Games and Apps in the Classroom

This week I set out on a hunt for games to use in the classroom to help students learn and have fun at the same time! I wanted to have some games that could be played on an interactive whiteboard, so during my hunt I found these three!

Multiplication Grid Challenge

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SpeedGrid/Multiplication/urikamultires.html

This game could be used in a third, fourth, or even fifth grade classroom. You begin by choosing your goal. I set mine as answering 8 questions correctly in 2 minutes! There is a grid of numbers displayed with a multiplication problem at the bottom. You are given the product and have to find the factors that go along with the multiplication sentence. There were a few of them that even made me think(such as the one displayed ? x? = 224), so I do believe that there should be a way to adjust the difficulty of the problems, but the game is completely free!! This will get students extremely comfortable with multiplication and it is a fun way to get there! 

Anatomy Labeling

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/health_games/body_parts/labeling.html

This game starts out very simple and leads to more complex pictures.There are 3 levels in the game. The picture above was on level 3, level one consisted of labeling the parts of the face(eye, ear, nose, mouth, etc.), and level 2 was parts of the body(leg, arm, head, neck, etc.). The last level would be great for middle school children, but the first two would be great for elementary level children. This website also had many other games that would be great for all ages!

Explore the Solar System!

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/solar-system-explorer/en/#/review/solar-system-explorer/game.swf

This game pulls up a birds eye view of the solar system and allows you to click on the planets and gives you information on each one. This would be a great game to show students how the solar system and each planet looks. When pulling up each planet it even tells what each one is made up of . Kids around the age of 8 or 9 would enjoy this game!