavailable or inaccessible.

The article also discusses a 2022 Indonesian study by researcher Theodore Alexander Atmaja that suggested video games could be useful in showing players varied sentence structures and improving their reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and pronunciation. Another 2021 American study looked at online games and linguistic morphology, finding that video games had the potential to enhance ELL students' morphological awareness and word reading accuracy. The article concludes by suggesting that recent research on language acquisition indicates that games can be powerful and motivating teaching tools for language learning!

To summarize, video games offer a wealth of opportunities for language acquisition, and they can be a highly effective way to learn a new language. By creating immersive, active, and personalized learning experiences, video games can help to ensure that all learners have the opportunity to excel in their language studies!

Interested in creating a game for English language learners? We have 18 years of experience in the game-based learning industry and are here to help you bring your project to life! Contact us today for more information and a free consultation.
More on video games and language learning:

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Language Acquisition with Video Games | Filament Games

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Struggling to learn a new language? Educational video games have the immersion and personalization you need to meet your language learning goals!

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Perhaps more than anything else, the English Language Arts classroom is a place of diversity.

There is diversity of academic expectations for teachers. The ELA Common Core assigns literature and informational reading, writing, speaking/listening and language to what is usually a single "class." This is a total of five extremely broad topics, each of which could more than stand on its own as a content area.

There is diversity of content, where media from two thousand years ago to yesterday, from Gilgamesh to Tupac Shakur, can find a place. This is a content area where students read and reflect, write and discuss, revise and rethink, compose and present, speak and observe -- all in the company of some of the greatest thinkers in mankind's history.

There is also diversity of assessment, where projects, exams, open-response questions, essays, digital products and community projects all vie for a chance to demonstrate what a student understands.

It makes sense, then, that in such a busy atmosphere full of often-conflicting literacies and constant rigor, video games might find an authentic and compelling role.

How can they function?

1) Entry Points

In any classroom, a video game can provide a sure-footed entry point into content. Interested in teaching tone? The video game Limbo makes toys to perfection with this classic literary tool, using a subdued color palette, minimal character dialogue and macabre settings as a boy works his way through digital, black-and-white badlands. Contrast it quickly with a 60-second video of Little Big Planet 2, and tone will be on full display. From here you can move on to speeches from Martin Luther King, where tone is overt, then short stories from Wendell Berry and Franz Kafka, where it may not be.

2) Student Voice

Video games are engaging, gamified, full of light and sound, and often (though not always) widely accessible. The fact that they're especially inviting to male learners, who may struggle to find much of anything in academia immediately inviting, makes them a compelling tool for any progressive ELA educator. They also provide students a voice. Allowing a student to discuss video games that are meaningful to him is just like asking your bookworm students to discuss their favorite books. Watch them light up when you not only show interest, but allow them to brainstorm games that may "fit" an assignment or project, or to even bring in narrative nuggets of games like Fallout 3, which has plots and subplots that rival -- at least in quantity -- the most heralded classic literary texts.

3) Inspiration

Video games are strangely inspirational. The best examples from this growing medium are not play-and-forget affairs, but rather digital universes for players to enter and dwell. Games like Bethesda's Skyrim can enamor players for hundreds of hours, as they carefully construct avatars that act out their own desire for power, control, and diverse ability to construct and manipulate an environment that makes sense to them (something Minecraft does exceptionally well).

When video games are brought into learning -- and integrated in a way that doesn't neuter the relevance or obscure what makes the game wonderful -- you'll notice major changes, many of which won't always be comfortable. Inspiration changes everything. Some students -- many of whom may have previously appeared lethargic and apathetic -- may be difficult to keep seated, perhaps literally. This is no reason to shelve the game, but a factor to plan for -- and a sign of just how thoroughly you've put them to sleep in the past.

Embracing Digital Learning Tools

Video games represent a diverse, exciting and potent media form, and they offer fresh possibilities as digital learning tools. Getting them to "do what you want" is a matter of experimentation and professional development, as are most powerful teaching tools. But in the ELA classroom, video games not only have a role, but also demand a seat next to novels and poems, speeches and letters, essays and short stories.

For this to happen, you needn't turn your classroom into some awkward "study" of the (mediocre) narrative elements of a game like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but rather turn first to the students. See what they play, what they love, where their experience is -- and what their ideas are for dragging lowly video games into the hallowed halls of English Language Arts instruction. Then, as you become more comfortable, continue to seek out better ideas, tools and resources for making it happen.

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The Role of Video Games in the English Classroom

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Perhaps more than anything else, the English Language Arts classroom is a place of diversity. There is diversity of academic expectations for teachers. The ELA Common Core assigns literature and informational reading, writing, speaking/listening and language to what is usually a single "class."

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https://drexel.edu/soe/resources/student-teaching/advice/importance-of-cultural-diversity-in-classroom/

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The Importance of Diversity & Multicultural Awareness in Education

Drexel University School of Education

Cultural diversity in the classroom is on the rise. In 2014, U.S. public schools hit a minority majority milestone with Latino, African-American, and Asian students having surpassed the number of white students. In 2044, the U.S. Census predicts that over half of the nation's population will be people of color, so this trend will likely continue.

In our increasingly diverse and multicultural society, it's more important than ever for teachers to incorporate culturally responsive instruction in the classroom -- whether teaching elementary school, middle school or high school students. And the increase of diversity doesn't only relate to race and ethnicity; it can include students of different religion, economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and language background.

Interested in becoming a teacher? Learn more about Drexel's Teacher Certification program.

Why is it Important to Encourage Diversity in Schools and Workplaces?

Fostering inclusion and awareness around multicultural education and taking a culturally responsive approach to teaching benefits all students. Not only does creating greater multicultural awareness and inclusion help students with different backgrounds and needs succeed, but it encourages acceptance and helps prepare students to thrive in an exponentially diverse world. Our Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Wellness Certificate Program is a great opportunity for teachers to learn how to create positive classroom environments and can serve as a foundation for understanding how to promote diversity in your classroom.

Diversity in and out of the classroom will continue to grow, so it's essential we prepare students to adapt to an evolving world and embrace those different from themselves. Learn more how the programs at the Drexel School of Education are helping to prepare more culturally-responsive educators today.

Types of Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

Every student is unique. In order to properly understand and promote cultural awareness, teachers need to understand all the different types of diversity they may encounter in their classrooms including:

Race

A person's skin color can have a great impact on their experience in society. It can also impact how they view themselves and others when engaging in classroom activities.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity relates to a person's culture and nationality. Ethnicity is sometimes confused with race, but it is important to recognize that while some people may have the same skin color, they may come from different places and have vastly different cultural beliefs and views of the world.

Religion

It is important to understand that people have different religious belief or no religious beliefs, and it may impact their participation in the classroom. Students may react differently to lessons based on their religion or may not be able to be present on certain religious holidays.

Language

While English is commonly used in American classrooms, for some students, it is not the language they speak at home. Accommodations should be made to help students for whom English is a second language.

Socioeconomic Status

A student's socioeconomic status can affect their ability to participate in the classroom without some type of accommodation. For instance, access to a computer at home or reliable internet access is not a given for some children. Teachers should be aware of this and the stress it may cause students who may struggle due to a lack of resources.

Sexual Orientation

A student's sexual orientation can have a great impact on how they are experiencing the world. Teachers should understand the struggles that exist and ensure that the lessons taught in their classroom are inclusive.

Gender Identity

Similar to sexual orientation, it is important to understand each student's gender identity and how they would prefer to be recognized. Teachers should respect their student's identity and use preferred pronouns when interacting with their students.

How can you Promote Diversity and Multiculturalism in the Classroom?

There are several ways teachers and administrators, such as principals and coaches, can ensure that both the classroom environment and curriculum are responsive to the increasing cultural diversity of our society. These strategies will encourage all students' cultural awareness, enhancing each student's sense of identity, and foster inclusion in the classroom community.

1. Get to Know Your Students Ensuring that cultural awareness is promoted in the classroom starts with the teacher understanding each individual student. Take the time to learn about each student's cultural background, hobbies, learning styles, and what makes them unique. Demonstrating a genuine interest in learning about each student and their culture will help establish trust and allow you to form a bond with them so they feel valued. If students feel appreciated by and comfortable with the teacher, there's a better chance they'll feel comfortable talking with and respect their peers in the class - and communication is the core to a culturally aware and inclusive classroom.

2. Maintain Consistent Communication Aside from getting to know your students, teachers should also continue to maintain ongoing communication throughout the semester or school year. Scheduling 1-on-1 meetings with students to "check in" every so often will allow you to consistently improve how accessible the classroom is to everyone. Students can talk about whether they felt included in the classroom culture. This can help identify issues or ways to improve the overall experience. It's also an opportunity to discuss their progress in the class and offer guidance on how they can improve, based on their individual needs as a student.

3. Acknowledge and Respect Every Student It's also important for students to celebrate and respect their own diverse backgrounds, as well as each other's. When appropriate, teachers should encourage students to research and learn about their own ethnic and cultural backgrounds. This allows them to better understand their own culture as well as the differences and nuances with their peers. As a bonus, this can be a great ice breaker assignment, allowing students to give presentations about their family traditions and culture to help expose the class to concepts outside of their own familiar comfort zone. Acknowledging these differences and creating a safe space for discussion helps promote understanding in the classroom and beyond. Also, as you encourage students to learn about their diverse backgrounds, remember to take the time to highlight what's offensive and the distinction between cultural celebration and appropriation. Learning how to talk about other cultures in a respectful, mature way is essential for success in life outside the classroom.

4. Practice Cultural Sensitivity While it's important to keep an open dialogue amongst students, it's equally as important to make sure you're being sensitive to everyone's culture, beliefs, and language concerns. Take the time to understand each student's cultural nuances - from learning styles to the language they use - and use these insights to design your lesson plans. For example, provide English language learners with appropriate and relevant resources that help them improve their English comprehension skills. Rather than teach with a traditional lecture style, create learning experiences that are more interactive and require collaboration. These considerations will help ensure that every student feels included, is given the space to learn in their own way and is given a chance to succeed.

5. Incorporate Diversity in the Lesson Plan The classroom environment is important for fostering cultural awareness, but you also should ensure diversity is represented in your actual lesson plan. For example, broaden history lessons so that they encompass the world beyond United States history and culture. Or, use references and analogies to other cultures in your lessons and assignments to help students with diverse backgrounds personally connect. Another great strategy is bringing in diverse speakers to add varying points of view and real-life context to different subjects.There are several ways you can ingrain cultural awareness and diversity into your lesson plan, and it will vary depending on the cultures represented in your classroom and the course you're teaching. Regardless of the subject, always try to present and connect lessons to real-world issues. It's easier to promote cultural awareness within your lessons when there's a real example for students to relate to.

6. Give Students Freedom and Flexibility Teachers often feel like they need to take on a strict, authoritative approach when it comes to managing their classroom. The most valuable lessons are often learned through a student's own experiences, so giving them some freedom in the course encourages more connection to the curriculum. Allow students to read and present their own materials that relate to the fundamental lesson so they can approach the topic from their own perspective. As a teacher, you can act as a facilitator and encourage conversation and healthy debate between diverse opinions. Group assignments are also a great way to expose students to diverse perspectives, allowing them to work together to explore and solve a problem. This will also help prepare them for a diverse workforce where they'll have to partner with a range of people to accomplish their professional goals.

Why is it Multicultural Education Important to Students?

It is important to remind ourselves why diversity and cultural awareness is so crucial in the classroom and the benefits it can have on students now and in the long-term. Teaching diversity exposes students to various cultural and social groups, preparing students to become better citizens in their communities. These culturally responsive teaching strategies will help you to promote diversity in the classroom.

With these culturally responsive teaching strategies in mind, it's important to remind ourselves why diversity and cultural awareness is so crucial in the classroom and the benefits it can have on students now and in the long-term.

Students Become More Empathetic

Promoting awareness and creating a personal connection with diverse cultures in the classroom can prevent students from developing prejudices later in life. It allows them to empathize with people different from themselves since they're more aware of the experiences someone of a different race or cultural group may face.

Students Gain a Better Understanding of Lessons and People

When working and learning with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures present in the classroom, students gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. It also teaches students how to use their own strengths and points of view to contribute in a diverse working environment.

Students Become More Open-Minded

Naturally, by exposing students to a diverse range of opinions, thoughts, and cultural backgrounds, you're encouraging them to be more open-minded later in life. This will make them open to new ideas and be able to attain a greater comprehension on a topic by taking in different points of view.

Students Feel More Confident and Safe

Students who learn about different cultures during their education feel more comfortable and safe with these differences later in life. This allows them to interact in a wider range of social groups and feel more confident in themselves as well as in their interactions with others.

Students Are Better Prepared for a Diverse Workplace

With the rise of globalization, it's more important to be able to work with people from different cultures and social groups. If students are exposed to diversity and learn cultural awareness in the classroom, it sets them up to flourish in the workforce.

Learn More About Cultural Diversity in Education

There are additional resources available to help educators grow their knowledge of cultural diversity and apply it to their classrooms. Here are a few sites where you can find more information:

Additionally, Drexel offers programs that can help broaden a teacher's expertise in multicultural education including our online Teaching English as a Second Language and Social Emotional and Behavioral Wellness certification programs. You can also contact us to request more information.

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The Importance of Multicultural Education - School of Education

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As classrooms become more diverse, it's crucial for students to learn about other cultures. Discover how students benefit from classroom diversity with Drexel.

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Government of Canada & Improving Access to Clean Water

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Government of Canada & Improving Access to Clean Water

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May 17, 2021 - Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Territory, Ontario - Indigenous Services Canada

The Government of Canada and First Nations are working in partnership to improve access to clean drinking water and lift all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves as soon as possible.

Today, Indigenous Services Canada provided an update on progress toward clean drinking water in all First Nations communities. As of May 17, 2021, 106 long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted. In other words, reliable access to safe drinking water has been restored for 5920 homes and 447 buildings in 77 communities since November 2015.

Much work remains and projects are underway to address the remaining 53 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 34 First Nations communities.

Our commitment to improving access to clean drinking water on reserves now and into the future goes beyond lifting long-term drinking water advisories. The Government of Canada recognizes that increased support for operations and maintenance (O&M) is essential to long-term sustainability of water infrastructure and preventing the reoccurrence of drinking water advisories in the future. Investments announced as part of Budget 2019 and the 2020 Fall Economic Statement mean that Indigenous Services Canada will be increasing the annual funding it provides First Nations to support the operations and maintenance of water and wastewater systems on a permanent basis by almost four times.

With these investments, one hundred percent of water and wastewater operations and maintenance costs will be covered based on the O&M funding formula, up from the 80 percent previously covered.

First Nations communities across the country have now received additional O&M funding for fiscal year 2020-2021. For this fiscal year, the majority of O&M funding has been allocated to First Nations enabling the planning of O&M activities. Additional funding amounts will be communicated as early as possible to put communities in the best position possible for future planning of operations and maintenance.

The Government continues to make significant investments in long-term water-related infrastructure projects to support reliable access to clean drinking water and prevent drinking water advisories from becoming long-term. Since November 2015, the Government has invested in 694 water and wastewater projects in 581 First Nations communities. Sixty new water and wastewater treatment plants and lagoons have been built and 39 more are underway.

Progress on eliminating all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves

Since our last progress update on March 31, 2021, First Nations, with support from Indigenous Services Canada, lifted 1 long-term drinking water advisory.

Wahta Mohawks as of March 31, 2021

Wahta Mohawks lifted a long-term drinking water advisory affecting the Wahta Administration/Community Centre water system. The advisory, in place since September 2013, was lifted on March 31, 2021, following the construction of a new well and installation of a point-of-entry treatment unit. The water meets all applicable requirements. Indigenous Services Canada continues to work with Wahta Mohawk on a community-wide solution for sustainable access to clean water.

Additionally, since April 1, 2021, three short-term drinking water advisories, lasting between two and 12 months, were lifted before becoming long-term.

"We know progress cannot come quickly enough and one long-term advisory is one too many. One hundred and six long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted to date, and projects are in place to address each of the remaining advisories. Our commitment to improving access to clean water on reserves does not come with a deadline, nor is it limited to our work to lift all long-term drinking water advisories. First Nations communities have now received the first installment of increased operations and maintenance funding. These improvements will provide First Nations a predictable funding stream, which will assist them in making strategic plans for their communities. We will not stop until every First Nation has clean water and we will continue to build the foundation for predictable, lasting solutions that support the unique needs of First Nations communities."

The Honourable Marc Miller
Minister of Indigenous Services

Facebook: @GCIndigenousHealth

Twitter: @Min_IndServ

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Government of Canada progress update on improving access to clean water in First Nations communities

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May 17, 2021 - Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Territory, Ontario - Indigenous Services Canada The Government of Canada and First Nations are working in partnership to improve access to clean drinking water and lift all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves as soon as possible.

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The learning opportunities found in well-designed games give students an interactive and entertaining way to learn about environmental issues.

Games can be a powerful way to teach, persuade, or raise awareness about important topics that young people should care about, such as social justice or civic issues. These activities are powerful tools for educators because games can tackle complex topics like climate change and sustainability in a unique way. And the learning opportunities found in well-designed games are very different from textbooks or videos; rather than content to be "absorbed," they provide a model of reality or a system of interconnected parts that a student can interact with and play with. As they learn about subjects endogenously and through hands-on experiences, kids can take on new identities and roles.

These experiences offer an opportunity for teaching and learning in more understandable and accessible ways, and as we raise awareness of important issues like climate change, we can also aim to change student attitudes and behaviors.

Hundreds of climate change-themed or environmental education games have been designed in recent years-both commercially available products or designed by students and indie game developers in competitions and game jams such as the recent Games for Change climate game jam in NYC. These games vary widely in terms of their goals, features, formats and intended uses.

