Games

__** MangaHigh **__

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__** Use in the classroom **__ MangaHigh is a math interactive math game and lesson site. It allows students to play math games that directly line up to state tests. Students can compete for high scores against each other and other schools. There are games that range from algebra to Geometry. Teachers in the classroom can use this site to reinforce math concepts. A teacher could teach the lesson normally and then have the students play in the game that goes with the lesson. For any student that is struggling MangaHigh has tutorials for the games that re-teach the concept. It can also be used to remediate students who are struggling. A struggling student could log in and go over the tutorials and then play the corresponding game.

__** Use in the Library **__ A library could set up several computers with this site open. With the help of the network administrators the librarian could set up individual student accounts. The librarian could set up a competition between two schools in Mangahigh. The students could come in before and after school to compete in the games. Updates to the competition and high student scores could be announced on the announcements.

Lauren Gonzales

**__Arcademic Skill Builders__**
www.arcademicskillbuilders.com

The Arcademic Skill Builders website has a wealth of educational games that correlate with academic content. The games available include the subject areas of math, language arts, geography, and typing. Games can be browsed for according to grade level or subject area. Students enjoy playing these games because they have more of a "video-game" feel, rather than seeming like an academic task. These educational games increase student motivation and engagement. As they play, the students receive instant feedback on their progress. The games are available for free, and teachers can even sign-up for a classroom subscription in order to track student performance.

In the library, the librarian can set-up a learning center where students can access this website. The librarian can consult with the classroom teacher in order to select a skill the students need to practice. After selecting a game from the website that reviews this skill, the librarian can then set-up a private group within the game for the students to have a friendly competition. For example, if further practice is needed with multiplication facts, the students can race each other as they complete their facts while playing the game "Grand Prix." If there are competition concerns, the students can also compete individually, striving to beat their own score each time.

--Summer Glover

BrainPOP

http://www.brainpop.com

Description:

BrainPOP is a treasure trove primarily of animated clips and movies covering a variety of content areas. Each movie begins with a simple question or problem that is answered by the robot Moby and his friend Tim. BrainPOP then offers a short quiz at the end of each movie to test for gaming technology here.comprehension. BrainPOP also has two sister sites called BrainPOP Jr. and BrainPOP ESL which are targeted towards K-3 students and English languages learners respectively. However, the website recently added a section called GameUp which reinforces a number of lessons through interactive games or virtual labs. These games are linked to and complement BrainPOP’s movie database.

How it is traditionally used: Usually, BrainPOP! is used by teachers to introduce a topic or to recap at the end of a lesson. Teachers often turn the assessment at the end of the movies into a group or individual quiz game. Students also have the ability to explore the movies and the play games on their own to reinforce lessons.

How it can be used in the library:

(1) As educators, librarians share a responsibility for teaching students research skills. These skills promote self-sufficiency and enable life-long learning. Good researchers know that different sources offer different types and presentations of information and they use these to their advantage. An encyclopedia, for example, provides a brief introduction while a study provides in-depth analysis about a topic. BrainPOP! movies can be used by librarians to teach about the variety of resources researchers can utilize when seeking information. Elementary school librarians might assist a student researcher by watching a BrainPOP movie to introduce a topic then direct the student to reference book such as an almanac.

(2) Librarians can also instruct teachers on how to use the games in GameUp to teach research skills and complement content standards. For example, the You Make Me Sick game can be used to conduct research and create an experiment based on the spread of disease. In You Make Me Sick, players create a disease, contaminate the environment, and attempt to infect the host. Successful infections earn the players special abilities, such as microscopic mimicry, which allow the disease to mutate. For the lesson, students first research the properties of different cell shapes and methods of propulsion with the librarian’s help. Then, the students design their bacterium or virus and devise a hypothesis. Next, students play You Make Me Sick and observe whether their design and method of delivery was successful in infecting the host. As special abilities become available, students could continue research on the characteristics of those abilities. At the end of the prescribed time, students finish the steps in the scientific method to complete their virtual experiment.

