Just this morning I had an excellent experience using an exciting interactive site called
Class Tools which allows you to create games, activities, and diagrams in Flash (without knowing a thing about Flash!).
While covering an eighth grade social studies class, I informed students that they would be creating review games for an upcoming test. They were less than enthusiastic (and those of you who are familiar with the typical enthusiasm level of eighth graders will know that causing them to be even
less excited was something of a real feat).
Hoping to rescue the moment, I asked if some of them would like to create a game online. Even this was met with grudging acceptance, but they agreed, perhaps considering it at least a momentary reprieve from creating another stale board game with markers and construction paper).
Well, in about twenty minutes time, I had some very excited eighth graders on my hands. Not only were they pleased with what they produced, but one exclaimed, "Wow, I actually know this stuff now that I had to type it in to create the game."
While I can't show you what
they created, I'll show you one of the sample files from those posted on the site:
Click here for full screen version
As you can see, a Dustbin game requires you to sort words into their appropriate categories; this morning, for example, the students created a Dustbin about the Middle and Southern Colonies.
Another pair of students created an arcade game, which is playable in
five formats (again, this links you to a sample at the site). I'd recommend you try several levels of the game option called Word Shoot.
In addition to the games functions, the site features several clever and adaptable utilities for creating other study aids. Teaching suggestions are provided for each, just in case you find yourself wondering, "Cool, but what can I actually
do with this?"
Class Tools is well worth a look! Just one word of warning:
be sure to save the game you've created before you play it! We learned that lesson the hard way.
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