Image from ecochainsgame.com

When I co-designed EcoChains: Arctic Life (Jogolabs) -a multiplayer tabletop food web building card game - with Arctic researcher and Arizona State University environmental science professor Dr. Stephanie Pfirman, we wanted to create a game that teaches players about climate change through values of empathy and stewardship, and is designed to teach science aligned to Next Generation Science Standards. The goal was for kids to learn about real scientific phenomenon and processes while having fun; we reject the notion that there must be a dichotomy or tradeoff between learning and fun in educational games. Kids are naturally curious and enjoy exploring systems and overcoming game-based challenges. Evidence in playtests in both formal and informal contexts reveals that the game was both effective and enjoyable for parents and kids, as they learned important concepts while protecting animals from threats of carbon pollution and melting sea ice. We have lesson plans for teachers, free printable editions and classroom kits available, as we look to partner with educators to continue development of this game.

Games are less effective when they are preachy or "inject" educational content in a game-like wrapper. Instead, we can provide meaningful experiences that can allow kids to view the world from new perspectives and even motivate actions as part of gameplay.

Well-designed games do this well. Here are a few climate-change-related games in different formats that educate about climate change while keeping kids engaged and entertained.

Tabletop Games

Keep Cool (Spieltrieb). Each player tries to balance competing demands-achieving the goals of one's own country, wrestling with the demands of the oil industry and environmental groups. Decisions-egotistical or altruistic-can determine whether or not various droughts, floods or pandemics occur, or whether the world climate collapses; in other words, everyone loses.

Digital Games or Simulations

In Eco (Strange Loop Games). Amultiplayer survival-oriented game, players must collaborate and wrestle with various ethical decisions in building a shared online world similar to Earth. As part of the experience, players create a civilization together and build economies, enact various laws, and see their effects. As the game was also designed together with scientists, climate models and other details are realistic or inspired by the real world. Teamwork and collaboration skills are necessary for success, making this an intriguing game worth a look.
Pervasive Game or Gamified Apps
A more recent trend, powered by technological advances and sensors found in devices, is a pervasive game or gamified experience. These digital, role-playing, gamified or game-like apps extend the gaming experience at least partly in the real world. Naturally, there are huge opportunities for challenging students to change their behaviors in ecofriendly ways, such as measuring or reducing their carbon footprint.

JouleBug (Cleanbit Systems, Inc.). A mobile app that allows players to compete to see who is the most sustainable and to share green actions with friends. Each time a player does an ecofriendly action such as using a reusable bottle or buying local food products, they "Buzz." The app uses gamification elements like unlockable achievements and a leaderboard, along with social elements including the ability to share photos and comments to provide feedback. Players can also join local communities to learn and discover recent activity and ideas happening nearby.
Joey J. Lee is the director of the Games Research Lab and coordinator of the M.A. program in design and development of digital games at Teachers College, Columbia University.
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Games Can Teach About Climate Change and Motivate Ecofriendly Actions

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The learning opportunities found in well-designed games give students an interactive and entertaining way to learn about environmental issues.

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Video games have come a long way from the Super Mario Bros. games of the '80s and '90s -- and I'm not just talking about graphics. Developers have gotten super creative at sneaking in educational lessons where kids would least expect them. And one of the best ways to learn is when you're having fun.

In addition, an ongoing study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open says that kids who play video games daily show improved cognitive skills in comparison with kids who don't play at all.

Check out our list of mobile apps, PC and video games that can educate and entertain your kids.

Minecraft

What your kids will learn: creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, reading, math and more

World-building game Minecraft lets players explore, gather resources, craft tools and engage in some mild combat. The game has different modes -- survival, creative, adventure, spectator and multiplayer -- so players have flexibility in how they approach it.

Creative freedom and self-direction isn't all that the game lends its players, according to iD Tech. Minecraft teaches teamwork and the motivation to improve reading and math skills. To get better at the game, parents told iD Tech that their kids started reading about biomes and calculating rations for adventures, dividing supplies and how many minutes until "night" in the game. Minecraft's educational benefits have also been packaged for the classroom.

You can play the game on PC, mobile, console, Amazon Fire and Oculus.

The Oregon Trail

What your kids will learn: historical events, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and more

The Oregon Trail came onto the scene in the '70s and has gone through quite a few changes since then. My 10-year-old self spent many an afternoon trying to get my digital wagon 2,000 miles west to safety. Before you start the trip, you pick a job (each has its own unique benefits), name your companions and purchase supplies.

Recent updates to the game let you trade, upgrade your wagon and buy food and medicine to increase your group's chances of survival. Along the trip, your group encounters illness, obstructive rivers, highway bandits, food constraints and other complications of the time. Though the situations are a bit dramatic, players learn fast about pre-planning and making choices with the long term in mind.

I played (and described above) the 5th edition of the game, which you can order on Amazon. If you want a newer mobile experience, you can try The Oregon Trail: American Settler for iOS or The Oregon Trail from Gameloft on Apple Arcade.

Wordscapes

What your kids will learn: vocabulary

Fans of Words with Friends and Scrabble (the app or the board game) may be drawn to Wordscapes, which allows kids to learn new words and practice logic skills. You get unlimited tries to solve crossword-style puzzles using only a handful of letters (with few free hints). The app challenges you on some levels by prohibiting three-letter words and offering daily puzzles that challenge you to guess all the words in a certain order. Wordscapes has a built-in dictionary that makes it easy for kids to add to their vocabularies. You can play on Android and iOS.

The Little Big Planet series

What your kids will learn: logic, spatial orientation skills, design and problem solving

This spunky little game follows the adventures of Sackboy and his friends. The first two games are mostly platform-jumping and avoiding obstacles to make it to the next level. Players can also create their own levels, customize characters or build complex contraptions in a level. Finally, players have the option to share their creations in the PlayStation Network.

The first game, Little Big Planet, was released in 2008 and the creators have released several entries since. Little Big Planet 3 is the newest installment, which introduced three new characters: Toggle, Swoop and Oddsock. The games are available on PSP, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3. You can also check out Little Big Planet Karting and the free Run Sackboy! Run app on Android and iOS.

Portal series

What your kids will learn: logic, problem-solving, physics, math, science and spatial skills

Portal is along the lines of Little Big Planet, but it's a bit more mature. The first Portal got a Teen rating for the inclusion of some bloodstains, but is rated E. The games might be a bit scary or difficult for players under 9, Common Sense Media suggests.

Portal places players in a secret research facility who is led through a series of dangerous tests by a humorously narcissistic AI called GLaDOS. The puzzles are solved by creating an entry portal in a wall, creating an exit portal somewhere else and walking through. Players advance by learning how to manipulate physics and spatial constraints. Just try not to fall forever. Portal and Portal 2 are available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Kerbal Space Program

What your kids will learn: physics, the solar system, mathematics and basic aerospace engineering

Your kids don't have to play in a cardboard box in the yard if they want to be an astronaut. This rocket simulation game focuses on a space program for an alien race called the Kerbals. When you start a game, you'll be tasked with building a rocket that either works or doesn't work, based on " realistic aerodynamic and orbital physics." Once you get your Kerbals into space, you can explore the solar system, build bases and construct space stations. The game got a lot of attention from NASA and the B612 Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to planetary science and planetary defense.

The game has three modes -- Science, Career and Sandbox. Science mode lets players unlock new tech and advance the Kerbals; Career mode has players oversee every aspect of the Kerbal's space program; and Sandbox mode is more freeform play. Kerbal Space Program and its expansions -- Breaking Ground and Making History -- are available for PC and console.

Eloh

What your kids will learn: trigonometry in its basest form, angles and critical thinking

This app is another example of teaching your kids without them knowing they're being taught. Eloh is a visually beautiful musical puzzle game that teases your brain without stressing you out. Each level features island spirits that you can move. Once you get them into the right spot, tap the red speaker and music will start. The goal is to bounce the "sound waves" off the spirits and hit the spiral icon. It's kind of like banking a shot in billiards.

The levels get progressively more challenging, but there's no timer, ads or in-app purchases. The app costs $3 to download on Android or iOS.

Zoombinis

What your kids will learn: logic, patterns, data analysis and problem-solving skills

If you grew up in the '90s, you might remember this game. Zoombinis kept me busy many an afternoon. In the game, you must guide the little blue critters out of the evil Bloats' clutches and home to Zoombiniville. Each of the 12 levels such as Allergic Cliffs, Stone Cold Caves and Pizza Pass get progressively more challenging, with kids using logic and pattern identification to win. Play on iOS, Android or PC.

Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

What your kids will learn: geography, the locations of historic events and other geographical facts.

Google Earth and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Carmen Sandiego games -- The Crown Jewels Caper, The Tutankhamun's Mask Caper and The Keys to the Kremlin -- offer something new while paying homage to the original franchise. Players use the magnifying glass to interview witnesses in different cities and gather clues, learning about geography and history along the way. When you think you've figured out the next step, click the airplane icon to fly to the next city and continue unraveling the mystery. You can play on web browser, Android or iOS.

Nancy Drew Interactive Mysteries

What your kids will learn: historical events and important figures, critical thinking, foreign cultures, languages and customs, problem-solving skills and more

I will shamelessly say that I have played these games since they started making them in 1998 . Some are based on Nancy Drew books (The Secret of the Old Clock game, for instance, is based on the first four books in the series) while others are original mysteries.

The point-and-click games let you play as Nancy, solving a mystery as the amateur detective would. Whether you play as a junior or senior detective, you'll question suspects, solve puzzles, discover clues and find your way out of multiple sticky situations to catch the culprit.

The beauty of these games is that they teach kids without them knowing it. At 9 years old, I knew a ridiculous amount about the Mayan civilization after playing Secret of the Scarlet Hand, as well as the key players in the French Revolution after playing Treasure in the Royal Tower. There are 33 games to date for PC, mobile and certain gaming consoles.

Democracy series

What your kids will learn: multiple layers of government functions like parties, funding, taxes, elections, policy changes, political capital, budgets, debts and more. In addition, they'll learn about compromise, cause and effect, strategy and conflict resolution.

Has your kid ever wanted to be in politics? Now they can try their hand at it with the Democracy game series. In this government simulation game, you play as the president or prime minister of a democratic government and alter policies in the areas of tax, economy, welfare, foreign policy, transport, law and order and public services. The catch, like in real life, is that each policy affects other factors like voter happiness, crime rates and air quality, for example. Players also have to deal with situations like homelessness or protests and make decisions accordingly.

You can play Democracy, Democracy 2, Democracy 3 and Democracy 4 on PC.

National Geographic Challenge

What your kids will learn: historical figures and events, geography and more

The National Geographic Challenge is a quiz game that lives up to the "challenge" part of its name. There's no shortage of questions that range from easy to hard and are divided into regions -- North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Australia. Start a game for up to four players and choose an avatar. You can try to answer 40, 60 or 80 of the game's timed questions. The games are complemented by impressive photography and video from the National Geographic archive.

The National Geographic Challenge will test kids' knowledge with questions like: In what year did Madagascar gain independence from France? In which country does the River Niger reach the sea? The game is available on Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3.

World Rescue

What your kids will learn: geography, conservation and sustainability, global problems, healthy living and activism

World Rescue was developed by ZU Digital with the help of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Think of it as a 21st century Captain Planet, minus the superpowers. The game's levels are set in Kenya, Norway, Brazil, India and China. There, you'll help five heroes solve problems like displacement, disease, deforestation, drought and pollution, giving kids lessons on real-world issues. You can play World Rescue on Android or iOS.

For more, check out our list of the best video games to play in 2021 , best online games to play with friends and seven great kid-friendly gifts that aren't video games .

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13 (Secretly) Educational Video Games That Kids Will Actually Like

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Yes, it's possible for video games to be fun and educational.

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TVO Learn is not available in your area. If you are in Ontario, Canada and believe this is an error, please contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to issue a correction to your IP address.If the problem persists, please contact us for assistance atask@tvo.org We provide free digital learning r…

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https://www.familygamingdatabase.com/en-us/search/list/Get+Children+Reading

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Get Children Reading - Family Gaming Database

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We have partnered with the National Literacy Trust to create this resource of video games that encourage and enable reading and writing skills. - Family Gaming Database

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Canada to Pay Billions to Indigenous Groups for Tainted Drinking Water

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Canada to Pay Billions to Indigenous Groups for Tainted Drinking Water

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A court-approved settlement will compensate Indigenous people for the decades that many have lived with dirty water, and will also fund the clean up.

Buckhorn Lake on Curve Lake First Nation land earlier this month. The reserve was pivotal in bringing forward the civil suit for access to clean drinking water. Credit... Tara Walton for The New York Times

TORONTO - The Federal Court of Canada approved a multi-billion-dollar legal settlement that requires the government to take swifter action to clean up contaminated drinking water on Indigenous reserves and to compensate First Nations for the decades they have gone without access to clean water.

Under the settlement, released by the court late Wednesday, the government will commit to spend at least 6 billion Canadian dollars over nine years to fund water infrastructure and operations on hundreds of reserves, and will pay 1.5 billion dollars in damages to about 140,000 Indigenous people.

In a year that has seen the discoveries of hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children on the grounds of former residential schools, the approval of the settlement is another episode in Canada's reckoning with the vestiges of colonialism.

Since 1977, the government has been promising to provide Indigenous reserves with water and wastewater systems equal to those enjoyed by most Canadians, but has fallen short of the goal and, in March, missed a deadline imposed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Just a month before that deadline, a government audit found that "Indigenous Services Canada did not provide the support necessary to ensure that First Nations communities have ongoing access to safe drinking water," adding that almost half of the existing advisories had been in place for more than a decade.

Chronic underfunding of water infrastructure and operations on Indigenous land has resulted in tens of thousands of people living for longer than one year under orders to boil their drinking water for one minute, and some being told that even their boiled water is not safe for consumption or bathing.

Contaminated and dangerous, especially in cases where E. coli. and high levels of uranium are present, the condition of water on dozens of reserves has created a crisis for First Nations who see water as sacred. Families have been forced to buy their own bottled water, or simply drink the contaminated water if they cannot afford to purchase it, which has been linked to gastrointestinal infections, whooping cough, pneumonia and skin diseases on the reserves, according to the court records.

"Canada's failure to provide safe drinking water has resulted in deep frustration and relationships being tainted by mistrust," Paul Favel, the federal court judge, wrote in his Dec. 22 ruling, calling the settlement a "turning point for Canada and First Nations."

Chief Emily Whetung, a lawyer who leads the Curve Lake First Nation in Ontario, said this settlement won't help all affected Indigenous communities, especially those who experience intermittent water contamination or those served entirely by private wells. But she relished the achievements of the settlement.

Chief Emily Whetung of the Curve Lake First Nation near Buckhorn Lake this month. Credit... Tara Walton for The New York Times

"I'm just so thrilled," said Chief Whetung. "Now that we've turned this corner, we can keep going down this road and ensure that we get access to clean drinking water for all First Nations."

While the settlement was seen as a victory for Indigenous communities, it could also prove to be a political liability for Mr. Trudeau, whose rivals in the recent federal election campaign regularly criticized his government's failure to fulfill its promise to eliminate long-term boil-water advisories.

"It's a problem for his credibility," said Doug McArthur, a professor emeritus in public policy at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. "I think he's going to want to try to use this to show now he will deliver, although it's an embarrassment, again, because it's gone through the courts."

The settlement of 8 billion Canadian dollars, or $6.2 billion, was reached in about two years and was the product of two national class-action lawsuits heard concurrently by the Federal Court of Canada and the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba, the first time the federal court and another superior court have presided over a case together, according to the decision.

On Thursday, the federal government issued a statement saying it looked "forward to implementing this historic settlement."

The approval of the settlement comes just a few weeks after the federal government announced it was committing 40 billion dollars for compensation of residential school survivors and for addressing discrimination against Indigenous children who receive social services.

Curve Lake, an Ojibway First Nation that was pivotal in bringing the civil suit to the federal court, is about 20 miles north of Peterborough, Ontario, a city of over 82,000 residents. But it is not connected to that city's water plant. Instead, 140 of its 700 members on the reserve are serviced by a small water treatment plant built by the federal government in the early 1980s, and face regular short-term boil-water advisories. The rest of the community are served by private wells that are vulnerable to contamination.

When the province of Ontario carried out an inspection in 2017, it found the treatment plant wasn't disinfecting water to the province's safety standards, according to court records. But the federal government, which is responsible for services on reserves, examined the plant and deemed it "low risk."The discrepancy between these two assessments, and a chance conversation between a few legal minds on the reserve, helped galvanize the community to move forward with a civil claim.

They were joined by Neskantaga First Nation, a fly-in community in Ontario that has the country's longest boil water advisory of 25 years. Soon afterward, another lawsuit was filed by Tataskweyak Cree Nation in Manitoba.

Construction in this neighborhood on Curve Lake First Nation stalled due to lack of access to clean drinking water. Credit... Tara Walton for The New York Times

Under the agreed settlement, up to 258 First Nation communities that were ordered for more than a year to boil water will be eligible for damages of at least 500,000 dollars each.

It also includes a 400 million dollar economic and cultural restoration fund, and a commitment from the government to repeal and replace existing First Nations drinking water legislation with laws that they believe will more fairly allocate funding for water treatment.

The settlement also implements a dispute resolution process that empowers reserve communities to hold the government accountable to its new commitments and timelines.

"That's a radically different arrangement from the way things are done today, where this idea of delivering safe drinking water is a political promise," Michael Rosenberg, one of the lawyers representing the First Nations, said in an interview earlier this month. Currently, he said, "it depends on the political will of the government of the day."

As of Dec. 17, according to the ministry's data, 29 communities are facing 38 long-term boil-water orders, and 124 such advisories have been lifted since November 2015. As some are resolved, others have been identified.

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Canada to Pay Billions to Indigenous Groups for Tainted Drinking Water

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A court-approved settlement will compensate Indigenous people for the decades that many have lived with dirty water, and will also fund the clean up. TORONTO - The Federal Court of Canada approved a multi-billion-dollar legal settlement that requires the government to take swifter action to clean up contaminated drinking water on Indigenous reserves and to compensate First Nations for the decades they have gone without access to clean water.

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Exploring the Sacred Hoop | EdCan Network

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HOW DO WE INFUSE INDIGENOUS perspectives into our work on educator wellbeing and workplace wellness? This is the question our writing team asked ourselves as we began working on the book, Teacher, Take Care: A guide to wellbeing and workplace wellness for educators. We wanted to infuse Indigenous knowledge throughout the book as a means [...]

