Professional Developments can provide you tools to use some day and on Monday;  we will provide you both.  We selected gamification because studies have shown students need an engaging and interactive way of learning. 

     It is our job to prepare students for their future. "Students of the twenty first century are required to think flexibly, to self-reflect, solve problems and use creativity" (Demkah & Bhargava, 2019, p. 170).

     Traditional vocabulary instruction does not lend itself to information retention, but gamification shows promise.  
Demkah and Bhargava (2019) tell us that "if we teach a child basic skills through his/her strongest intelligence the s/he will have an easier time learning" (p. 171).   Goodwin, et al., (p.2019) reviews "a study of 8 and 9 year olds found vocabulary to be an area of significant weakness for poor comprehenders and showed that vocabulary was related to the ability to read exception words" (p.604).  Gamification of vocabulary instruction practices provides an alternative to traditional methods that is proven to be more effective and more engaging.  Goodwin, et. al., details this as gamificaiton "helped teachers design productive instruction and their students seemed to enjoy it" (p.615).  

     Additionally, gamified vocabulary instruction works well for most students because it allows differentiated instruction for all students including ELL and ESE.
Northrop and Andrei (2018) reviewed 53 apps for teaching vocabulary in classroom settings and provide tools for teachers to evaluate other apps and integrate them with positive learning outcomes (p.623).   Apps need to teach vocabulary explicitly and intentionally with multiple exposures using visuals, sentence examples, and context clues (Northrop & Adrei, p.624).  We also need to be mindful of optional upgraded content that costs, whether or not students have to create accounts, which may or may not expose private information, and how online rewards/badges are handled (Northrop & Adrei, p. 624).  

     Games are the vernacular of today’s students and connects their outside of school interests with in school activities.   Chien (2019) reviews how students are learning vocabulary while playing Minecraft without even realizing it - "gameplay vocabulary came from the 2,000 most frequent words" (p.14).  Therefore, this game "appears to provide an excellent learning environment for enhancing vocabulary development in NNS learners of English" (Chien, p.14).  

    Studies included private and public schools in many countries around the world.   

Studies included qualitative and quantitative results.  

      Students can also use creative technology tools to demonstrate their learning.  
Demkah and Bhargava (2019) explained students "behaved less like students but more like IT specialists or scientists, solving a real problems effortlessly, in collaboration with their peers and enjoying the task assigned to them" (p.173).

The badging and avatar personalization provide positive competition and a taste of publishing their own media.   Good producers of technology become better educated consumers of technology.  Demkah and Bhargava (2019) further explained "students could self-regulate their learning. Students picked what activities to complete based on skill, knowledge, interest, and time"  (p. 7).

Another topic for further research might be what connection can be made through gamified vocabulary instruction to improve student comprehension?