Author: Natalie Hill

**__ Description: __**
====Funbrain is an interactive website for grades k-8th. Funbrain includes games and activities for mainly reading, language arts, and math. The students may choose their grade level as well as the content area they or the teacher feels needs more practice. The students are also able to choose the difficulty level of a game before starting.====

**__Library use:__**
====Funbrain includes online books that students may read in the library. The Librarian may have computers set up for students to use with the funbrain reading page already set up. Students may read entire books online offered by funbrain that the school library may not have. The website also offers comic books, which we rarely see in libraries anymore. Once students are done checking out a book during class time, a student may use the funbrain reading page while waiting for their peers. At time students may get a little loud and impatient waiting for their classmates to finish checking out books so this is a fun interactive way to keep students patient and reading.====

Author: Jennifer Salazar

=**Geocaching**= http://www.geocaching.com/education/default.aspx

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Geocaching is a treasure hunting game, a high- tech hide and seek, where you use a global positioning system to enter or retrieve coordinates to locate a geocache. You can use a mobile device or an actual GPS receiver. The students can learn how to use latitude and longitude to locate and interpret data, and use the coordinates to visit virtual places with Google Earth. Geocaching in the classroom encourages team building, problem solving, and communication skills. It is an excellent tool that gets the students involved and actively participating, and you can modify your lesson plans as needed to accommodate all students.=====

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Geocaching will allow the students to become familiar with the library building and all its resources. It could help incoming students and ELL's reduce their anxiety levels when using the library. By setting up coordinates and having clues at each waypoint, the clues will enable the students to answer predetermined questions not only related to the books but also in the media center.=====

Carla Rodriguez
=Star Fall= www.starfall.com

Description:
Starfall is an interactive website that helps Kindergartners start learning to read with games. It is age appropriate for the kindergartner with little computer knowledge. The story is on the screen and the mouse highlights the words. If they don't know the word the student clicks the word and it is sounded out for them and then read to them. The students click on arrows to go forwards or backwards. This will show the students how you go forward in a book and how to start reading and sounding out words. Starfall also has games for counting to 100, calendar and other math games but it is mainly reading.

Library Setting:
Starfall will require computers for students and preferably head phones for them to use. The students can come in and sit at the computer. They can pick any story that is there by the character or the sounds they are trying to learn. The teacher can tell the librarian so they can have the book already set so the students would do the one that the teacher wants. This will be helpful for a full kindergarten class coming in for a weekly reading or for the students that come to visit the library in small group.

**YAHOO! Kids**
http://kids.yahoo.com

Description:
YAHOO Kids has many different features that children can utilize such as: games, music, movies, jokes, sports, create ECards, studyzone, and much more. All of the materials are kid friendly and there is even a place for parents. The website is interactive and very easy to navigate. Kids can use this site to receive homework help or get definitions to words they do not know by "Asking Earl". There are many games to choose from, which can be educational or arcade. There are word games, which help to enhance kids' spelling. This website allows kids to explore many different things and recommends other websites for them to explore that fit their needs.

Library Setting:
The students can use library computers to get on YAHOO! Kids. Once they reach the home page, they would click on studyzone. From there they would click on World Factbook. The students would use this section of the website to do research on different countries for social studies projects. They could also use the Reference section of studyzone to gain access to the dictionary and encyclopedia online.


 * Catherine Gary**

**StoryJumper**
[|www.storyjumper.com]

Description:
StoryJumper is an online creative writing tool. Students are able to create, illustrate, and publish their stories into a hardback book. More fun comes in illustrating the stor,y which is more than just adding clipart. Students have the ability to add text, photos, scenes and props (pictures directly relating to what their story is about). Teachers can utilize the site’s interactive workbook and lesson plans to teach the writing process while allowing student’s creativity to flow. This tool though, can be used for much more than stories: Journaling in the classroom, book reports, showcasing science experiment photos, etc.

Library Setting:
StoryJumper could be used in student research projects. Students could create a document that presents what they have learned, using graphics and illustrations.

Angie Evans