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Teaching about complex interconnected systems like global climate change can be difficult. There are many unseen pieces affecting the greater whole that young people (and many adults) might not understand. One approach to lifting this conceptual curtain for students is assigning the BrainPOP video on the topic prior to class, flipping the instruction. Try BrainPOP's Make-a-Map tool, which is an open-ended concept map, a playful assessment, to have students demonstrate interconnections.

Making Climate Change Games

At a recent conference, I learned about EcoChains: Arctic Crisis. This multiplayer card game was produced by the Games Research Lab at Columbia University's Teachers College, and was part of a National Science Foundation grant on climate change education. To play, you build food webs using cards adorned with different animals, which sit upon sea ice cards. Larger animals require more ice to survive upon, which illustrates through play how climate change affects polar regions more immediately than temperate zones. The game has "event cards," which can melt or remove a player's ice cards. Pull a coal card and your polar bear might lose its habitat entirely. There are also green energy event cards (e.g., solar, wind) that return ice level cards to a player's deck. Playing the game will engage your students in experiential learning about the causes and effects of global climate change. Check out lesson ideas, quickstart guides, and videos at EcoChains: Arctic Crisis.

When students make their own climate-themed games, they will gain a deeper understanding of the topic. I recommend the game jam model, in which participants work in teams to design a game based on a theme -- in this case, global climate change. A game jam is essentially a game about making a game, and it's perfect for a PBL science classroom. Students can work in teams researching subtopics, like water pollution or sea levels, and then select a design tool to use, like Scratch, Gamestar Mechanic, or graph paper and dice for a non-digital game.

This spring I took part in Climate Game Jam: Water, organized by NOAA. It was a follow-up event to October 2015's Climate Game Jam. The water topic was announced in a March 2016 White House Fact Sheet on building a sustainable water future. The themes specific to this jam included:

Changing precipitation patterns

Freshwater supply and sources

Ocean acidification

Polar issues

Human use of water

Marine/freshwater ecosystems

There were also different game categories:

Hack this game (remix from a template)

Paper prototype

Analog game

Basic digital game

Advanced digital game

Game Jamming to Learn About Complex Systems

The event, coordinated by Peg Steffen, who manages the NOAA Games website, offered an opportunity for student participants to work together on climate game prototypes with facilitators and educators. It was hosted at several places around the country, as well as one in the island of Palau! I helped out at one of the New York City sites: BrainPOP's headquarters. Here, participants first deconstructed the components of the classic pencil-and-paper game Tic-Tac-Toe. Then, in small groups, they "hacked" it by changing the rules of the game's system. Some added extra boxes, while others used dice to add in elements of chance. Finally, groups shared out their creations. At this point, groups chose one of two different rooms, each featuring a different authoring tool.

One room used a Scratch template. Mouse.org's Alex Fleming created it and ran the station. (Mouse.org is a nonprofit that brings STEM opportunities to students in New York City). I was in charge of the Twine station. Twine is a free tool to write choice-based stories. Here, participants had a few more options: create an original story (which many did), or use the story prompts created by BrainPOP's Kevin Miklasz, or the one written by my seventh-grade students about the plight of a whale in polluted waters.

At the conclusion of the afternoon, everyone reconvened to share out games. The Scratch games added to the template, hacking it to be about climate change and water. One group's game changed the goal to be about saving fish, polar bears, and birds. In the Twine station, two groups authored original, branched stories. One was about keeping a lake free from pollutants, while the other included silly meme images in addition to the text. Make the wrong choice about not turning off that faucet and you might see Grumpy Cat telling you that you chose the "wrong answer!" Many of the completed prototyped games were recorded using an iPad camera for submitting them to the jam's national website, as well as the students' digital portfolios. Aside from learning about climate change, water, and game design on a Saturday afternoon, everyone had fun!

Consider having your students play and make games in your science classroom next year. Climate Game Jam offers many resources on climate change. Students can freely remix the Scratch template that we used. And the assets of the two Twine starters, as well as an easy-to-follow, how-to guide, are in this Dropbox folder.

What are some playful and innovative ways that you're using to teach complex systems, like climate change? Please share in the comments below!

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Climate Change and Game-Based Learning | Edutopia

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Teaching about complex interconnected systems like global climate change can be difficult. There are many unseen pieces affecting the greater whole that young people (and many adults) might not understand. One approach to lifting this conceptual curtain for students is assigning the BrainPOP video on the topic prior to class, flipping the instruction.

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Using Game-based Learning in the Classroom to Develop Productive Struggle

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Remaining long-term drinking water advisories

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Remaining long-term drinking water advisories

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Remaining long-term drinking water advisories

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Indigenous Services Canada - Achieving clean drinking water in First Nations communities

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Diversity Picture Books + Corresponding Lesson Plans

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Diversity Picture Books + Corresponding Lesson Plans

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The story of Ruby Bridges
- Robert Coles

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2TO0Tka
Indigo: https://bit.ly/2YuzimH

Focus: Racism

Recommended Grade: 5

Contributor: Rosanna Bernardo

Henry's freedom box
- Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2SBpbeq
Indigo: https://bit.ly/2SCN9WB

Focus: Racism

Recommended Grade: 5

Contributor: Hayley Lukich

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The story of Ruby Bridges - Robert Coles Amazon: https://amzn.to/2TO0Tka Indigo: https://bit.ly/2YuzimH Focus: Racism Recommended Grade: 5 Contributor: Rosanna Bernardo Henry's freedom box - Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson Amazon: https://amzn.to/2SBpbeq Indigo: https://bit.ly/2SCN9WB Focus: Racism Recommended Grade: 5 Contributor: Hayley Lukich

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Here's how nearly one million teachers use Prodigy in the classroom at no cost!

Help students master math standards with a fun and engaging gameplay experience

Adjust and align Prodigy's in-game math content with your lesson plans

Track student development to decide where to best spend your time

No trial period, no hidden costs for educators. Our optional parent memberships ensure Prodigy stays free for all teachers.

Prodigy for Teachers

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Here's how nearly one million teachers use Prodigy in the classroom at no cost! Help students master math standards with a fun and engaging gameplay experience Adjust and align Prodigy's in-game math content with your lesson plans Track student development to decide where to best spend your time No trial period, no hidden costs for educators.

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Gone are the days of textbook-only learning. As an educator, you've likely experienced firsthand how challenging it is to meet the needs of different types of learners - all while trying to keep student engagement high.

Game-based learning is one teaching strategy that's growing increasingly popular to help students achieve their learning objectives. Especially as:

1. Students are becoming tech savvy at an earlier age

2. Educational technology companies are developing more products

And rightly so. In a 2018 study, researchers found "evidence that the use of educational games could support and increase the mathematics learning outcomes." Another 2018 systematic review of game-based learning highlighted research that found "educational games play a successful role in terms of both a better understanding of the course content by the students and the participation of the students in this process." Since then, the amount of research on game-based learning has continued to soar.

Below, we'll dive into what game-based learning is, the benefits and drawbacks, as well as types of game-based learning educators like you can use every day.

What is game-based learning (GBL)?

Game-based learning is a teaching method that uses the power of games to define and support learning outcomes.
A GBL environment achieves this through educational games that have elements such as engagement, immediate rewards and healthy competition. All so that while students play, they stay motivated to learn.

The great thing about game-based learning is everyone can reap its benefits, from preschool all the way up to post-secondary education and beyond. Where and how doesn't matter, either - students can learn:

With online games

In person with physical objects

Independently or as part of a team

Game-based learning vs. Gamification

If you're experienced with GBL, chances are you've come across the terms "gamified" or "gamification." And while they're similar, the two applications are distinctly different.

In game-based learning, teachers incorporate learning activities through games to refresh old concepts or solidify new ones.

By leveraging today's students' intimate knowledge of gameplay, teachers can create exciting learning environments that increase student engagement.

Gamification is about bringing aspects of game-design into the learning process. This includes features like:

Earning badges

Using points systems

Getting on leaderboards

Collecting other rewards

However, the biggest difference between game-based learning and gamification is its application in non-game settings. In your classroom, gamification could mean creating a leaderboard for students who finish their homework on time every day, and getting some kind of prize for the longest streak every month.

Example: Game-based learning vs gamified learning

Here's an example to illustrate the differences between GBL and gamified learning:

Scenario: Teaching mathematics to students in 3rd grade.

Game-Based Learning: You would use an application like Prodigy Math. In this game, players explore a fantasy world where they complete quests, take part in magic battles and collect in-game "Pets". To progress, students must answer standards-aligned questions set by their teacher.

Gamified Learning: Students earn points or badges for completing problems or math worksheets for third graders. A leaderboard could be used to track progress and create a sense of competition.

Digital game-based learning (DGBL)

In an increasingly tech-filled world, DGBL takes things one step further and harnesses technology to help make game-based learning even more engaging and effective. As defined in our digital game-based learning article, it:

"Offers a delicate balance between in-class lessons and educational gameplay. Teachers introduce students to new concepts and show them how they work. Then students practice these concepts through digital games."

A good DGBL platform should seamlessly track progress as students work through subject matter and help identify where students are excelling, as well as where they need support.

Example of DGBL: Prodigy Math

Prodigy Math is an engaging, standards-aligned, digital game-based learning platform that checks all those boxes. Success in the game requires students to correctly answer math questions which adapt to their learning needs, and gives teachers the ability to differentiate!

Educators, get full access for free

Combined with your teaching style and continued lesson plans, you'll likely have a lot of success when you implement digital game-based learning in the classroom.

Traditional game-based learning

GBL wasn't always digital, of course. Take formative, non-digital childhood games like Simon says or Duck-Duck-Goose, for example.

Teachers would - and still do - pepper the traditional learning environment with them to help teach students how to understand classroom rules, the importance of paying attention and to improve motor skills. All while having fun.

Top benefits of game-based learning

Some educators and researchers still argue that game-based learning can be detrimental to educational experience.

However, studies continue to show that games can positively impact things like students' math and language learning in many ways. Game-based learning:

Helps problem-solving - Game-based learning can help students solve problems by fostering skills like understanding causation, logic and decision making they can use in life outside of school.

Addresses special education needs - GBL positively impacts special education classrooms, too, according to this 2020 literature review. Researchers found that for students with individualized education plans, "game-based learning is a must to help guide instruction, create a positive environment, and generate academic success... [And students] with autism [are] more successful and motivated when using computerized games for academic lessons."

Potential drawbacks of game-based learning

As we mentioned above, not everyone is convinced of game-based learning just yet. GBL's purpose was never to replace teachers and traditional learning, but to help positively augment it.

Depending on your personal teaching approaches or a student's individual learning style, there can be drawbacks to game-based learning:

Too much screen time

Games aren't always created equally

Games can be a source of distraction

It requires a technology learning curve

Doesn't replace traditional learning strategies

Not always aligned to teaching or learning goals

Researchers still have much to study about GBL and, if not implemented effectively, teachers and students can have a poor experience.

However, we hope resources such as the one you're reading now help empower educators and students alike to benefit from game-based learning - in school and beyond!

7 Types of game-based learning

Exploring the world of GBL will open the door to many types and examples of games, whether you teach pre-kindergarten, elementary or high school students.

Compared to games outside of the education space, "serious games" are ones designed to teach or help students practice specific skills or content.

Some of the most common game-based learning examples include:

1. Simulation games - A game designed to closely simulate real-world activities. The Sims, which launched in 2000, is one of the most popular series of life simulation games that involves creating and exploring virtual worlds.

2. Word games - A game that's typically designed to explore the properties of language or the ability to use a language itself. Scrabble is an example of a traditional word game while the app Words With Friends is a more modern one.

3. Video games - an electronic game wherein players can manipulate what appears on the screen with, for example, a joystick, controller or keyboard. A couple that might pop into your head are the decades-old classic Pac-Man, or, more recently, Fortnite.

4. Role-playing games (RPGs) - a game in which players assume the role of imaginary characters who engage in adventures. A popular fantasy tabletop RPG is Dungeons & Dragons and was first introduced in 1974. Prodigy Math is also a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) where 1st to 8th grade students go on exciting adventures and correctly answer curriculum-aligned math questions to progress.

Of course, the types of game-based learning you choose to use may depend on the students to have in a given year. But you have plenty of options if GBL is something you want to try this year!

Learn more about Prodigy for teachers
How game-based learning drives a strong learning experience

Do you remember the first time a new concept finally clicked after learning through play? Maybe you experienced something similar as a student or in an effective professional development session.

If you have, you recognize the power game-based learning can have on one's personal learning journey. As a company rooted in game-based learning, we witness it every day: students who play Prodigy Math and develop a love of math that wasn't there before.

Whether you're planning to apply it to in-person learning or e-learning, do so with an open mind. You may be surprised how much you - and your students - love game-based learning.

3 Successful case studies of game-based learning in action

1. Prodigy Math helped bridge learning gaps in West Haralson Elementary School

Prodigy Math is a game-based learning platform for 1st to 8th grade. In this fantasy-inspired game, students are magical wizards who complete quests and take part in thrilling wizards battles. To progress in the game, students answer standards-aligned math questions set by their teacher.

As well as the game itself, Prodigy Math includes a teacher dashboard with features that let teachers tailor content to their teaching, curriculum and individual student needs. They are also able to get insightful data reports on how each student is progressing, ideal for spotting gaps in knowledge.

When educators at West Haralson Elementary School used Prodigy, they reported many benefits, including:

More engagement in student learning

Better support in spotting and solving learning gaps

Better academic outcomes in grade level performance

Hear more from the educator themselves below:

2. Game-based learning vocabulary acquisition

Higher education is known for being slower to respond to technological changes, but there might be some promising news for instructions at this level.

In a recent 2020 study, an educational video game, named 'Programmer Adventure Land', was created to improve college students' understanding of computer programming. Using a problem-based strategy, the game served as an innovative courseware that aimed to make learning more engaging and effective.

The findings of the study were quite promising. The problem-based approach used in 'Programmer Adventure Land' not only improved students' enjoyment and motivation but also boosted their satisfaction with learning. Most significantly, the study suggests that such interactive game-based platforms can be an effective teaching tool, especially for challenging subjects like computer programming. It indicates that leveraging the power of games can greatly enhance the learning experience.

3. Quizziz boosted vocabulary acquisition

In a 2023 study involving 69 eighth-grade students learning English as a foreign language (EFL), a digital game-based learning tool, "Quizziz," was used to test vocabulary acquisition skills. Similar to the popular Kahoot game, Quizziz has an quiz-style approach embedded in its game mechanics.

For this study, the students were divided into an experimental group, which used Quizziz for vocabulary practice, and a control group, which practiced vocabulary traditionally in their native language.

The results showed that the experimental group notably outperformed the control group, demonstrating the effectiveness of digital game-based learning.

The students expressed positive views about this approach, noting that game elements like power-ups, competition and instant feedback boosted their motivation to learn. Hence, digital game-based learning has been targeted as a way to boost foreign vocabulary acquisition in foreign languages.

Because it's online, adaptive and highly engaging, Prodigy's math platform is ideally suited to help parents and teachers ensure their students are learning math in either an in-person, virtual, or hybrid learning environment.

There are three product attributes that I'd like to highlight here which can help in either scenario: world-class student engagement, easy assessment and remediation, and a shared data set between home and school.

Prodigy creates fun and effective game-based learning experiences

Discover how we design, build and deliver incredibly engaging learning experiences for students, teachers and parents.

Or get started today!

Gone are the days of textbook-only learning. As an educator, you've likely experienced firsthand how challenging it is to meet the needs of different types of learners - all while trying to keep student engagement high.

Game-based learning is one teaching strategy that's growing increasingly popular to help students achieve their learning objectives. Especially as:

1. Students are becoming tech savvy at an earlier age

2. Educational technology companies are developing more products

And rightly so. In a 2018 study, researchers found "evidence that the use of educational games could support and increase the mathematics learning outcomes." Another 2018 systematic review of game-based learning highlighted research that found "educational games play a successful role in terms of both a better understanding of the course content by the students and the participation of the students in this process." Since then, the amount of research on game-based learning has continued to soar.

Below, we'll dive into what game-based learning is, the benefits and drawbacks, as well as types of game-based learning educators like you can use every day.

What is game-based learning (GBL)?

Game-based learning is a teaching method that uses the power of games to define and support learning outcomes.
A GBL environment achieves this through educational games that have elements such as engagement, immediate rewards and healthy competition. All so that while students play, they stay motivated to learn.

The great thing about game-based learning is everyone can reap its benefits, from preschool all the way up to post-secondary education and beyond. Where and how doesn't matter, either - students can learn:

With online games

In person with physical objects

Independently or as part of a team

Game-based learning vs. Gamification

If you're experienced with GBL, chances are you've come across the terms "gamified" or "gamification." And while they're similar, the two applications are distinctly different.

In game-based learning, teachers incorporate learning activities through games to refresh old concepts or solidify new ones.

By leveraging today's students' intimate knowledge of gameplay, teachers can create exciting learning environments that increase student engagement.

Gamification is about bringing aspects of game-design into the learning process. This includes features like:

Earning badges

Using points systems

Getting on leaderboards

Collecting other rewards

However, the biggest difference between game-based learning and gamification is its application in non-game settings. In your classroom, gamification could mean creating a leaderboard for students who finish their homework on time every day, and getting some kind of prize for the longest streak every month.

Example: Game-based learning vs gamified learning

Here's an example to illustrate the differences between GBL and gamified learning:

Scenario: Teaching mathematics to students in 3rd grade.

Game-Based Learning: You would use an application like Prodigy Math. In this game, players explore a fantasy world where they complete quests, take part in magic battles and collect in-game "Pets". To progress, students must answer standards-aligned questions set by their teacher.

Gamified Learning: Students earn points or badges for completing problems or math worksheets for third graders. A leaderboard could be used to track progress and create a sense of competition.

Digital game-based learning (DGBL)

In an increasingly tech-filled world, DGBL takes things one step further and harnesses technology to help make game-based learning even more engaging and effective. As defined in our digital game-based learning article, it:

"Offers a delicate balance between in-class lessons and educational gameplay. Teachers introduce students to new concepts and show them how they work. Then students practice these concepts through digital games."

A good DGBL platform should seamlessly track progress as students work through subject matter and help identify where students are excelling, as well as where they need support.

