Games! Games! Games!
Students love to play educational games, but which ones have
real value that are worth the time that it takes to learn them, because there
is a learning curve for all of them. I am going to highlight two and why I
think they do or don’t have value.
Law Craft
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| Screen Shot Law Craft Game |
Law Craft is one of the best educational games I have found. It
is not just a fast fact check game. The depth and reality that it puts out
there is fantastic. To give you an idea of the game purpose here is a snippet
from the instructions. “In Law Craft, you play a member of Congress from the
state of your choice. You’ll pick an issue that is important to your
constituents and take it all the way through the legislative process.”
There are six values that the game highlights in set of three
double sided areas: Liberty vs. Equality, Competition vs. Cooperation, and Cost
Savings vs. Generosity. While I think that everyone can agree that all six of
these areas are important, they are not equally represented in government on
both sides of the aisle. This game shows, rather than explains, which side of
these issues Republicans and Democrats have chosen. Students first need to
identify what they want their member of Congress to value. Then they get to
choose and issue that they feel is important by choosing a letter from a constituent.
They will then craft a bill and rally a majority vote by balancing amendments.
They can visually see who in each branch and value is moved to their cause. The
little Congressmen literally run to the Yea or Nay side as the amendments are
added and taken away. Some amendments give a positive in one area, but take away
from another value, so support is list, or can never be gained.
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| Screen Shot Law Craft Game |
After they get an overall more than 50% support, including more
than 50% of their own chosen party, the bill can move on. The lessons in
compromise and what the parties stand for cannot be felt in a more real way
than the way it is portrayed here. I have had student find that they cannot
balance a bill with their values, they then need to go back and choose another
issue, or even rethink what it is that they stand for and rechoose their
person. In fifth grade many of them do not have a more than a soft view of what
the parties are and where they stand.
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After the bill can go through Congress and it moves on to the
President’s desk. The President will then approve the bill, or veto it. The
game sets up certain amendments that guarantee a 2/3 majority. In the end the
students can print out the bill with the amendments.
The game can be replayed and the student has many ways to alter
the play. They can start off as someone with different values. They can choose
a different problem put forth from a constituent. Student can also make similar
set up choices and look to see if they could arrange the bill in a different
way and still get it passed.
The game doesn't rush the student; it will patiently wait for
them to figure it out. Ideal instruction would be set up around the game. The
teacher would teach the concept of a three branch government and how a bill
moves through the government. After this the students would play more than one
game. There would then be a follow up conversation where the bills could be
discussed. Are they really good ideas? Do they match what the students believe?
Did they need to give up something that they believed in to make it work? What decisions
were hard? How do the amendments line up with the six values? All of these are
great real world questions that dig deeper into government than a flow chart of
the three branches.
What exactly does this game teach or support? I went through the
standards on Civics and Government for PA quickly and here are all of the
standards that this game relates to.
5.1. Principles and Documents of Government
5.1.5.C.
Describe the principles and ideals shaping local state, and national government.
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Liberty / Freedom
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Democracy
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Justice
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Equality
5.2. Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
5.2.5.A
Identify individual rights and needs and the rights and needs of others in the classroom,
school, community, state, and nation.
5.3.
How Government Works
5.3.5.A.
Describe the responsibilities and powers of the three branches of government.
5.3.5.B.
Describe how the elected representative bodies function in making local, state, and national laws.
5.3.5.D.
Describe the primary duties of elected local, state, and national positions.
5.3.5.F.
Examine different ways conflicts can be resolved.
5.3.5.G.
Describe how groups try to influence others.
WHOA! That is a boatload on standards all in one game right? I
will say that of these 5.3.5.B is the strongest. You can talk until you are
blue in the face about how Congress needs to work together and then go to the President,
but until a student tries to get an idea to work the way they want it to, it is
just fluff with little meaning. The game doesn't get into the interaction with
the judges, but I am OK with that. At a certain point it would get just as
sloppy as our government interactions truly are.
This game is great in the computer lab in my school, but it
would make a good station in a classroom with iPads or 1:1 laptops.
Now we go onto game 2.
Review Game Zone
Review Game Zone allows for teachers to create and search online games
for their students. I wanted to look for a new game that worked on skills. I
have used Super Teacher Tools before to create vocab games like speed match.
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I made a decimal review game for our upcoming test on Tuesday. Making the game wasn't that bad, but I was disappointed that the minimum number of questions had to be 10. I just
wanted to make a 5 question good opener for the Test review that we have
tomorrow. What I did like was that it gave me enough characters so that I could
put in word problems and not just be limited to number problems. Another super
plus is that for creating one set of questions, there are many different games
that can be played. I started off with Alien Invasion, then played Leap Frog
and followed up with Heroic Ants.
My intention is to use the review on my Smart board during
class, but I will put a link up on my math website so the kids can play it
again at home and it will be there for me in future years already done. Bonus
to that is that I could add more questions to it, or change them as I see fit
in upcoming years.
When you have an error in answering it asks you another
question. From what I can tell, you can only have one correct answer per
question. The games themselves are quick, but you can have as much time as you
need to answer the questions themselves. The question are then randomly
recycled, even if you answer it correctly. Eventually you would learn the
correct answers for a little ten question quiz like the one I put in.
These games could get a little exciting. I have found games
similar to these on various sites that are not teacher programmed, but work
toward certain skills. There needs to be a certain expectation of noise level,
but if you make the kids be silent, it kinda wrecks the fun. For this reason,
they would not be good center work.
-Update: I got to school. Went to load up the game so that we were ready to go, and it was denied. The school network filter said I couldn't use it. I put in to get it unblocked, but the moment was lost. -
-Update: I got to school. Went to load up the game so that we were ready to go, and it was denied. The school network filter said I couldn't use it. I put in to get it unblocked, but the moment was lost. -
Final Thoughts:
I find that there are a number of games like the Review Game Zone out there, not all of them as programmable to meet your needs, but the click and go fun not so directly related to the learning. The games stop so that you can learn, or require you to be a quick typist to show what you know. The Law Craft game is rare, and quite a find. It teaches rather than tests.
References:
GAMEUP | Law Craft. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2014, from https://www.brainpop.com/games/lawcraft/
Lopez, C. Edit This Game:. Retrieved November 24, 2014, from https://www.superteachertools.net/speedmatch/speedmatch.php?gamefile=1414084635#.VHJ5H4ujOM5
Review Game Zone. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2014, from http://reviewgamezone.com/
Morgan Goldstein 
