5 Skills That Games Teach Better Than Textbooks -- THE Journal Gaming 5 Skills That Games Teach Better Than Textbooks Gaming offers the excitement of competition and a clear promise of rewards for accomplishments. It can also help prepare students to win in the real world. By Dian Schaffhauser11/05/14 Playing games at school can inspire students in ways that nobody could predict. The victory is decided by the modest 10 points Dumbledore grants to Gryffindor's Neville Longbottom, and with it comes a lesson worth learning: Following your conscience, even in small ways, can have a big impact. Connecting Physical Experiences with Learning Some subjects are best learned through feeling them. By using a game environment with simulations, such as GameDesk's Plate Tectonics, students can experience what happens when the earth's plates move, except in a dramatically speeded up amount of time.
Tasks, Units & Student Work - Common Core Library Keywords (optional) Enter keywords (e.g., K.OA.3, informational text, arguments, quadratic equations, etc.) Grade (select at least one) Subject (select one) NYC educators and national experts are developing Common Core-aligned tasks embedded in a unit of study to support schools in implementing the Citywide Instructional Expectations. Search a growing assortment of Common Core-aligned tasks, units and student work by keyword, grade level, subject area and Common Core Learning Standard. The components of the Common Core-aligned tasks with instructional supports include: Unit overview and task description Teacher-annotated student work representing a range of performance levels Rubrics used to assess student work Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles Other instructional support materials To learn more about the components of these tasks and units and for help navigating the interactive student work, watch our virtual training modules. NEW!
Leading the Common Core State Standards: From Common Sense to Common Practice - Cheryl Dunkle Game-Based Learning to Teach and Assess 21st Century Skills Game-Based Learning, and particularly serious games that teach content, are fast becoming utilized in the classroom. Frequent success stories are appearing, from Minecraft in the elementary classroom to games that teach civics. There is curriculum that pairs World of Warcraft with language arts standards, and many other variations where the gaming focus is on content. What about 21st-century skills? Yes, games can be used to teach and assess 21st-century skills! As the conversation in education reform moves forward, and educators are increasingly leveraging 21st-century skills, we need to consider how to couple games with reform. Collaboration MMOs are hugely popular. Communication All of the games above, which require collaboration, also require communication. Critical Thinking/Problem-Solving We must find time for students to play these games in and out of the class to teach content and 21st-century skills.
Mathematics K-5 · CCGPS Mathematics Grades K-5 · CCGPS Mathematics Glossary Third grade teachers working on unit revisions at GaDOE (June 2013) 2013-2014 CCGPS Mathematics Unit Frameworks Teacher and Student Editions of the 2013-2014 CCGPS Mathematics Unit Frameworks were posted on July 1, 2013, to GeorgiaStandards.Org and Learning Village. K-5 CCGPS Mathematics Overview The K-5 standards are organized using domains, overarching ideas that connect topics across the grades, clusters that illustrate progression of increasing complexity from grade to grade and standards which define what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. The K-5 standards are organized in the following domains: counting and cardinality; operations and algebraic thinking; number and operations in base ten; number and operations – fractions; measurement and data; and geometry. The focus in the K-5 standards is comparable to that seen in high-performing countries.
Common Core State Standards Tools & Resources The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is committed to supporting member states and territories as they implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Working with educators, Smarter Balanced will identify high-quality curriculum resources aligned to the CCSS and professional development strategies that can be replicated across states. The tools and resources will be posted online and incorporated into the digital library — an on-demand resource to help teachers address learning challenges and differentiate instruction — as part of the assessment system. Many organizations have developed resources to explain the standards and help teachers support student success in the classroom. The factsheets, videos, and instructional resources below provide detailed information for educators, parents, and policymakers about college- and career-ready standards. Common Core State Standards Resources Resources for Engaging Parents and the Public Resources for Educators and Administrators
Why Teachers Use Digital Games and Why Schools Teach Gaming 5.14.12 | A national survey of teachers who use digital games in K-8 classrooms found that the majority—60 percent—report games foster student collaboration and help students to stay focused on specific tasks. The survey of 505 teachers also found that half of those who identified as “very or moderately comfortable” with digital games in the classroom use games regularly: 32 percent use games two to four times per week, and 18 percent use games daily. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop released the findings, based on research from the Games and Learning Publishing Council initiative. Here’s a summary (pdf). When considering the needs of their lowest-performing students: As for the types of digital games teachers are using, 95 percent use games created specifically for educational use. Half of all respondents cited cost as the main barrier to using games in the classroom, followed by access to technology resources (46 percent) and emphasis on standardized tests (38 percent).
illustrativemathematics Illustrated Standards Count to 100 by ones and by tens. (see illustrations) Count forward beginning from a given number within the known sequence (instead of having to begin at 1). (see illustrations) Write numbers from 0 to 20. Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality. When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object. Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted. Understand that each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one larger. Count to answer “how many?” Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies. Compare two numbers between 1 and 10 presented as written numerals. Fluently add and subtract within 5. Recognize area as additive.
Resources and Downloads for College and Career Readiness Principal Jeffrey McClellan (right) leads MC2 STEM High School, where campuses are embedded in STEM-related businesses such as the Great Lakes Science Center to help emphasize the connection between school and the working world. Tips for downloading: PDF files can be viewed on a wide variety of platforms -- both as a browser plug-in or a stand-alone application -- with Adobe's free Acrobat Reader program. Click here to download the latest version of Adobe Reader. School Overview Below are documents provided by MC2 STEM High School about the school and some of its programs and strategies. Back to Top Sample Projects at MC2 STEM High School Below are sample project documents provided by MC2 STEM. Determining Big Ideas -- Teachers brainstorm topics and essential questions to identify subject matter goals. Additional Resources from MC2 STEM Useful Websites on College and Career Readiness (For more innovative ideas for teaching STEM, check out our math and science blog series.)
How Digital Games Help Teachers Make Connections to Lessons and Students It’s not unusual for educators to use analog games in the classroom, but as more classrooms gain access to technology, digital games are also making a strong showing. A recent Joan Ganz Cooney Center survey of 694 K-8 teachers found that 74 percent of those surveyed use digital games in the classroom, up from 50 percent two years ago. Many of the teachers finding the most success are good at creatively connecting the game back to the curriculum, while allowing it to maintain the qualities of a good game. These teachers are often more comfortable with games themselves, playing for fun in their spare time, and are thus more likely to see valuable classroom connections. It’s one thing to have empirical evidence that digital games are growing in popularity and another to get an in-depth look at how and why teachers see them as a valuable use of precious class time. Zack Gilbert teaches a course called “Ancient Civilizations” at a middle school in Normal, Illinois.