Example of DGBL: Prodigy Math

Prodigy Math is an engaging, standards-aligned, digital game-based learning platform that checks all those boxes. Success in the game requires students to correctly answer math questions which adapt to their learning needs, and gives teachers the ability to differentiate!

Educators, get full access for free

Combined with your teaching style and continued lesson plans, you'll likely have a lot of success when you implement digital game-based learning in the classroom.

Traditional game-based learning

GBL wasn't always digital, of course. Take formative, non-digital childhood games like Simon says or Duck-Duck-Goose, for example.

Teachers would - and still do - pepper the traditional learning environment with them to help teach students how to understand classroom rules, the importance of paying attention and to improve motor skills. All while having fun.

Top benefits of game-based learning

Some educators and researchers still argue that game-based learning can be detrimental to educational experience.

However, studies continue to show that games can positively impact things like students' math and language learning in many ways. Game-based learning:

Helps problem-solving - Game-based learning can help students solve problems by fostering skills like understanding causation, logic and decision making they can use in life outside of school.

Addresses special education needs - GBL positively impacts special education classrooms, too, according to this 2020 literature review. Researchers found that for students with individualized education plans, "game-based learning is a must to help guide instruction, create a positive environment, and generate academic success... [And students] with autism [are] more successful and motivated when using computerized games for academic lessons."

Potential drawbacks of game-based learning

As we mentioned above, not everyone is convinced of game-based learning just yet. GBL's purpose was never to replace teachers and traditional learning, but to help positively augment it.

Depending on your personal teaching approaches or a student's individual learning style, there can be drawbacks to game-based learning:

Too much screen time

Games aren't always created equally

Games can be a source of distraction

It requires a technology learning curve

Doesn't replace traditional learning strategies

Not always aligned to teaching or learning goals

Researchers still have much to study about GBL and, if not implemented effectively, teachers and students can have a poor experience.

However, we hope resources such as the one you're reading now help empower educators and students alike to benefit from game-based learning - in school and beyond!

7 Types of game-based learning

Exploring the world of GBL will open the door to many types and examples of games, whether you teach pre-kindergarten, elementary or high school students.

Compared to games outside of the education space, "serious games" are ones designed to teach or help students practice specific skills or content.

Some of the most common game-based learning examples include:

1. Simulation games - A game designed to closely simulate real-world activities. The Sims, which launched in 2000, is one of the most popular series of life simulation games that involves creating and exploring virtual worlds.

2. Word games - A game that's typically designed to explore the properties of language or the ability to use a language itself. Scrabble is an example of a traditional word game while the app Words With Friends is a more modern one.

3. Video games - an electronic game wherein players can manipulate what appears on the screen with, for example, a joystick, controller or keyboard. A couple that might pop into your head are the decades-old classic Pac-Man, or, more recently, Fortnite.

4. Role-playing games (RPGs) - a game in which players assume the role of imaginary characters who engage in adventures. A popular fantasy tabletop RPG is Dungeons & Dragons and was first introduced in 1974. Prodigy Math is also a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) where 1st to 8th grade students go on exciting adventures and correctly answer curriculum-aligned math questions to progress.

Of course, the types of game-based learning you choose to use may depend on the students to have in a given year. But you have plenty of options if GBL is something you want to try this year!

Learn more about Prodigy for teachers
How game-based learning drives a strong learning experience

Do you remember the first time a new concept finally clicked after learning through play? Maybe you experienced something similar as a student or in an effective professional development session.

If you have, you recognize the power game-based learning can have on one's personal learning journey. As a company rooted in game-based learning, we witness it every day: students who play Prodigy Math and develop a love of math that wasn't there before.

Whether you're planning to apply it to in-person learning or e-learning, do so with an open mind. You may be surprised how much you - and your students - love game-based learning.

3 Successful case studies of game-based learning in action

1. Prodigy Math helped bridge learning gaps in West Haralson Elementary School

Prodigy Math is a game-based learning platform for 1st to 8th grade. In this fantasy-inspired game, students are magical wizards who complete quests and take part in thrilling wizards battles. To progress in the game, students answer standards-aligned math questions set by their teacher.

As well as the game itself, Prodigy Math includes a teacher dashboard with features that let teachers tailor content to their teaching, curriculum and individual student needs. They are also able to get insightful data reports on how each student is progressing, ideal for spotting gaps in knowledge.

When educators at West Haralson Elementary School used Prodigy, they reported many benefits, including:

More engagement in student learning

Better support in spotting and solving learning gaps

Better academic outcomes in grade level performance

Hear more from the educator themselves below:

2. Game-based learning vocabulary acquisition

Higher education is known for being slower to respond to technological changes, but there might be some promising news for instructions at this level.

In a recent 2020 study, an educational video game, named 'Programmer Adventure Land', was created to improve college students' understanding of computer programming. Using a problem-based strategy, the game served as an innovative courseware that aimed to make learning more engaging and effective.

The findings of the study were quite promising. The problem-based approach used in 'Programmer Adventure Land' not only improved students' enjoyment and motivation but also boosted their satisfaction with learning. Most significantly, the study suggests that such interactive game-based platforms can be an effective teaching tool, especially for challenging subjects like computer programming. It indicates that leveraging the power of games can greatly enhance the learning experience.

3. Quizziz boosted vocabulary acquisition

In a 2023 study involving 69 eighth-grade students learning English as a foreign language (EFL), a digital game-based learning tool, "Quizziz," was used to test vocabulary acquisition skills. Similar to the popular Kahoot game, Quizziz has an quiz-style approach embedded in its game mechanics.

For this study, the students were divided into an experimental group, which used Quizziz for vocabulary practice, and a control group, which practiced vocabulary traditionally in their native language.

The results showed that the experimental group notably outperformed the control group, demonstrating the effectiveness of digital game-based learning.

The students expressed positive views about this approach, noting that game elements like power-ups, competition and instant feedback boosted their motivation to learn. Hence, digital game-based learning has been targeted as a way to boost foreign vocabulary acquisition in foreign languages.

Because it's online, adaptive and highly engaging, Prodigy's math platform is ideally suited to help parents and teachers ensure their students are learning math in either an in-person, virtual, or hybrid learning environment.

There are three product attributes that I'd like to highlight here which can help in either scenario: world-class student engagement, easy assessment and remediation, and a shared data set between home and school.

Prodigy creates fun and effective game-based learning experiences

Discover how we design, build and deliver incredibly engaging learning experiences for students, teachers and parents.

Or get started today!

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Game-Based Learning: Pros, Cons & Implementation Tips for Educators

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Gone are the days of textbook-only learning. As an educator, you've likely experienced firsthand how challenging it is to meet the needs of different types of learners - all while trying to keep student engagement high. Game-based learning is one teaching strategy that's growing increasingly popular to help students achieve their learning objectives.

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IXL | Words with pre- | Grade 6 English language arts

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Improve your English language arts knowledge with free questions in “Words with pre-” and thousands of other English language arts skills.

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Preparing for Cultural Diversity: Resources for Teachers

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How can teachers prepare for diverse classrooms? There isn’t a definitive answer, but there is a wealth of resources online. Discover some helpful links for teachers.

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Workforce Readiness

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The Key Role of Coding in Literacy Development

To achieve full literacy, all literacy skills must be developed together and equally: reading, writing, listening, speaking, and comprehension. If students are not being taught all of these skill areas together and in full integration, then illiteracy develops.

Linguists have consistently emphasized these areas of literacy in terms of second-language learning or multilanguage learning. Often, students who are learning a second or third language have better literacy skills than other students because of this. Yet, they are often thought of as performing at a lower level than other students and are excluded in some school systems from higher-order thinking challenges.

In a 2017 article, I address the changing literacy that new and newer technology brings and how meaning is deciphered differently by users compared to non-users. Additionally, the article discusses the differences between younger and older people in terms of how they understand what is meant in various technology environments. What is interesting too is how coding can support a wider literacy development overall.
Coding's Impact on Language Development
All languages support literacy development due to the skills required to use language. For years, linguists have discussed the importance of developing all aspects of literacy when learning a second language. Teachers of ESL have studied the importance of integrating all literacy skills in order for students to learn the language more efficiently. Now, with the rise in coding teaching and learning, it is becoming apparent that, because coding involves "computer languages," literacy skills are benefiting as a result, and literacy itself is becoming a wider-scoped set of skills and with an increased benefit across all disciplines.

"Computer literacy" and now "digital literacy" may or may not include direct knowledge of coding, but do address forms of literacy that are developing as a result of the growing use of technology. The knowledge of how to use computers well, as well as the various benefits of digital tools and environments, are increasingly important for all learners, particularly in preparation for future employment.

In general, these literacies help to develop thinking skills, logical reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and innovation. All of these skills benefit many areas of work. The actual languages used in coding, however, also specifically develop language skills as they serve the same function as any language - to convey meaning to computers and users. They also require being able to manipulate the code to more directly and effectively communicate with computers in order to benefit the end result.

Therefore, literacy is expanding to include other thinking and reasoning skills. Social linguists have long emphasized the social importance of language, emphasizing that language should not be learned in a vacuum but with a useable social context. The same is true of the expanded new literacy: While including conventional literacy development and use, it also expands to include digital literacy or "new literacy," as it is often referred to. In a Nord Anglia (2020) article, the author explains as one of five benefits to learning coding that they list:
"Our ability to quickly pick up complex or technical tasks diminishes with age. For example, the older you become the harder it is to learn a new language. "The same goes for technology use and, more precisely, coding. Today, the importance of learning to code rivals even that of reading and writing. It's a core skill that can help a child develop a deeper understanding of how technology works. Given the extent to which technology shapes our lives, learning to code helps develop a better understanding of the world around us."

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The Key Role of Coding in Literacy Development -- Campus Technology

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Coding skills have long been associated with workforce readiness and the digital fluency that students will need to thrive in the modern workplace. But the benefits of coding also extend to more fundamental challenges of literacy and language development.

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In the 20th Century game-based learning in education took hold worldwide. Games such as Space War!, Sumerian Game, Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and Sim City began to appear in classrooms. Though long-known to educators, an official theory of game-based learning was formally introduced by Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky who are credited with naming, and advocating game-based learning in education as a pedagogical approach.
Also Read: Is Game-Based Learning the Future of Education?
Game-Based Learning & Classroom Gamification: Subtle Differences

In short order, two unique but closely related concepts developed: game-based learning and classroom gamification. Game-based learning is the use of a game as a learning tool. The game may be a standalone tool, though it aligns with the classroom curriculum. Classroom gamification, on the other hand, is loosely defined as a process of adding game elements to instruction to increase engagement. Classroom gamification often has students divided into teams to compete against other students, often via an educational video game.

Reasons for Integrating Games in Education

Online game-based learning not only engages students but also enhances their learning experiences. Studies show that game-based learning in education offers benefits such as:

Offering students a multi-sensory learning experience

Providing active and experiential learning opportunities

Enhances problem-solving and decision-making skills

Helps students with understanding and memorization

Motivates students

Helps students to better focus their

Bolstering knowledge retention

Nurturing social skills and peer communication

Indeed, interactive, online game-based learning tools are a powerful arsenal in any educator's toolbox. However, integrating games in education is not an endeavor to be taken without a carefully planned implementation.

Integrating Games in Education: 7 Steps to Take

Before introducing a video game to any classroom, educators should plan for a responsible integration process. These seven steps can help with the integration of game-based learning in the classroom.

1.Define Clear Learning Objectives From Game-Based Learning Games

Before introducing digital learning games, clear learning objectives that align with the curriculum should be defined. As such, educators ought to determine the specific skills or knowledge areas that the game must address. Defining and confirming these objectives are met will ensure that educators select game-based learning games that meet educational requirements and maximize learning.

2.Choose High-Quality Digital Learning Games

There is no shortage of games available to help educators with classroom gamification. Unfortunately, not all game-based learning games are created equal. Educators will need to ensure that only high-quality digital learning games are integrated into the classroom.

High-quality games for the classroom will offer:

3. Provide Thorough Instruction Before Launching Online Game-Based Learning

To maximize the usefulness of game-based learning in education, educators should plan to provide thorough pre-game instruction. The learning objectives should be made clear to students. Relevant concepts should be taught. Students should understand why the game supplements their current field of study. Lastly, the expectations of students after playing the game should be made clear. Providing thorough instruction is essential to successfully integrate games into education, irrespective of the subject matter.

4. Promote Collaboration and Communication As Part of Classroom Gamification

Classroom gamification often involves dividing students into teams. This helps to promote collaboration and communication between students. It also fosters an environment conducive to creative thinking, a free flow of ideas, strategic thinking, and problem-solving. When games are integrated thoughtfully, classroom gamification breeds innovation, cooperation, and critical thinking skills.

Post-game discussion is also useful as it helps to reinforce learning objectives, solidify a deeper understanding of the subject matter, and foster a sense of camaraderie among students.

5. Balance Game-Based Education With Traditional Educational Instruction

Game-based learning in education is not meant to replace educators. Although games are often enjoyed by educators and even enjoyable for students, they should not replace lectures, textbook reading, or manual problem-solving. Instead, games should be balanced with traditional instruction.

Educators will need to determine an appropriate balance between game-based education and traditional instruction, to fulfill curriculum. Because each game and grade level is unique, it will be up to the educator to determine how much time is spent on game-based learning in the classroom.

6. Monitor Students' Online Game-Based Learning Progress

A key benefit of game-based learning in education is that results are immediate, allowing educators to provide instant feedback and real-time observation of progress. Gentle corrections, reinforced objectives, and constructive criticism can be delivered while students are playing the games. This is in contrast to delayed feedback, such as that given after a student has completed, for example, a history essay, or a science exam. The immediate feedback loop can help students to work on their weaknesses in real-time, address areas needing improvement, and foster a growth mindset that can enhance their learning experience.

7. Reflect and Evaluate the Effectiveness of Game-Based Learning in Classroom

After integrating game-based learning in the classroom, educators should plan to take time to evaluate and reflect on the usefulness and effectiveness of various game-based learning games. Is a particular game accomplishing its goals? Is it too challenging for students to be useful? Conversely, is it too easy for your students? Game-based learning in education must be regularly evaluated and analyzed to ensure it continues to meet educational requirements.

Educators may also wish to ask their students for their thoughts on various games. Do they feel that a particular game has any unique benefits (aside from being fun to play)? Did they learn anything new from the game? Can they reiterate the learning objectives after playing the games? Reflection and evaluation will help educators to determine which digital learning games are helpful, and which should not be used in the future.

The Future is Here with Game-Based Learning in Education

Hurix, together with Game Learning , provides premium game-based learning games for K-12 students. Game Learning's digital learning games are available for Maths, Science, History, and ELA. To learn more about integrating game-based learning in education, contact us today .

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Best Practices for Integrating Game-Based Learning in K-12 Education

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Experience the power of game-based learning in education. Engage students, foster critical thinking, collaboration & innovation for an effective learning journey!

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Many parents are often concerned about their children's academic performance and progress. They are often frustrated when the kid's writing skills are not up to par for their age. Students struggling with this issue had poor performance in school and lacked confidence in their abilities. However, there are various ways to enhance a student's spelling vocabulary, including online games. They are designed to increase children's creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills in a fun and interactive way. This article explores ten outstanding educational games that help learners to be better writers.

How such Games Help to Develop Essay Writing Skills

Many teachers and parents are turning to the Internet to boost their children's vocabulary and critical thinking. The online games listed in this article require students to think critically about the game and articulate their thoughts in a well-organized and coherent manner. They teach the players to organize ideas, develop a clear thesis statement, and support arguments with evidence.

These video games assist in learning how to gather information from various sources and synthesize it into a cohesive piece of writing. However, you may need professional help with an argumentative essay if you still have difficulty creating a well-structured and outlined report. Experienced experts provide assistance and guidance on research and appropriate sources to support the arguments. They also give a fresh perspective and offer insights and ideas that will give you a concise argumentative essay and increase your skills. The following are the top games that promise to transform writing while having fun.

1. Grammar Gorillas

This product by Funbrain has been widely recognized as one of the most creative writing games. It features a hungry gorilla character that can only be fed by correctly identifying parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. The writing game has various difficulty levels, making it suitable for different age groups. It reinforces your understanding of grammar rules and conventions.
Pros
● It helps in identifying and correcting common grammar errors when proofreading.
● Enhance your vocabulary and understanding of word usage.
Cons
● It might not be enough to address other writing issues, like organization, coherence, and clarity.

2. Fade Out

Language created the innovative video game Is A Virus, a website dedicated to promoting creativity and improving writing activities through various games and exercises. Fade Out challenges players to curate a short story or essay based on a prompt but with a twist. As you write, the screen gradually fades until it is completely black. This is particularly useful for those struggling with focusing on a writing task. Some top advantages and disadvantages of Fade Out are:

Pros
● Overcoming writer's block.
● Timer to increase player's efficiency.
● Practicing different types of writing, such as descriptive, narrative, or persuasive.
Cons
● Not customizable.
● Lack of feedback.

3. Story Dice

It is another resource developed by Language Is A Virus to enhance creative writing. It uses a set of dice displaying six words after it is rolled to inspire players to create unique, entertaining, and imaginative stories. The video game is an excellent tool for creating an engaging, coherent, well-structured narrative. The followings are some benefits and drawbacks of this writing game.
Pros
● Stimulates creativity.
● Improves vocabulary and spontaneous writing.
● Enhance collaborations.
Cons
● Lack of structures and feedback.
● Limited prompts.
● The image generated might not always be relevant to the topics or assignments a student is working on.

4. BrainPOP Junior

The online educational platform offers games and activities to improve players' reading, writing, and language skills. It provides a worthwhile learning experience with content that appeals to different age ranges. The video games on BrainPOP Junior are specifically designed to offer numerous advantages to players, but not without a setback. Some of these include:

Pros
● Interactive and engaging.
● Flexible learning.
● Variety of games and topics.
● Learning through play.
Cons
● Limited feedback
● They are relatively simple and may not provide enough challenges for older or more advanced players.

5. LetterLink Poetry

The title is played individually or in groups by creating poetry using a specific set of letters. It is a fun and engaging way to develop creativity, vocabulary, and writing skills. To play LetterLink Poetry, players begin by selecting a letter, which will be the starting point for the poem. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of this game.

