3 Fun Games

to use In the

classroom

Computer Games have the potential to transform a learning

environment into a fun, engaging and interactive one.

By playing games students can develop skills in decision making,

problem solving, literacy, numeracy, hand eye co-ordination,

identifying, categorising, improving memory, creativity and many

more.

Games can also be used as a stimulus to engage students in

other activities.

Here are a few examples:

1. Shidonni

2. Moshi Monsters

3. Trackmania Nations Forever

Shidonni

http://www2.shidonni.com/

Shidonni is an online game which is fun, engaging and allows

students to be creative. The site provides digital drawing tools

where you can create your own characters which then come to

life. You can even create the world in which they live and the

food they eat. The number of drawing tools are increased as the

student participates in games and completes challenges.

It also allows students to send pictures and messages to

friends they have added, send a character around the world

and create an online book using their own characters.

Create Worlds

Shidonni is represented as a galaxy and provides you with up to three worlds to draw your own environment and characters. There is an upgraded version Shidonni Pro which provides more options.

Here are some examples of worlds students could create and units they could be integrated in.

Task: Create a virtual world which represents your own.Students can draw:•their favourite place, •Where they live• themselves, family members, •friends and pets. •fill the fridge up with their favourite food.

The teacher could create a world for students from the class. Students can send a picture of themselves to the teacher. This would create a world with all the students represented. •Students could also share pictures of themselves with each other in the class.

This is a great task for the beginning of the school year.

My World Task

Task: Design a world based on a country.

The class might all be working on the same country or culture or

each student could choose their own.

They may even wish to research their own cultural heritage.

This task would be a great accompaniment to a research task.

Items to include:

•a flagpole and draw the flag of the country

•a famous landmark

•Housing, plant life and animal life

•people in appropriate dress

•food native to the county to put in the fridge

Cultural Traditions

Task: Create an Underwater World. Some suggestions:•Provide a list of specific creatures for students to create •Each student is responsible for one creature which they have to research and compile information about its living environment, its life cycle and food it eats. Students then draw and create a world for their creature.•Students can send their sea creature to each other in the class to create a collection of creatures.•Transform their virtual world into a 3D version by making a model using modelling clay, shells and cellophane.•Design their own sea creature by combining parts of several creatures. •Look at the use of camouflage and have students draw animals which are hard to see within their environment.

Underwater World

Task: Create a world based on a period of time in history. Again this could coincide with a research assignment or unit of work. You may focus on one period of time or students could choose their own.

The world can include buildings relevant to the era and people wearing the relevant clothes.

Here are some suggestions: Ancient Rome Ancient Greece Ancient Egypt Stone Age Medieval Dinosaurs Shakespearean time

Going Back in Time

A Novel IdeaTask: Create a world based on a novel you have read.

This task may be used with a novel the entire class is working on or students could choose their own.

Students can draw the characters of the book and the world in which they live.

This task can then be continued with the virtual book available in the game. Students could write an alternative ending to the novel or write a book review.

By allowing students to transform their reading into a visual form, students will gain a better understanding of the book and allow the teacher to check for understanding, plus it is a lot of fun.

Create a book in the game

Task: Create a world which could exist in the future.

You could pose the following questions: What will we live in? What will we be wearing? Will there be animals? What food will we be eating? What has happened to the environment?

Contemplate the Future

Task: Create a world based on Outer Space.

Some Suggestions:•What does life look like on a different planet? •Draw planets from our solar system or students could work in groups focussing on one planet •What else can be found in outer space•Students can write their facts in the book

Solar System

Task: Design a world based on a living environment, such as dessert, rainforest, bushland, beach or swamp.

Explore the landform, plant life, animal life within these environments.

Living Environments

Task: Create a Fantasy World with creatures and places which do not exist.

This world is only limited by the students’ imagination. Creatures may include robots, monsters, alien life forms or dragons.

This could then lead into a storytelling unit using the digital book within the game.

Fantasy World

Ask students to send one of their characters away using the passport feature. The passport will indicate countries the

character has visited. This could lead into a research assignment.