Pros
● Expand the vocabulary.
● Triggers creativity.
● Foster collaboration.
Cons
● Burdensome for novice poets.
● Time constraints.

6. Word Scrabble

This is one of the most popular games to improve writing skills. It is played by rearranging a set of jumped letters to form a correct word within a specified time frame. The game teaches people to develop vocabulary and problem-solving techniques essential to good writing. Word Scrabble also enhances the identification of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors in writing. Here are the features of the game and some of its setbacks:

Pros
● It boosts creativity.
● It enhances spelling and improves vocabulary.
Cons
● It tends not to be effective for improving other aspects of writing, like grammar or sentence structure.

7. Quill

The game enhances children's education by providing interactive and engaging prompts. It offers lessons and activities covering various aspects of brainstorming, outlining, editing, and revising. It gives immediate feedback to players, helping them identify areas for improvement. Like any writing tool, Quill has its advantages and disadvantages, and they include:

Pros
● It provides instant feedback.
● It helps in identifying and correcting mistakes while writing.
Cons
● Not be suitable for those struggling with more advanced writing techniques.

8. Plot Twist Generator

It improves players' writing ability by encouraging them to think creatively and outside the box. The generator provides unexpected plot twists that inspire you to consider new angles or perspectives on the topic. This helps break out of usual thought patterns and develop unique and original ideas for your report. The followings are the benefits of a plot twist generator and its drawbacks for players.

Pros
● It increases creativity.
● It helps in developing critical thinking and problem-solving abilities
Cons
● The generated plot twists may not always be relevant or suitable for a student's particular writing project.

9. Read Write Think

The online resource offers a range of tools for kids to develop their critical thinking. It provides services for various ages and skill levels, from kindergarten to high school. The following are its features and disadvantages.

Pros
● It provides instant feedback
● The video game can be integrated into lesson plans and assignments.
Cons
● Playing games on the platform might not challenge advanced or experienced writers.

10. LetterSchool

The educational app is designed to aid children's learning of how to write alphabets and letters. The video games use animation to guide children through writing each letter. This makes learning fun and easy for children, enhancing their handwriting and overall literacy. Here are some of its advantages and disadvantages.

Pros
● Multiple languages.
● Personalized learning activity.
● Positive reinforcement
Cons
● Too basic for advanced learners.
● It is only required by those learning how to write letters and alphabets.

Conclusion

An online game is a fun and effective way for children to enhance how they write. It boosts grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary while fostering creativity and critical thinking. Video games allow a learner to collaborate with peers, share work, and receive feedback from others. They also help in identifying strengths and weaknesses and making improvements accordingly. With this, many learners will gain confidence and learn to express themselves more effectively. These will serve them well not only in their academic pursuits but also in their future careers.

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Top 10 Writing Computer Games for Students - Walkthrough, Tips, Review

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Top 10 Writing Computer Games for Students : Many parents are often concerned about their children's academic performance and progress. They are often frustrated when the kid's writing skills are not up to par for their age. Students struggling with this issue had poor performance in school...

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Book Resource organized by diversity topics

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Book Resource organized by diversity topics

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Indigenization is the process by which Indigenous ways of knowing, being, doing and relating are incorporated into educational, organizational, cultural and social structures. We understand that Indigenous worldviews are equal to other views. (adapted from Camosun College)

Topics: Decolonization, Indigeneity, Laurier, Local

Resource Type: Workshops

The certificate, offered through Wilfrid Laurier University's Centre for Indigegogy, is designed for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who want to better understand Indigenous perspectives in the history of colonization to contemporary realities in Canada. It develops the capacity of educators to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls for action in a meaningful way.

Topics: Anti-Racism, Indigeneity, Religion

Resource Type: Free slide presentations

Last updated in 2020. These are free online courses and slide presentations from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. These courses covers systemic racism, such as understanding the ongoing history between Indigenous Peoples and settlers.

Topics: Indigeneity, Local, Mental Health, Ontario

Resource Type: Book

Released 2018, this book is available through the Wilfrid Laurier library. The book connects Indigenous perspectives to mental, spiritual, and emotional health and addresses the TRC Calls to Action. One of the two co-authors is non-Indigenous.

Topics: Indigeneity, Local, Ontario

Resource Type: Map

With this resource from the Ontario Government, you can learn more about the treaties that cover where you live, go to school, or work.

Topic: Indigeneity

Resource Type: Article

Last updated in 2016. This resource is suitable for educators or older students. It provides usage tips and definitions when writing about and referring to Indigenous Peoples.

Questions educators may ask themselves when searching for Indigenous resources.

Topics: Orange Shirt Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, residential schools, indigineity, center indigenous voices, colonialism, calls of action.

Resource Type: Slides

These slides are produced by the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Education Association of Ontario (FNMIEAO). They provide great information regarding unlearning and re-learning that can be used to inform your teaching on Orange Shirt Day as well as every other day of the year. They provide pedagogical considerations for teaching about residential schools.

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Educational Resources for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenization

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Indigenization is the process by which Indigenous ways of knowing, being, doing and relating are incorporated into educational, organizational, cultural and social structures. We understand that Indigenous worldviews are equal to other views.

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(199) Learn French personal pronouns with the song "Les pronoms" by Etienne - YouTube

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Learn French personal pronouns with the song "Les pronoms" by Etienne

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Punctuation is a set of symbols that allows for sequencing within a text. Certain marks, such as question marks [?] and exclamation points [!] indicate in writing whether the phrase is interrogative or exclamatory, e.g., "Are we there yet?" and "Yes we are!" In addition to indicating a particular type of sentence, punctuation gives cues for vocal characteristics of sentences, such as intonation, involving the rising and falling of the voice.

In the French versions for the first sentence above, we also have an inverted subject and verb that indicates an interrogative phrase: "Y sommes-nous arrivés ?" Without this inversion, we can say "Est-ce que nous y sommes arrivés ?" We could also keep the indicative sentence structure and simply say "Nous y sommes arrivés ?" with the rising of the voice at the end of the sentence indicating that it is a question rather than a statement. With or without the written cues of inversion or use of "est-ce que", we need to add a question mark at the end of the phrase. For the second sentence, the addition of the exclamation point changes the tone of the sentence from being declarative to exclamatory.

Punctuation has been developed to specify the type of sentence that is being uttered and to clarify its different components. Imagine reading this:

bonjourjemappellelaurecommentallezvousjesuisraviedevousrencontrer

That's a bit much, although if you are used to deciphering hashtags, you might be more adept at it. #idecipherphrasesfromhashtagsallthetimethisisnobigproblemforme #idontneedpunctuation

Think about how the phrases above would look with capital letters, apostrophes, hyphens, question marks, periods, and spaces between the words.

The French language uses many of the same marks for punctuation as other languages, but uses them in a specific way that may differ from what you would see in the written text of another language. If you open a book, you may notice additional spaces in the text and symbols you would not see in another language, such as English.

A List of French Punctuation

Here is a list of punctuation that is used in French:

1. La virgule

La virgule, or the comma, is used to show a brief pause within a sentence. Commas are used for listing items within a sentence, for appositives, to isolate participle clauses, and in relative clauses.
Arrivant chez moi avec beaucoup de légumes, Hélène, ma grande amie qui adore cuisiner, a préparé une salade avec de la laitue, des carottes, des tomates, des champignons, des oignons, des noix, et un peu de fromage.

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2. Le point-virgule

Le point virgule, or semicolon, indicates a pause that is more significant than one signified by a comma. It can separate two clauses that are independent, having perhaps a weaker relationship from the point of view of sentence structure, but whose relationship is logical all the same.

Elles ont bien interprété leur rôles ; ce sont de bonnes actrices.

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3. Les deux-points

We use les deux-points, or colon, to introduce various types of phrases, such as a series of itemized components or a quotation in direct discourse.

Il a dit : " Je serais ravi de vous aider aux dates suivantes : le 5 avril, le 12 août, le 24 octobre, et le 29 décembre. "

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4. Les guillemets

You might have noticed that the words within the above quotation were enclosed by guillemets, or angle quotes. These are distinct from the curly or straight single or double quotes that are used in English, and are named for the French printer Guillaume le Bé (1525-1598) to whom their initial use is attributed. In addition to using guillemets for direct discourse, we also use them to set off a word or expression that appears unusual in context.

Je crois qu'on dit " abracadabra " pour ouvrir cette porte.

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5. Le point

We use a point, called a period or a full stop in English, to indicate the end of a sentence. As the name "full stop" indicates, the pause is significant and signals the completion of an utterance.

Nous avons complété ce travail.

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6. Le majuscule

We use majuscules, or capital letters, for the beginnings of sentences, proper nouns, such as someone's name, common nouns used as proper nouns, streets, geographic regions, holidays, as well as terms of politeness and titles. Unlike English, we do not use them for days of week or months, and we do not use them for the personal pronoun "je", unless this appears at the beginning of a sentence. For the word "saint", we would use a majuscule for the name of a holiday, a location, or street name, but not for the name of a person.

Quand saint François est arrivé à la rue Saint-Honoré à Paris, il a salué Mme de Broglie, qui était venue pour fêter la Saint-Étienne.

Appearance in text: continuous with other letters in the word being written

7. Le point d'interrogation

We use the point d'interrogation, or question mark, for interrogative phrases. While there are often other things in sentences that signal that a question is being asked, such as the inversion of subject and verb and the use of the phrases "Est-ce que" and "n'est-ce pas ?", we still need to add a question mark at the end of any sentence that is interrogative.

Est-ce que vous êtes déjà allés à Montmartre ? Vous avez entendu parler de ce quartier, n'est-ce pas ?

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8. Le point d'exclamation

We use the point d'exclamation, exclamation point, or exclamation mark, for an exclamatory sentence. The point d'exclamation expresses surprise, exasperation, admiration, and command.

Mais comment auriez-vous pu oublier mon anniversaire ! C'est très décevant !

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9. Les points de suspension

Les points de suspension, or ellipsis, indicates hesitation when appearing in the middle of a phrase, or an interruption or change of thought. Les points de suspension can also take on the meaning of "etc.", or et cetera, from the Latin, meaning "and the rest", "and so on". You can use them for quotations that do not appear in their entirety - just make sure there is enough of the quotation present to let the reader know what is going on, so that the original meaning is retained. In addition, you can use these along with the first letter of a word you would not like to write.

Il croyait que c'était une bonne idée de ne plus communiquer avec cet homme... mais en réfléchissant davantage il voulait attendre un peu avant de prendre une décision. Celui qui l'avait trahi était désagréable, pénible, déshonorable, stupide, laid... En secouant la tête il a dit: " Mais quel c... "

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As you can see, punctuation not only clarifies the text, but livens it up, signaling the way in which it would sound were it to be interpreted orally. It also facilitates reading, allowing readers' eyes to pause and to look for certain places in the text that are of particular interest. Punctuation may seem abundant, and quite a lot to keep track of, but it eventually makes a text easier to navigate. Using punctuation thoughtfully in your own writing could even clarify the tone and register of your text. Happy reading and writing! ;)

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You May Also Like:

1. How to Make the Negative Expression in French Right

2. Quick Guide to Remembering How to Use French Accent Marks

3. The Ultimate Guide to French Tenses

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The Ultimate Guide to Learn French Punctuation | The Glossika Blog

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Punctuation marks in French are same as other languages, but they are used in a specific way that may differ from what you'd see in the written text of another language.

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Possessive Pronouns: French versus English

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Possessive Pronouns: French versus English

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French Possessive Pronouns - Le mien, la tienne, les siens - Lawless French

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French possessive pronouns are used in place of nouns to indicate to whom or to what those nouns belong.

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Reflexive Pronouns: French versus English

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Reflexive Pronouns: French versus English

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Pronoms réfléchis

Reflexive pronouns reiterate the subject, which may seem redundant, but in fact serves an important purpose: it indicates that the subject of the verb is performing that action on itself. In contrast, direct and indirect object pronouns indicate that the subject is performing the action on someone or something else.
Par exemple...
Characteristics of reflexive pronouns

1. Are required with pronominal verbs

2. Are only used with pronominal verbs

3. Must agree with the subject

4. May be direct or indirect objects

French reflexive pronouns

+ The first and second person singular pronouns have three forms each:

+ The third person singular and plural pronoun has two forms:

+ The first and second person plural direct object pronouns have just one form each.

In regard to reflexive pronouns, there's no distinction between "himself," "herself," "itself," and "themselves" in French: use se for all of them.

Reflexive pronouns are used only with pronominal verbs. Grammatically, they may be direct objects or indirect objects, depending on the verb and the sentence structure they are used in.

Reflexive pronouns vs Object pronouns

Word order

Like object pronouns, reflexive pronouns directly precede the verb.
Par exemple...
Agreement

Reflexive pronouns always have to agree with their subjects, with every tense, mood, and verb form.
Par exemple...
When an impersonal subject is followed by a clause with a pronominal verb in the infinitive, you have your choice of reflexive pronouns, depending on what you want to say.

Related lessons

French lesson plan

En español

In italiano

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French Reflexive Pronouns - Lawless French Grammar

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Reflexive pronouns reiterate the subject, which may seem redundant, but in fact serves an important purpose: it indicates that the subject of the verb is performing that action on itself. In contrast, direct and indirect object pronouns indicate that the subject is performing the action on someone or something else.

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Relative Pronouns: French versus English

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Relative Pronouns: French versus English

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Pronoms relatifs

Relative pronouns are connectors - they link relative clauses to main clauses so that you don't have to repeat subjects and objects. If any of these grammatical concepts are unclear to you, please study those lessons before reading this one.

Characteristics of relative pronouns

1. Connect relative and main clauses

2. Can be subjects, direct objects, or objects of a preposition

3. Are impersonal and therefore invariable (except lequel)

4. Are required in French, though they are sometimes optional in English

There are five French relative pronouns: dont, lequel, où, que, and qui. These are equivalent to seven English relative pronouns and adverbs: that, when, where, which, who, whom, and whose. I can't give you a nice French relative pronoun = English relative pronoun/adverb list, because the grammar is somewhat different in the two languages, and there are at least two possible English translations for each French pronoun, depending on the context.

Here's a summary of French relative pronouns with their functions and possible translations - click to read detailed lessons on each one.

Relative Pronouns Quizzes

Think you've got it? Test yourself on French relative pronouns with these fill-in-the-blanks exercises:

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take these tests. If you don't have one, sign up - it's free!

French also has indefinite relative pronouns ( ce dont, ce que, ce qui, and quoi).

Related lessons

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French Relative Pronouns - dont, lequel, où, que, qui - Lawless French Grammar

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Relative pronouns are connectors - they link relative clauses to main clauses so that you don't have to repeat subjects and objects. There are five French relative pronouns: dont, lequel, où, que, and qui, which are equivalent to seven English relative pronouns and adverbs: that, when, where, which, who, whom, and whose.

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Conjunctions in French Create Complex Sentences

You use conjunctions in everyday life, but you barely even notice it. They're a crucial part of English, and they're equally crucial in French. So, if you're learning French to become fluent, you absolutely need to know what conjunctions are. Recognize conjunctions when you encounter them, and use them in everyday French speech. That's the best way to become fluent in French quickly.

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What Are Conjunctions?

Conjunctions are the words that connect two parts of a sentence. Without conjunctions, you'd be limited to simple sentences in French. But if you know what they are and how to use them, you can talk in complex sentences, just like the locals. There are 3 different kinds of conjunctions in the French language:

Coordinating Conjunctions

Correlative Conjunctions

Subordinating Conjunctions

French Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions in French connect two equal parts of the sentence. Neither of the two parts is dominant or more emphasize. For example:

Marie took the dog for a walk, and then she went to work.

The "and" is the coordinating conjunction, and the two parts of the sentence are equally important. But, "and" isn't the only option we have in French. There are 10 different coordinating conjunctions in French:

1. Et - and

Et (and) is a very common French conjunction. It can join equal words and clauses together seamlessly. You can use it just like in English.

2. Parce que - because

This is also an extremely common French conjunction. Everyday French people use if very often. It's the same meaning as the English "because".

Je l'ai épousée parce que je l'aime. - I married her because I love her.

3. Car - because

No, not the English word for vehicle. Car is a French conjunction that signals cause. It's very similar to "parce que", but there's a subtle difference. But, it's actually not very common in everyday speech. You'll see it more often in French writing. Of the two, "parce que" is definitely more popular.

4. Or - but/and yet

Again, a cognate. "Or" isn't the same as English "or", and it's not even "gold" as a French conjunction. You use this to draw a negative conclusion in the second half of the sentence.

Il faudrait arrived à l'école à 8 heures , or, il y a trop de traffic. - I should be in school at 8, but/and yet there's too much traffic.

5. Ensuite - then

This is also a very common French conjunction, use it often to create natural-sounding complex sentences.

Je suis allé à l'école, et ensuite à l'université. - I went to school, and then to University.

6. Ou - or

While this is a common French conjunction, it's easy to confuse with "où" (where). The accent grave and the context can help you set them apart.

7. Ou bien - or else/or otherwise

"Or else" sounds very threatening in English, but in French, it's a much more calm conjunction.

Nous pouvons avoir des spaghettis pour le dîner, ou bien nous pouvons avoir une pizza. - We can have spaghetti for dinner, or (else) we can can have pizza.

8. Puis - then

This is very similar to "ensuite". While the meaning is the same, there's one difference in usage. "Puis" is strictly a conjunction, and has to be in the middle of the sentence as a connector. And "ensuite" can be at the end of the sentence too as and adverb.

9. Mais - but

You must become very familiar with this conjunction. It's extremely common.

J'ai 9 ans maintenant, mais j'en aurai 10 le mois prochain. - I'm 9 now but I'll be 10 next month.

10. Donc - therefore/so

This conjunction signals cause and effect.

French Correlative Conjunctions

The next step of French complex sentences is correlative conjunctions. You can express deeper thoughts and ideas with these.

1. Ni... ni - neither... nor

You can use this correlative conjunction in the same way as the English equivalent. Sometimes people use only one "ni" as a coordinating conjunction.

Je n'aime ni les araignées ni les serpents. - I like neither spiders nor snakes.

2. Ou (bien)... ou (bien) - either... or

While a double "ou bien" is very formal, a simple "ou ... ou" sentence is much more common in everyday French.

Je choisis ou du poulet ou du boeuf. - I choose either the chicken or the beef.

3. Soit... soit - either... or

While it means the same as "ou ... ou", "soit ... soit" is more used in writing than in everyday speech.

Soit vous mangez ceci, soit aucun dessert. - You either eat this, or no dessert.

French Subordinating Conjunctions

While the previous two kinds of French conjunctions had equal sentence parts, this kind is different. You use subordination conjunctions if one of the sentences relies of the other. You can only join unequal sentence parts together with subordinating conjunctions. A good example in English would be:

You can have dessert if you eat your dinner.

While you can say "you can have dessert" on its own and still make sense, you can't say "you eat your dinner". The first part of the sentence is the main clause, and the second is the condition. "If" is the subordinating conjunction that connects them.

1. Si - if

The French conjunction "si" works the same way as the English "if".

Je t'emmène si tu dis s'il te plait. - I'll take you if you say please.

2. Que - that

"Que" is an insanely common conjunction in French. It connects the two clauses of the sentence to add the necessary information.

Marie a dit que te peux manger du gâteau. - Marie said you can eat the cake.

3. Lorsque - when

This French subordinating conjunction is more formal, but you may still hear it sometimes.

J'achète un billet de loterie quand je vois un trèfle. - I buy a lottery ticket when I see a clover.

4. Quand - when

This conjunction is much more common than the previous one. While you can use both, French locals prefer "quand" over "lorseque".

Je ferai ça quand les cochons voleront. - I'll do that when pigs fly.

5. Comme - like/as/since

You use "comme" most commonly to compare two things. Or, you can also use it to show the cause of something.

La balle est bleue comme le ciel. - The ball is blue like the sky.

Comme Marie a le ballon, on ne peut pas jouer avec. - Since Marie has the ball, we can't play with it.

6. Puisque - as/since

This French conjunctions is essentially the same as the one before. But, it's only used to show the cause. Sometimes "puisque" is even translated as "because" in English.

Pierre a une nouvelle voiture, puisque son ancienne est tombée en panne. - Pierre has a new car, as his old one broke down.

7. Quoique - even though

If you want to convey two opposing ideas in the same sentence, you use "quoique". French people prefer this, because "malgré que" (despite the fact that) is longer.

Learn French Conjunctions Naturally

When you think of French grammar, you probably don't imagine a fun learning exercise. That's because studying grammar isn't fun. But, with the right methods, you don't even realize you're learning it. When you hear French from locals the grammar is so natural, you don't even notice. If that sounds like your kind of grammar exercise, you should try OptiLingo.

OptiLingo is an app that gives you the most useful French vocabulary. It's a collection of the most common words and phrases, so you learn exactly how the locals speak. Don't waste time drilling vocabulary and trying to understand complex French grammar. Only focus on what really matters. Download OptiLingo today, and discover how much fun learning (not studying) grammar can be!

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French Conjunctions: et, donc, ou, mais, etc. | OptiLingo

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Understading French grammar is crucial to reaching fluency. This guide will help you learn French conjunctions quickly to create more complex sentences.

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French grammar seems very complicated. And one thing is for certain: there are a lot of different pronouns in the French language. But, the good news is that you can master them quickly. We included everything you need to know about French pronouns, so you can start learning them easily. With this knowledge, you're just a step aways from French fluency.

What are French Pronouns?

French pronouns are the same as English pronouns. They're the words that you use to replace nouns. To sound natural in French, you need to use them in everyday speech. Just like you do in English.

There are two main types of pronouns in French: personal and impersonal. However, both kinds have various different types within them:

Personal Pronouns:

Subject

Reflexive

Direct Object

Indirect Object

Prepositional

Impersonal Pronouns:

Adverbial

Demonstrative

Subject

Indefinite Demonstrative

Indefinite

Interrogative

Negative

Possessive

Relative

Indefinite Relative

These sound like a lot, but don't worry. They're easy to learn and differentiate. You can use them very quickly in French conversations. While there seems to be a lot of impersonal pronouns, in fact, most of these categories only have two pronouns associated to them. So you won't have to learn a lot of new words either.

Psst! Did you know we have a language learning app?

1. It teaches you useful words and phrases.

2. Presented in a natural, everyday context.

3. Spaced out over time, so you absorb your new language organically.

4. It's kind of like learning the words to your new favorite song!

Take Your First Lesson Free
You're only one click away!

Personal Pronouns in French

French personal pronouns replace people. Whether it's about you or the person you're talking to, or someone outside of your conversation, French has a pronoun for it. French personal pronouns need to be conjugated to fit the different forms of grammatical person.

This table shows all of the personal pronouns you need to know in French:

Pronoun Contractions and Exceptions

In some instances, you will need to combine a pronoun with the beginning of the next word, if that word begins with a vowel or a silent h.

He told me that ... Il m'a dit que ...

He told you that ... Il t'a dit que ...

She helped him. Elle l'a aidé.

You will need to pay particular attention to the type of sentence because the type of sentence determines word order.

1. In negative sentence, use "ne" before the object - "pas" still follows the verb.
He is not telling me the truth. Il ne me dit pas la vérité.

2. Change "me" to "moi" for positive commands. Direct personal pronouns come before indirect or in that kind of sentences.
Give me that slice of bread Donne-moi cette tranche de pain
Give it to me Donne la-moi

Subject Pronouns

These pronouns signal the subject of the sentence. "I", "you", "he", or "she" are some examples in English for these pronouns. You can easily start a sentence with any of these.

Reflexive Pronouns

You use these when the action reflects back on you.

Je me brosse les dents. - I brush my teeth (for myself).

Direct Object Pronouns

Direct object pronouns in French represent the things or persons affected directly by the verb's action.

Indirect Object Pronouns

Object pronouns refer to the recipient of the action in the sentence. However, there's a slight difference between direct and indirect object round. Indirect object pronouns replace people who are indirectly affected by the action. For example:

Prepositional Pronouns

Otherwise known as stressed pronouns, you use these to emphasize the subject.

Ça ne marche pas pour moi - It doesn't work for me.

Impersonal Pronouns in French

While most personal pronouns are used to replace names of people, impersonal pronouns are often objects. The different forms of impersonal pronouns have to agree with the noun they replace.

Adverbial Pronouns: en, y

You'll encounter "en" and "y" a lot in everyday French. These pronouns replace a place or quantity in a sentence. "Y" replaces "à + location":

Je vais à la piscine. - I'm going to the pool.

J'y vais. - I'm going there.

And en replaced "de + indefinite article + noun"

Tu as du sucre? - Do you have some sugar?

Oui, j'en ai. - Yes, I have some.

Demonstrative Pronouns - celui, celle, ceux, cells

You use demonstrative pronouns in French to replace a previously mentioned noun. There is only one demonstrative pronoun in French - "celui." - and it means "the one," "this one," and "that one," depending on context. However, you will need to learn the different versions for gender and number of the noun that it relates to.

To use this pronoun, you have to include on of the following after it:

1. Propositional phrase

2. Relative clause

3. Particle "-ci" or "-là" - used for emphasis

Indefinite Demonstrative Pronouns - ce, ceci, cela, ça

You use indefinite demonstrative pronouns to refer to an unknown noun.

Impersonal Subjects - ce, il

If the subjects of sentences are people, you use personal pronouns. But, if they're object, you use "ce" or "il" to introduce impersonal verb or expression.

Indefinite Pronouns - autre, certains, plusieurs ...

You use indefinite pronouns to indicate an unknown quantity or description. You can translate these as "other", "certain", "many" in English.

Interrogative pronouns - qui, que, lequel

These pronouns are mainly used for questions. You can ask who, what, or which.

Negative Pronouns - ne __ personne, ne __ rien ...

You're probably familiar with negative pronouns in English: no one, nothing, nobody. These exist is French too. But, you put "ne" in front of the verb, and the second part of the negative pronoun after. For example:

Vous n'avez rien fait de mal. - You did nothing wrong.

Possessive pronouns

Possessives can be a bit difficult at first because you cannot simply add "'s" to show possession (so you cannot directly translate "Alex's book is on the table" because French does not use this method to show possession). The only way to show possession in French is by directly translating "the book of Alex."

The pen of my aunt la plume de ma tante
The streets of Paris les rues de Paris

In other words, the thing being possessed appears first, then the thing doing the possession. The French language does have a way of showing possession through adjectives.

For possessive adjectives, you do use the adjective first, then the object being possessed.

Your address votre adresse

Her passport son passeport

Relative Pronouns - qui, que, dont, où, lequel

These pronouns can link different parts of the sentence together. Whether it's a person or a place, if it's been mentioned before, you can probably use one of these pronouns to avoid repetition.

Nous allons là où nous avons passé notre lune de miel. - We're going where we spent our honeymoon.

Indefinite Relative Pronouns - ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi

Similar to the previous type of pronoun, but instead, the thing it replaces is unknown.

Ce que tu veux ne peut pas arriver. - What you want can't happen.

Word Order with the Verb "To Be"

The verb "to be" is "être" in French. It also messes with what you just learned about possessives - you add "à" before the possessive adjective.

These papers are ours. Ces papiers sont à nous.

This desk is mine. Ce bureau est à moi.

Learn French Pronouns Easily

French pronouns may seem complicated at first, but they're far more simpler than you think. In fact, you can learn them easily from hearing them in their natural environment. Through high-frequency phrases, you can master this part of French grammar quickly. You just need OptiLingo.

OptiLingo is an app that tells you all of the most common French phrases. So, you only learn the necessary vocabulary, and you see exactly how locals speak. Don't waste time with awkward sentences and useless vocabulary drills. Learn French the natural way, and reach fluency faster. Download OptiLingo today to discover the natural way to learn French pronouns!

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15 Types of French Pronouns You Need to Know | OptiLingo

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French grammar isn't difficult with the right resources. Learn all about French pronouns here: the different types, their order, and how you can use them.

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Not sure how to correctly use words like me, herself, his, or theirs? You're not the only one! These tiny and seemingly easy words can be tricky to get your head around if you're beginning to learn English.

The most common type of English pronouns - the one you learn in your first English lesson - are subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, and they. If you've taken a few English classes, you've got these under control by now.

But the fun doesn't end with simple subject pronouns. In fact, the English language employs the use of object pronouns, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, relative pronouns... and a few more.

Yes, that's a lot to take in. But don't worry! We'll explain the most common types in this article and provide examples of how to use them in practice.

What is a pronoun?

Nouns are extremely common in English. They're everywhere! In fact, they do so much work in the English language that they need assistants to replace them. Pronouns are words that replace nouns to help us avoid repeating the same noun over and over again in sentences.

Imagine if you were telling your friend a story of how your dad made dinner for your family on Sunday:
My dad loves cooking. My dad always cooks dinner for us on the weekends. My dad is a pretty good cook! My dad made delicious pasta with tomato sauce.
Well, that would make your storytelling sound boring and repetitive! This is why we need pronouns. Here's how your story would sound with pronouns:
My dad loves cooking. He always cooks dinner for us on the weekends. He's a pretty good cook! He made delicious pasta with tomato sauce.
Better, right?!

In English, there are 7 types of pronouns:

Subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they)

Object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them)

Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs)

Demonstrative pronouns(this, these, that, those)

Interrogative pronouns (who, whom, which, what)

Relative pronouns (who, whom, that, which, whoever, whichever, whomever)

Indefinite pronouns (all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody, and someone)

Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves)

Intensive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves)

We know it can be a lot of information to absorb. That's why we're here to explain it all in simple terms.

English personal pronouns

As the name suggests, personal pronouns refer to the speaker or the person (or animal) the speaker is talking about.

There are three types of personal pronouns in English:

Subject pronouns

Object pronouns

Possessive pronouns

Let's explain each one of them.

English subject pronouns

The pronoun fun in English starts with subject pronouns. They are the most common. As you may realize intuitively, these are simply words that are used to replace a noun or a name function as a subject of the sentence.

I is used when referring to yourself.

You is used when referring to the person you're addressing.

He is used when referring to a third person of masculine gender.

She is used when referring to a third person of feminine gender.

It is used when referring to a thing, place, or animal.

We is used when referring to a group of people that you're a part of.

You is used when referring to the group of people you're addressing.

They is used when referring to a group of people you're not a part of.

Here are some examples of how to use subject pronouns in a sentence.

English object pronouns

All pronouns in the English language have the same job: to replace the noun. As the name suggests, object pronouns in English replace the object of the sentence.

Sounds easy, right? But wait, there's more!

Object pronouns can be divided into direct object pronouns (they replace the direct object) and indirect object pronouns (they replace the indirect object).

A direct object of the sentence is the noun that receives the action (verb) from the subject. An indirect object of the sentence is the noun that receives the direct object.

As this may leave you scratching your head, let's illustrate it in the following sentences:

John gave me a book. (me is the indirect object, a book is the direct object)

She bought him a gift. (him is the indirect object, a gift is the direct object)

I sent them a letter. (them is the indirect object, a letter is the direct object)

Here are some examples of how to use object pronouns in sentences.

Possessive pronouns in English

Possessive nouns are quite straightforward. They're just pronouns that express ownership or possession of something and are most commonly used to avoid repeating nouns or entire phrases.

For example, instead of saying:
"Your cat is bigger than my cat."
You can say:
"Your cat is bigger than mine."
By replacing "my cat" with "mine", we're simply avoiding repeating the word "cat."

Reflexive pronouns

The easiest and most logical explanation of reflexive pronouns that I have managed to come with is that these are pronouns that reflect back to themselves.

In other words, reflexive pronouns are ones that refer back to the subject of the sentence. For example:

Intensive pronouns in English

Intensive pronouns may sound like another terrifying grammar issue, but they're not.

In fact, intensive pronouns are exactly the same as reflexive pronouns, but their job in the sentence is different: they're just meant to emphasize the subject of the sentence.

Here's how:

Other types of pronouns

In English, there are four more types of pronouns. These are way different from the previous ones, but still have the same job: to replace the noun in the sentence.

Those four types are demonstrative, interrogative, reflexive, and indefinite pronouns. Let's explain the role of each of them.

Demonstrative pronouns point at a person, thing, or place.

Interrogative pronouns are question words that ask about people, things, or places.

Reflexive pronouns are slightly more complicated and have lots of rules you need to remember to use them correctly. These pronouns are used to connect clauses within sentences. We'll have another article covering that in detail.

Indefinite pronouns simply refer to nouns that are unknown or undefined in a sentence.

Take a look at this table to better understand this explanation.

They, them as a singular

Here's a fun fact that will seem counterintuitive to every grammatical rule you have learned in English so far.

While the pronouns "they, them" are plural, they can also be used in the singular form. This is widely used in conversation and written text to refer to someone in a gender-neutral way. You can use "they" in singular if you don't know the gender of the person you're referring to.

It's important to remember that even if you're using "they" to refer to one person, it will still be followed by a plural verb.

For example, you can say:

When someone arrives at the airport, they should go directly to the baggage claim area.

If a student needs extra help, they should speak with their teacher after class.

A person can become anything they want.

What's more, you can use "they, them" to refer to a person who identifies as non-binary.

You vs. Them

Mastering the use of pronouns is crucial to communicate effectively in English. That's because using them allows you to add more flow to your sentences and avoid sounding like a poorly designed robot.

In fact, dominating the use of pronouns is just as important to expanding your English vocabulary. It will help you stand out from other English learners and make your conversations in English more fun, and growing your language confidence through fun is what we're all about.

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English pronouns: An easy grammar guide to all 7 types

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Woah! The English language uses 7 types of pronouns! We'll explain them all, with grammar examples in this nifty guide to English pronouns.

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Walden University's Writing Center provides a number of services to support students' writing at all stages of their education. We offer one-on-one paper reviews, webinars, modules, podcasts, form and style reviews, web-based instructional content on writing and APA style, and much more.

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36 Tools for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

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36 Tools for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources for Classrooms | Common Sense Education

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources for Classrooms is a list of 36 apps, games, and websites curated by Common Sense Education editors.

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article about implementing game based learning and overcoming common obstacles

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article about implementing game based learning and overcoming common obstacles

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Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China

Smart Learning Institute, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

School of Marxism, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China

Game-based learning (GBL) can allow learners to acquire and construct knowledge in a fun and focused learning atmosphere. A systematic literature review of 42 papers from 2010 to 2020 in this study showed that the current difficulties in implementing GBL in classrooms could be classified into the following categories: infrastructure, resources, theoretical guidance, teacher's capabilities and acceptance of GBL. In order to solve the above problems, the study constructs a technology enhanced GBL model, from the four parts of learning objective, learning process, learning evaluation, and smart classroom. In addition, this study adopted the Delphi method, inviting a total of 29 scholars, experts, teachers and school managers to explore how to implement GBL in smart classrooms. Finally, the technology enhanced GBL model was validated and the utilization approaches were provided at the conclusion part.

Introduction

Game-Based Learning (GBL) originated from the game research in the middle of the 1950s, and from the 1980s scholars started the research and practice of integrating games into instruction. With the popularization of electronic games and the transformation of education concepts, people gradually started accepting games as learning tools ( Seaborn and Fels, 2015). The published papers on WoS (Web of Science) tagged by "Game-Based Learning" have demonstrated a rapid increase and interest in this field.

GBL refers to applying games or related elements, concepts, mechanisms or designs into learning ( Deterding et al., 2011), which is a study mode that integrates educational games into school teaching and self-regulated learning. As a result, learners can get immersive learning experiences while mastering knowledge and skills.

GBL has been applied into classroom teaching. However, in terms of practice, there are still some problems, such as lack of integration between gaming and teaching, a poor balance between the enjoyment effect, and the education effect. Games are either too attractive but failing to reflect studying goals, or games can be too educational but failing to trigger interests among learners ( Zhang and Liu, 2007). Some educational games simply provide learning content in a digitalized way, emphasizing memorizing facts ( Villalta et al., 2011). Apart from that, being constrained to the equipped devices and internet condition of the classroom, the effect and experience of games is much less satisfying ( Shin and Chung, 2017; Halloran and Minaeva, 2019). Sometimes, due to the hardware conditions, applications of digital games have to be forgone. Many scholars and enterprises conducted related design and research of digital educational games, but its practical application is hard to meet the requirements of related studying activities because of the location, equipment, and internet ( Xuqing, 2007; Hou et al., 2012). It is clear that learning resources, classroom environment and technical configuration play a vital role in the implementation of GBL ( Dickey, 2011; Sabourin and Lester, 2013). However, lots of problems exist to carry out GBL in classrooms.