PASSPORT:

Moshi Monsters

http://www.moshimonsters.com/

Moshi Monsters is a Web 2.0 site where students register and

adopt a monster. The site is monitored and is promoted as fun,

safe and educational. It is a social networking site which also

incorporates elements of a Virtual World.

There are several components to this site which make it a

viable educational activity. Participants must follow safety

guidelines and learn how to interact in a virtual world

safely.

The graphics are excellent with interesting

monsters.

The game provides many different activities for students to explore and

learn from such as:

•Internet safety: learning how to use a social networking site safely

•Using appropriate language in messages

•Knowledge of currency - called ‘Rox’ , how to earn it and spend it.

•Reward and motivation - As students increase their participation they

can work through levels and are awarded a virtual trophy for each level

and are given a set of shelves to display them on.

•Numeracy, literacy and general knowledge: participants can earn

currency for their monster if they complete puzzles. These puzzles vary

from maths sums, word meanings, spelling, word search, identify flags

etc.

•Ownership – students own their monster and look after it by designing

its room and feeding it.

Tasks related to

Moshi Monsters

Art•Design your own monster

•Make a 3-D representation of your pet monster using papier-mâché or clay

•Make monster masks

•Design your own monster world

•Use a monster in a game or animation using scratch

http://scratch.mit.edu/

•Create a stop motion animation using a cut out of a monster and move

the body parts

•Design a poster advertising a Monster Ball

•Design a building or shop for a Monster world

•Design a poster for a Monster Restaurant

•Design their own monster room

Numeracy•Create math questions using terminology and places from the game.

Eg. I had a guitar which I bought for 94 rox, I went to Dodgy Dealz on

Sludge Street and decided to sell it for 40% of the price I paid for it. How

much money did I get for the guitar?

•Set up a monster shop where students use ‘rox’ to buy and sell items

•Keep a tally of the results achieved in the daily puzzles and challenges,

display the data in a spreadsheet and convert into different types of

graphs or plot results on a graph.

•Document the amount of currency earned and items which are bought or

sold

•Design a Scavenger hunt for students to find items within the Moshi

Monster World or students can design their own

•Write a blog from the monster’s point of view, use screen shots of the

game to help

•Write a story about their monster make decisions about its personality

•Write descriptions about their monster

•Ask students to write a set of directions and test if students can follow

them

•Write a Menu for a Monster Restaurant

•Students can design their own word games similar to the puzzles in the

game

•Write a news article for the ‘Daily Growl’.

Literacy

Social Science•There is a puzzle in the game which requires students to identify

country flags, this can be used to help students learn about other

countries

•Students can design their own town, What will their town need?

•Draw a map of their town

•Look at maps from real towns and compare

•Design a flag for their town

TrackmaniaNationsForever

http://www.trackmania.com/

Trackmania Nations Forever is a free download racing game. It

offers many tracks and levels of difficulty. Students can play

against each other and on the internet.

The game also offers an editor component where students can

design and build their own track, paint their car and save a

replay of their races and edit the video.

Here are some suggestions of ways to use it in the classrooms:

•Record times of races and plot on a graph

•Document medals achieved from races

•Calculate the speed of cars using the time and distance

•Write a blog as though they are a famous race car driver

•Design their car and do a screenshot – make a 3D model of their

car or draw it.

•Design and build a track

•Ask students to race each others

•tracks and give feedback

VideosCreating videos using games is referred

to as Machinima.

This game offers great potential in this area.

Students can save their replay, edit the video and change camera

angles within the game. The video can then be converted to

an .avi file. This allows students to edit the file in any other video

editor such as Windows Movie maker and add music, sound or

voices.

Go to this link to see examples of Trackmania videos.http://www.tm-tube.com/

•Make a Music Video

•Do a race several times and add all races to the video editor

Go to this link for an example http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UcQmJwTnBg

•Analyse Trackmania Videos found on the internet

•Add voices by acting as commentators a discuss the race

•Add voices by acting as the driver of the car and discuss what is

happening

•Use students use their blog and create a video documenting the

achievements of them as a race car driver, present as a

documentary.

Tasks using Videos

Created by S. Hendy 2009