With the advance of educational technology, the research and practice of smart classroom became popular since 2012 ( Yang et al., 2018), which utilized digital technology to support flexible pedagogies, including GBL. The smart classroom is a type of technology-enhanced classroom space to facilitate content presentation, class management, learning resources accessing, and instructional interaction by utilizing appropriate devices and software ( Huang et al., 2012). With the development of research and practice on smart education, it is possible to carry out GBL in smart classrooms to overcome the above-mentioned problems.

In a smart classroom, with GBL, students could engage in learning by using quality game resources via digital or VR devices with broadband Internet access, hence enhance the digital GBL experience. Therefore, this study aims to promote GBL in classrooms by utilizing smart classroom. Specifically, this study answers the following two research questions:

(1) What are the problems of implementing GBL in classroom?

(2) How to implement GBL in smart classrooms?

Related Work

Related Concepts of Game-Based Learning

Digital educational games (also referred sometimes as educational video games) are educational games which are digital ( Law and Sun, 2012). From the perspective of participating in games, digital educational games need information technology equipment and various digital platforms to support the development of games ( Lin and Lin, 2014; Aslan and Balci, 2015; Hawlitschek and Joeckel, 2017). Digital educational games also need to meet educational features, which can promote learners' understanding of the learning content. There are several types of digital educational games, including adventure and role-playing games, business games, board games, combat games, logic games and puzzles, and word games ( Alessi and Trollip, 2001), and digital educational games may be designed for single player ( Miller et al., 2011) and multi-players ( Annetta et al., 2009).

Advantages of Game-Based Learning

GBL is a type of educational game that improves students' attitudes and approaches to learning and allows them to appreciate the learning process itself ( Yadav and Oyelere, 2020). Many studies have shown that digital game-based learning has a positive impact on learners' motivation, attitude ( Tapingkae et al., 2020; Taub et al., 2020), engagement and performance ( Eltahir et al., 2021). The use of game elements, such as levels, points, leaderboards and competitive environment, can not only promote students' external motivation, but also positively affect students' behavior and increase their internal motivation in subjects and concepts that are difficult for students to understand ( Kalogiannakis et al., 2021). GBL uses game elements and aesthetics to enhance students' motivation and promote learning ( Zimmerling et al., 2019). Appropriate competition and challenge can motivate learners to learn. Games often have game mechanics such as competition, scoring, and ranking that motivate learners to win, gain a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, and make learners highly motivated to learn ( Jagušt et al., 2018).

GBL not only has a positive impact on student's learning, but also increases their self-efficacy ( Wang and Zheng, 2020). Digital games with interesting storylines, clear objectives and tasks to be solved make teaching and learning more diverse and effective in increasing students' interest and learning efficiency ( Yang and Lu, 2021).

Theoretical Foundations for Game-Based Learning

In this research, 16 relatively high-quality research reviews in the last 5 years have been searched from the major databases in this field (Web of Science, EBSCO ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), IEEE Xplore and SpringerLink). After reviewing these papers, it is found that their main concerns can be summarized into the following four aspects: the effectiveness of GBL ( Meredith, 2016; Byun and Joung, 2018; Hussein et al., 2019; Pellas et al., 2019; Tokac et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2020; Garcia et al., 2020; Karakoç et al., 2020; Stančin et al., 2020), the future trend of GBL ( Giannakas et al., 2018; Gao et al., 2020), the influencing factors of GBL ( Perttula et al., 2017; Shu and Liu, 2019), the theoretical foundations of GBL's effectiveness and its practical use ( Carenys and Moya, 2016; Bakan and Bakan, 2018; Ab Jalil et al., 2020).

According to behaviorism, players need to know their goals and achieve these goals through stimuli-reaction process ( Wu et al., 2012). Cognitivists consider learning not to be simply stimulation and reinforcement, but to involve thinking ( Moore and Fitz, 1993). Cognitivism emphasizes the context-dependent nature of knowledge where learning is promoted through scaffolding for task completion. Humanism emphasizes that the learner-centered approach is the most important component and players can play games at their own pace and according to their mood ( Kolb, 2014). Constructivism is probably the learning theory that offers propositions closest to GBL ( Carenys and Moya, 2016). It states that learners must be provided with the tools that allow them to construct their own body of knowledge and that instructors should be facilitators who accompany them in this self-learning process. These statements are strongly linked to the learner-centered education model and the active learning proposed by GBL. In the part of model construction, this study refers to the input-process output model ( Garris et al., 2002), the Play Curricular activity Reflection and Discussion (PCaRD) GBL pedagogical model ( Denham, 2019), and the ARCS model ( Keller, 1987).

Affordance of Smart Classroom

There has been a large amount of work on smart classrooms spanning over a wide range of research areas including information communication technology, machine learning, sensor networks, mobile computing, hardware ( Lämsä et al., 2018). From the educational perspective, smart classrooms should integrate physical and virtual environments to provide blended environments for learners.

The physical environment of smart classrooms includes convenient learning facilities, high-speed Internet access, comfortable surroundings, flexible space layout, etc. ( Paternò and Wulf, 2017). Convenient learning facilities include various types of learning terminals, display terminals, and real recording terminals, which can effectively support the presentation and sharing of learning content and learning results, and support the communication and interaction between teachers and learners. Smart classrooms have high-speed Internet access, equipped with relatively complete network communication facilities, including wired communication devices, wireless communication devices, stable and efficient server and controller. This can ensure a fluent game process and communication, allowing learners to have a good gaming experience. This can also allow multiple devices to operate stably at the same time to meet the requirements of all learners' participation. In order to provide learners with a comfortable classroom, sensing systems are installed in the classroom, which can control the temperature, light, sound and air quality ( Torrente et al., 2008). The flexible spatial layout is mainly to provide learners with a more open venue for activities, rather than confining the space for teaching activities to closed conventional rooms ( Brezovszky et al., 2019). Desks and chairs with humanized designs are provided so that learners can change their positions according to their needs, and form learning groups to facilitate teamwork and group learning activities. In addition, it also includes other related equipments that can meet the needs of teaching and learning activities, such as printing equipment, multimedia editing equipment, bookcases, shelves, etc.

The virtual environment of smart classrooms, based on cloud platforms, cloud servers, cloud computing, cloud storage, etc., is normally equipped with corresponding cloud diagnostic analysis systems to build a virtual learning space. From the perspective of learning, the virtual environment of smart classrooms should provide the functions of learning context-aware, connecting learner's community, accessing learning resources, and personalizing learning pace ( Denham, 2019). When environmental or user parameters are changing, classrooms with context awareness are able to determine the reactions based on certain rules or AI algorithms ( Fang and Strobel, 2011; Allsop and Jessel, 2015). Social networking, e-learning spaces, internet and other technologies in a smart classroom connect learning participants and bridge the communication between teachers and learners, allowing to extend the interaction beyond classrooms ( Chen et al., 2020), which promotes the construction of a learning community. Another important element of a smart classroom is the abundance of learning resources. The digital resource platform integrates a large amount of online data and materials for learners, and manages them by category to help learners obtain high-quality learning resources more conveniently ( Denham et al., 2016). In addition, learners' personalized learning is also an essential element ( Belova and Zowada, 2020). The management system in the smart classroom can provide services and feedback to learners, so that they can adjust and manage the learning pace as needed, which can promote their self-regulated learning.

According to the above sorting out of the characteristics of virtual environment and physical environment in smart classrooms, the functions of smart classrooms are as follows: (1) The learning content is flexible and diverse, and can be presented quickly, clearly and smoothly on multiple screens at the same time; (2) The comfortable surrounding and space layout can enhance learning engagement and optimize the learning experience; (3) Learners and teachers can access and download rich digital resources through multiple channels at any time; (4) Learning context-aware is intelligent, which can capture, identify and record learners' learning and psychological conditions, and promote personalized learning; (5) The interaction between learners and teachers, learners and learners, and human-machine would be facilitated; (6) Real-time feedback enables teachers to recognize learners' learning achievements more effectively, so as to make more reasonable classroom adjustments, and can also provide timely feedback for learners based on the results of the provided assessment; (7) Learning communities will be connected, to form learning groups or teams, and to promote collaborative learning; and (8) Learning process will be recorded, which is a good way for learners to reflect on their learning process and find out the problems in learning.

Methodology

The data in this study was collected through two methods: a comprehensive literature review and an expert survey. Specifically, as a first step, the findings about GBL problems were first collected from the literature based on a comprehensive literature review. Then, to further increase the validity of the constructed GBL model, it was reviewed and validated by experts using Delphi method. Each of the methods (literature review and Delphi) are discussed in the following sections.

Literature Review

This review followed Kitchenham and Charters' guideline for performing a systematic literature review ( Keele, 2007) and was carried out through three phases: search strategy design, study selection, data extraction and data synthesis. Using literature review, this study identified some of the common teaching and learning problems in GBL and the affordance of smart classrooms for solving the problems.

Search Strategy

The search was conducted in databases that are well-known and well established in the field of education: Web of Science, EBSCO ERIC, IEEE Xplore and SpringerLink.

The search terms were constructed by Boolean logic as follows: "game-based learning" OR "gamification learning."

In a pilot search, it appeared that the search engines of different databases use different syntax for search strings. Therefore, the search terms were adjusted to accommodate different databases.

Study Selection

The selection process consisted of two stages. The first stage was a preliminary screening, focusing on the following exclusion criteria.

* Studies which are published before 2010. This was because the term smart classrooms started to emerge in 2010.

* Studies without an abstract or in forms other than a paper (such as a poster, presentation, idea paper, etc.).

* Studies that did not elaborate on the research method used or the obtained findings.

* Studies that are not peer-reviewed.

* Studies which are not written in English.

The search term ("game-based learning" OR "gamification learning") in the databases generated 1106 articles (Web of science:380; EBSCO ERIC:420; IEEE Xplore:252; Springer Link:54). The screening in previous stage excluded 562 articles and 544articles remained. After removing duplicate articles, 383 articles basically meet the requirements.

Then, each study was downloaded in the second stage selection, where several selection criteria (see Table 1) where used to identify the relevance of each study to the research questions. The application of inclusion and exclusion criteria eliminated 383 articles, leaving 42 eligible studies (see Figure 1).

Data Extraction

An Excel form was designed to aid data extraction ( Table 2). Each study was analyzed to derive these data, most of which were briefly presented in the results section. The analysis primarily focused on the problems of implementing GBL in classrooms.

Data Analysis

This study adopted inductive content analysis ( Elo and Kyngäs, 2008) to identify the problems of implementing GBL in classrooms in the selected studies. The steps were: selecting the unit of analysis, making sense of the data and the whole, open coding, coding sheets, grouping, categorization, abstraction, and conceptual mapping.

This study arranged two researchers of this paper for the coding. Two coders performed a pilot analysis on five papers together in order to reach agreement on the semantics of "problems of implementing GBL in classrooms." Despite the inductive nature of this analysis, the coders used related literature as a reference ( Lee et al., 2013; Tahir and Wang, 2020). Open coding allowed the possibility of collecting, analyzing and categorizing other problems.

Expert Survey (Delphi Method)

A Delphi survey with GBL experts was conducted via email. Before the survey, experts were first contacted to check their interest in participating in this research. Additionally, the authors explicitly informed the experts that their participation would be anonymous. The experts were chosen based on their profiles, which should include: (1) GBL as their research interest; (2) good publication record in this area; (3) at least 5 years teaching experience.

As a result, 21 experts participated in this research (84% of active response), including scholars engaged in GBL research, and teachers who use GBL in their teaching. Despite that the experts were carefully chosen for this study to ensure the reliability of the findings, we further asked them to rate their familiarity with GBL, on a scale from 1 to 5 (where 1 is not familiar and 5 very familiar), as well as to write down their teaching experience in years. The experts had an average of 3.8 related to the familiarity with GBL, which reflect their high level of expertise and appropriateness for this study. The experts also had an average of 13 years as a teaching experience.

In the survey, the experts were requested to: (1) score 1-4 on the 25 elements extracted from the model (1 means not appropriate, 4 means very appropriate); (2) add GBL elements deemed necessary; (3) and give corresponding explanations for the choices they made. After the Delphi, we comprehensively analyzed the opinions of experts and modified the model.

Results

Problems for Implementing Game-Based Learning in Classroom (Research Question 1)

It should be noted that the total number of papers in Table 3 is more than the number of papers obtained by the final screening mentioned in the research method. This is because some papers have pointed out more than one type of problem, so they will be counted twice (or more) in Table 3. To summarize, the following problems were identified when using GBL in traditional classrooms.

(1) Digital educational games are more and more diversified, and the technologies used are more and more advanced. If teachers want to use these games to carry out GBL, they need to equip the corresponding technology and tools. However, many studies have pointed out that some of the present classroom hardware infrastructure could not support the needs of GBL, as some games with three-dimensional graphics interface have higher requirements on the central processor, memory and display card of the calculator ( Nanayakkara and Whiddett, 2005; Webb et al., 2015). Traditional classrooms may be difficult to meet the needs of GBL activities. With the emergence, development and maturity of various intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data analysis, sensing technology, communication technology, cloud computing and the Internet of Things, GBL is increasingly used. The teaching practice of integrating new technologies requires a more complete learning space based on hardware facilities. It is important to establishing the infrastructure to enable gaming session ( Marklund and Taylor, 2016). Therefore, one of the foundations of GBL is to have a good teaching environment, which requires appropriate technical environment to provide corresponding support.

(2) The lack of GBL resources is another major problem. The quantity and quality of educational game products need to be further improved ( Sun et al., 2008). GBL needs to be based on GBL resources, such as high-quality digital games and related GBL products. However, when teachers adopt the GBL pedagogy, it is difficult for them to find the quality digital educational games. Some related enterprises and universities have begun to pay more attention to the production and development of GBL resources, and gradually strengthen the production, teaching and research integration of educational game resources development projects ( Larsen, 2018; Lämsä et al., 2018; Gerodetti and Nixon, 2019; Romero et al., 2019). It will be a key research direction that can strengthen the construction of digital educational game resources, lower the threshold of GBL, and provide schools and teachers with richer products and more diversified choices. In addition to good games, the development tools for games are also what teachers need. But for now, there is still a lack of instructor-oriented authoring tools for educational games ( Torrente et al., 2008; Paternò and Wulf, 2017; Brezovszky et al., 2019). It is therefore difficult for teachers to independently develop games suitable for teaching to implement GBL.

(3) There are still relatively few direct guiding theories that have a high degree of relevance for GBL. And there are few pedagogical models available for teachers who are interested in GBL ( Denham, 2019). This is a major difficulty for teachers to implement GBL in classrooms. Without the guidance of proper theoretical framework, teachers may feel confused about how to apply games, what teaching activities to apply games in, how to arrange game time and learning scaffolds, how to integrate games into teaching and so on ( Fang and Strobel, 2011). Not having a clear framework on GBL within the curriculum to guide teachers in the classroom, lack of subject knowledge and not knowing how to adopt new pedagogical approaches made it difficult for teachers to use games in teaching, and it also impacted on their view of teaching with games ( Allsop and Jessel, 2015). Many studies have shown that it is very necessary for teachers to give them relevant theoretical guidance and instructional support ( Denham et al., 2016; Belova and Zowada, 2020; Chen et al., 2020).

(5) The acceptance of GBL is another realistic issue in the implementation of GBL. The adoption and the effectiveness of GBL depend largely on the acceptance by classroom teachers, as they can be considered the true change agents of schools. Research surveys have shown that teachers' perceptions of video games are complex. On the one hand, teachers are not really convinced that video games are very useful for enhancing their job performance. On the other hand, they believe that video games provide opportunities for learning ( Bourgonjon et al., 2013; Huizenga et al., 2017). From the perspective of students, they may have a relaxed and entertaining attitude toward playing games, while ignoring the purpose of learning ( Israel-Fishelson and Hershkovitz, 2020). Their level of interest in the game and the duration of the operation are also different, which will affect the participation of students ( Ke et al., 2016). From the perspective of parents, they are more concerned about whether children can form a better balance between play and study life ( Bourgonjon et al., 2011; Vate-U-Lan, 2015). However, what we can expect is that with the development of GBL, people's acceptance of GBL will gradually increase, and more relevant groups will have a positive view of it.

The Technology Enhanced Game-Based Learning Model (Research Question 2)

There are a total of 21 samples in round 1, 25 items in each questionnaire. The questionnaire's Cronbach's alpha is 0.916, and the Cronbach's alpha of each item in the questionnaire is greater than 0.9. This means that the questionnaire's reliability is high, and the collected data are reliable. The Mean score represents the expert's recognition of the elements. In this study, items below 3 are deleted. A score of 3 or below indicates that experts did not have high acceptance level toward the given element, so "22 Assigning homework" was deleted. Coefficient of Variation indicates the degree of coordination of expert degree of acceptance of the elements, the smaller the coefficient, the higher the degree of coordination of experts. It is generally believed that CV < 0.25 is a good indicator. And this study will delete items with CV ≥ 0.25, so "7 Comfortable Environment" and "25 Next Round Planning" were deleted. In addition, combined with the qualitative evaluation of experts, some elements are modified. And the final technology enhanced GBL model in this study is shown in Figure 2.

The technology enhanced GBL model is mainly composed of four parts: smart classrooms, GBL objectives, GBL process, and GBL evaluation. The learning objectives of a class need to be achieved through the dynamic interaction of teaching/learning and evaluation. Teachers should prepare for the GBL process by considering the real-time feedback to design the context, choose games, and guide learning activities. Using different technologies in the learning environment can accessing digital game resources, timely test and feedback, displaying learning analytic infographic, etc. for driving teacher's instructional design, supporting learning activities, and enhancing communications between teachers and students.

Discussion, Conclusion, and Future Research

This study focused on the problems faced by GBL in the implementation process, and attempts to find ways to deal with some of these problems from the perspective of using technology. The study found that there were five common problems in the implementation of GBL in the classroom: (1) the backward classroom infrastructure with inadequate and inappropriate technologies, (2) the lack of quality educational game resources and instructor-oriented authoring tools, (3) the weak theoretical guidance of frameworks, curriculum and instructional support, (4) the incompetence of teacher's information literacy for GBL, (5) the stakeholder's hesitation in adopting GBL.

Based on the experts' inputs using the Delphi method, the eight elements of connecting learner's community, intelligence test and data acquisition, real-time feedback, personalizing learning pace, convenient learning facilities, high speed internet access, comfortable surroundings and flexible space layout of smart classrooms were identified ( Kariippanon et al., 2020; Midcalf and Boatwright, 2020; Wang et al., 2021, p. 19). Combined with the elements and the general process of GBL, the technology enhanced GBL model was constructed. This model consisted of four parts: GBL objectives, GBL process, GBL evaluation and smart classrooms. The model explains the process and main activities of GBL from the three stages of before the class ( Becker, 2007; Huang et al., 2019), in the class ( Garris et al., 2002; Uzelac et al., 2015; Denham et al., 2016; Paudel et al., 2020; Kim et al., 2021) and after the class ( Bayirtepe and Tuzun, 2007; Suo et al., 2008; Yang and Huang, 2015; Aguilar et al., 2020).

The design and formulation of the model can also respond to the lack of theoretical guidance to a certain extent.

(1) For the problem of infrastructure, this model provides a method for constructing suitable environments for GBL. The environments should have high-speed Internet access, which makes the game process and communication smooth. Convenient learning facilities include various types of learning terminals, display terminals, and real recording terminals, which can effectively support the presentation and sharing of learning content and learning results, and support the communication and interaction between teachers and learners. The flexible spatial layout is mainly to provide learners with a more open venue for activities, rather than confining the space for teaching activities to closed conventional rooms. It is convenient for teachers to arrange the seats of students according to different game forms and teaching activities. Desks and chairs with humanized designs are provided so that learners can change their positions according to their needs, and form learning groups to facilitate teamwork and group learning activities.

(2) For the problem of theoretical guidance, this model provides guidance for teachers' to implement GBL activities. Using this model, teachers who do not know how to implement GBL can first have a clear cognition of GBL, and can understand the general process of GBL. In addition, teachers with GBL experience may be able to make some new discoveries and try to optimize learning analysis, learning activities and learning evaluation by using various technologies in the learning environment. This can help them to attract learners' interest and promote learners' effective learning. Therefore, the proposed model gives teachers some guidance in theory.

However, the model could not handle the other three problems of resources, teacher's capability and acceptance to GBL, which could be targeted in future studies.

The model could be used by researchers, teachers, and school administrators, or other stakeholders. For researchers, it can serve as a reference for further research on implementing GBL in smart classrooms, because in the increasingly intelligent environment, GBL will develop to a new stage, which requires researchers to carry out research to keep pace with the times. For teachers, it provides a guidance on implementing GBL in smart classrooms, because the model proposed in this paper is mainly designed according to the teaching process, teachers can refer to it in different teaching links.

(1) Before the class, teachers can choose the appropriate games and design teaching activities. Teachers can also design realistic and interactive game-based learning situations.

(2) In the class, teachers can create immersive GBL experience that can evoke thinking, promote learning by exploring through different game activities, as well as develop collaborative capability and improve interpersonal communication skills. Encouraging presentation and sharing, learners share their learning results with others and display their works through various content presentation methods in the smart classroom, such as multi-screen display and file transfer between terminals.

(3) After the class, teachers can monitor the online learning process to better enhance learning and improve the quality of teaching. Enhancing personalized guidance, where teachers can find students who have difficulty in learning by viewing and analyzing the student data collected by in the learning process. Teachers provide targeted guidance to learners to solve students' learning difficulties. Boosting reflection and improvement, where teachers reflect on the effects of teaching, redesign and improve the deficiencies. Teachers can get enlightenment from the reflection, which can become the experience and basis for teachers to improve their teaching ability.

Although the previous research basis on smart classrooms and the systematic literature review on GBL provided solid foundation for the reliability of the proposed model, this model was still in the stage of theoretical conception and had not been applied in practice. However, the idea of this model was presented at an international conference on GBL, where lots of teachers expressed that they were inspired and were willing to carry out relevant practice. Besides, the study also verified the validity of the model through the Delphi method.

This study mainly constructs a GBL model supported by smart classrooms from a theoretical perspective, however it must take further exploration in the educational field to enhance the validity. It is promising that in the near future, the integration of the GBL and smart classrooms will be explored in-depth from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

Author Contributions

LP and JY: conceptualization. JY, JL and FJ: methodology. HY and JY: supervision. JY, HY, JL, and GS: resources. LP, HY, and JY: investigation, data curation, writing-original draft preparation. AT, JY, HY, JL, FJ, and GS: writing-review and editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research work was supported by 2021 Zhejiang Provincial Philosophy and Social Planning Project (No: 21GXSZ030YB).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

References

Bayirtepe, E., and Tuzun, H. (2007). The effects of game-based learning environments on students' achievement and self-efficacy in a computer course. Eğitim Fak ltesi Dergisi 33, 41-54.
Google Scholar

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How to Implement Game-Based Learning in a Smart Classroom? A Model Based on a Systematic Literature Review and Delphi Method

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Game-based learning (GBL) can allow learners to acquire and construct knowledge in a fun and focused learning atmosphere. A systematic literature review of 42 papers from 2010 to 2020 in this study showed that the current difficulties in implementing GBL in classrooms could be classified into the following categories: infrastructure, resources, theoretical guidance, teacher's capabilities and acceptance of GBL.

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The Effective Use of Game-Based Learning in Education | Andre Thomas | TEDxTAMU

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Guide students' analysis of a photograph, artwork, or video with this simple critical-viewing strategy.

English & Language Arts

History

Social Studies

Most teachers are willing to tackle the difficult topics, but we need the tools.

- Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Bay Shore, NY

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Guide students' analysis of a photograph, artwork, or video with this simple critical-viewing strategy.

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Encourage all students to share their quick reactions to a question, topic, or text.

Advisory

Civics & Citizenship

English & Language Arts

History

Social Studies

Most teachers are willing to tackle the difficult topics, but we need the tools.

- Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Bay Shore, NY

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Encourage all students to share their quick reactions to a question, topic, or text.

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Grades 8 and up

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Students explore the costs and benefits of sharing aspects of their identities, discuss an informational text about “narrative identity,” and apply these concepts to their own lives in an original poem.

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Use identity charts to help students consider the many factors that shape their own identity and that of groups, nations, and historical and literary figures.

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English & Language Arts

History

Social Studies

Using the strategies from Facing History is almost like an awakening.

- Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif

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Use identity charts to help students consider the many factors that shape their own identity and that of groups, nations, and historical and literary figures.

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Depending on your passions and interests, reading the words “power flower” might trigger different thoughts: some might think about cake baking (apparently the power flower is a revolutionary method to colour your chocolate & cocoa butter) or, if you are into DIY, it might make you think of electric…

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Laying the Groundwork for Critical Conversations

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Laying the Groundwork for Critical Conversations

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What Words Should You Capitalize in French

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What Words Should You Capitalize in French

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https://www.thoughtco.com/use-of-french-capitalization-4085543

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What Words Should You Capitalize in French?

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The rules for capitalization are quite different in French and English. Many words that are capitalized in English cannot be capitalized in French.

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It doesn't take an expert to tell you that your students are each different and unique. They come to the classroom with diverse backgrounds, including their cultures, ethnicities, religions, languages, and economic statuses. They have different opinions about politics and pop culture as well as different learning styles and levels of motivation.

As their teacher, you have the opportunity to create a special place where each student feels like he or she belongs. One of the ways you can foster that sense of belonging is by celebrating cultural diversity in the classroom. Whether your students are new to this country or their families have been here for generations, they will enjoy the opportunity to dig into their backgrounds and share information about their cultures.

That said, some students may not recognize their unique cultures. Be sure to point out that every family has things that make it special: traditions, family size or composition, or even activities they enjoy together.

The Benefits of Celebrating Diversity in the Classroom

Implementing diversity activities in the classroom does much more than provide entertainment! The more your students know about other cultures, the better their understanding of the world around them. Let's take a deeper look at the many benefits of celebrating diversity in the classroom.

Academic

A culturally diverse classroom helps students develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Encountering new and different ideas and perspectives makes students evaluate their viewpoints. Through group and partner work, students learn to respect their classmates' differences. Plus, they will likely find things they have in common with each other.

Furthermore, students from diverse classrooms and schools tend to do better academically. Studies show that these students tend to score higher on achievement tests, drop out of school less often, and enroll in college more often.

Social

Students become more empathetic when they encounter other cultures regularly. They're less likely to develop biases and prejudices and more likely to be open to new thoughts, ideas, and opinions as they continue their education.

Planning activities to promote diversity in the classroom helps all students develop their leadership skills and become more self-confident. In addition, your students will have opportunities to develop relationships with people who look, think, act, and speak differently from them.

Future Benefits

All teachers, even in elementary classrooms, are preparing their students to head out into the world. When you prioritize exploring cultural diversity in the classroom, you open them up to a world that's far bigger than their hometown.

Many companies want employees who are comfortable interacting with diverse individuals. When students have the opportunity to encounter other cultures from a young age, they're better prepared to enter the global community as an adult.

Top 11 Ways to Celebrate Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

By celebrating the diversity within your classroom, you can enrich your students' learning experiences and help them expand their social circles. You will probably even benefit yourself in the process! There are many ways to incorporate diversity activities in the classroom. Here are some activities to promote diversity in your classroom.

1. Holiday Celebrations

Create a calendar that highlights celebrations around the world. Choose ones that represent the cultures of the students in your class. When a holiday comes up, take some time to discuss what it's about and find simple ways to celebrate, such as:

Making a relevant craft

Serving a treat from that culture

Reading a book associated with the holiday

Similarly, you can explore how different cultures celebrate the same holiday. For example, Christmas is celebrated in many cultures, but those celebrations can look very different. As major holidays in the U.S. approach, have your students share their favorite family traditions for those holidays.

Thanksgiving is a quintessentially American holiday. Each family represented in your classroom probably celebrates this holiday with its own flair. Invite your students to each share about a Thanksgiving tradition in their family. It may be a special food they eat, a game they play, or a movie they watch. Ask them if they know how this tradition started and what it means to them.

If possible, you could also consider hosting a classroom Thanksgiving meal. Ask students to bring a special dish that their family always eats on Thanksgiving. Have students provide the recipe for their dish, and turn the recipes into a classroom multicultural Thanksgiving cookbook.

2. Music and Art

Another way to promote diversity in the classroom is to partner with the music and art teachers in your school to dive into the music and art of the cultures represented by your students.

Talk about composers, musicians, and singers from each culture. Listen to samples of music, and talk about the similarities and differences your students hear. If there are instruments that are unique to a culture, show pictures of them to your students. Better yet, find the actual instruments for students to see firsthand.

You can also teach students simple folk songs from different cultures. Young students will especially enjoy learning fun songs. Find videos online of other people singing them, but be sure to check that the lyrics are age-appropriate for your students.

Talk about artists and art styles from your students' cultures. Have students make a piece of art in the style of each culture, then display them in your classroom as part of a multicultural bulletin board.

3. Multicultural Library

Another way to promote cultural diversity in the classroom is to build a library that includes books with characters who live in or come from other countries. Include books written by a diverse array of authors as well. Be sure to include age-appropriate biographies of people from a wide variety of cultures.

4. Guest Speakers and Interviews

You can read extensively about another culture, but nothing tops getting information directly from the source. Invite people from different cultures to speak to your class either in person or virtually. By using video conferencing technology, your class can connect with people around your town, state, country, and even across the world!

Have your students prepare questions ahead of time to ask the speaker. Look for people who represent a wide array of life experiences, such as first-generation immigrants, multilingual people, and refugees. An easy place to start is with your students' parents, grandparents, or older siblings.

You can also have your students conduct interviews with someone from a different culture than their own. This could include other students in your class, school staff, neighbors, or friends. Then, allow students to share something they learned from this person with the class.

5. Show and Tell

Ask students to bring in something from home that represents their culture. Then, have them present the item to the class and explain why it's important to them. Have two or three students present each week throughout the school year. Be sure to remind students to ask permission from a parent or guardian before bringing an item to school!

6. Role-Playing

Have students choose an important person from their culture to research. The person can be a current or historical figure. Then, set aside a day for the students to dress like their person and present the information that they found. You could even modify this activity to have students choose a person from outside of their culture.

7. Games From Around the World

Another fun way to celebrate diversity in the classroom is to bring in international games for indoor recess and celebrations. Some easy-to-play games include Mancala, tangrams, and Ludo. Be sure to ask your students what their favorites are and invite them to bring a game from home to play when appropriate.

You can also talk about the sports and games that are popular in the countries your students' families come from. If possible, find opportunities to go outside and play some of the sports and games that are shared.

8. Global Pen Pals

Encourage your students to write to pen pals. If you have students from a wide range of cultures in your class, you can pair students with friends or relatives of other students who live outside of the U.S. If you need ideas to get started, check out this program. It offers project-based opportunities for getting to know other students, schools, countries, and cultures.

9. Cultural Bulletin Board

Dedicate one bulletin board in your classroom to highlighting a different country or region of the world each month. Be sure to include pictures of the country and its location on a map as well as some simple words in the native language. You can even display information about famous people or events related to that country. Get creative!

10. Learn a New Language

Teaching about other languages is a great way to celebrate cultural diversity in the classroom. If you have students who speak languages other than English, allow them to share their languages with the other students. Ask each multilingual student to teach the class a few words in his or her native language. Here are a few simple ideas for words to share:

Greetings and introductions

Numbers from 1 to 20

Months or seasons

Family members

Colors

If a student isn't comfortable in the teacher role, ask him or her to teach you first. Then, you can present the information to the class. Depending on your grade level, you could even have students get into groups to create short skits using the new words they've learned.

11. Multicultural Fair

One of the most popular activities to promote diversity in the classroom is hosting a Multicultural Fair.

Invite students to bring in food, games, crafts, or other items that represent their culture. Extend invitations to family members as well, and invite other classes in your school to attend. You could also partner with other teachers to make a bigger celebration or turn it into a school-wide fair and incorporate the fair into your curriculum.

There are different types of diversity including language, race, ethnicity, religion, family background, and socioeconomic status. Each student in your class, whether they are new to the U.S. or not, has a unique family culture. When you celebrate cultural diversity in your classroom and around the world, your students will become more aware and appreciative of the global community that they're a part of.

Are you looking for expert tips and resources for teaching English Language Learners? Check out our ESL Resource Center.

This blog was originally published on February 9, 2022. It was updated on May 23, 2023.

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11 Ways to Celebrate Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

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Celebrating cultural diversity in the classroom helps students feel confident, accepted, and understanding of the world around them.

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Comparing English and French Verb Conjugations

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Comparing English and French Verb Conjugations

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Mastering French verb conjugation is the key to speaking like a native. Even French people struggle with French tenses and make quite a lot of mistakes. Not surprising when you know there are about 12,000 French verbs that can be divided into more than a hundred conjugated forms!

You need to know that there is a big difference between French and English tenses. To conjugate regular English verbs, you only add 's' or 'ed' at the end of the verb or 'will' before the verb. Whereas conjugating French verbs requires changing the endings for each subject. Whether there are regular or irregular verbs.

Yet, you can learn them if you understand some basic rules right from the start. The best advice you will get to learn these verb tenses is to practice as much as you can, as often as you can, wherever you are. For instance, if you use the present tense in your converstion, transpose your sentence in the past and future tense in your mind.

Having a great app in your pocket is the perfect way to improve French grammar skills. French Translator Dictionary + includes over 6,000 verbs and 400,000 conjugations. You can download it for free on your iPhone or Android.

You will notice there's a kind of pattern to conjugating regular French verbs. So once you know how to conjugate one, you know how to conjugate about 6,500 French verbs! The first think you need to know is that there are 3 main groups that you can identify by their ending:

1st GROUP: Verbs ending with ER
The majority of these verbs are regular and they are the largest group with about 6 000 verbs.
Example: aimer, chanter, marcher, monter

2nd GROUP: Verbs ending with IR, of which the present participle ends with 'issant'
This is the second largest group of regular verbs with about 300 verbs.
Example: choisir, finir, grandir

3rd GROUP: All the rest i.e. verbs ending with DRE, OIR... but also IR or ER
These verbs are obviously the most difficult ones as all of them are irregular.
Example: aller, partir, savoir, vendre, vouloir

Let's do not forget the 2 auxiliary verbs that don't belong to any of these groups but are indispensable for some verb tenses such as passé composé (perfect tense): and .

→ Auxiliary verb: AVOIR (to have) - Past participle: eu

→ Auxiliary verb: ÊTRE (to be) - Past participle: été

The second thing you need to know is that the conjugation form varies according to the subject that can be:

The most used tenses by French people today are:

Of course, you can try and learn these French verb conjugation through songs like the one from Francis Cabrel entitled "Je t'aimais, je t'aime et je t'aimerai" that translates into "I loved you, I love you and I will love you". Although it's a great illustration of the conjugation difference between French and English tenses, you won't go far with it.

Let's focus on the conjugation of the three most used tenses by French people that is to say imparfait (imperfect), présent (present) and futur (future). The method is always the same: you take the radical (for instance MARCH for marcher) and you replace the ending (ER) with the one related to the tense you want to use:

→ 1st Group - MARCHER (to walk) - Past participle: marché

→ 2nd Group - FINIR (to finish) - Past participle: fini

Looking for more challenges in your quest to speak French fluently? Check out these great articles!
→ French Slang Words & Phrases
→ Funny French Idioms
→ French Love Words & Sayings
→ French Internet Slang
→ French Canadian Words

Have you written an article about learning French that we shoud link to? Email outreach@vidalingua.com to let us know.

Looking for an app with interactive lessons to practice speaking and comprehension? Learn French + might be just what you need. Download it for free on your iPhone or iPad.

Happy conjugating!

Christine Ducos-Restagno
Lead French Linguist
VidaLingua

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