Please note, this post was sponsored by Legends of Learning. All opinions expressed are my own. Thank you.
As the wife of a Project Lead the Way, Stem, ICT teacher, I am always on the lookout for ways to better equip our family and husband’s classes with better learning materials each academic year at school.
Particularly when it comes to finding fun ways to approach, engage, and reinforce tested subject areas including science, math, and engineering to students in the classroom. Which is why our family has loved using the Legends of Learning website this semester.
Legends of Learning is an education-based website that provides custom-built games organized by learning objectives. Teachers can create customizable objective-driven playlists, curated learning-based game, that encourage their students to access curriculum objective while engaging in fast-paced online games, all while teachers can monitor their learning progress online.
Through science-based learning games, which often included embedded learning suggestions, students are able to expand their knowledge of unit-style learning while gaining valuable knowledge of subject matter that allows students to work independently, too!
Legends of Learning stands out in the gigantic, marketplace of educational software by understanding a basic principle: Most learners are great at video games. Utilizing the pervasive nature of computers in the classroom, this site uses tech games to focus on 3rd – 8th-grade science games. All categorized by different lessons. As an added bonus for teachers, the lessons follow the guidelines set under the Next Generation Science Standards, a nationwide set of policies for K-12 science classes.
The site allows teachers to make playlists for the games they want to be included in the day’s lesson plan, as well as to create individual daily plans customized for each student based on what they’re struggling with and where they’re excelling.
With over 1,000 NGSS-aligned games and science-based simulations, Legends of Learning offers an enormous range of engaging, informative activities that students can play through, provided they have an internet-enabled device. Perfect for accelerated students, those with IEP’s, and homeschooling curriculum, too!
Another great aspect of this site is its developers contribute their own games after a throughout vetting process, to suggest changes to existing options. Thus far, the marketplace includes over 1000 games for 150+ lessons. An aspect that my long-time gamer husband appreciates greatly!
Do people actually learn from this site? Greatly! From our experience, of my husband utilizing the software, sharing it with colleagues, and testing the site our with his students, he found that the immediate result of the site was that his students and colleagues both loved the games.
My husband specifically liked that the games were shorter, making them easier to integrate into the classroom with an only minimal explanation from himself. With students more engaged, he was allowed to spend more time monitoring classroom behavior and to be freed up to give those in need of assistance more one-on-one in-class help.
To get started, teachers can create a free account in order to see the types of games that are available. Games are broken down by earth science, life science, and physical science for both elementary and middle school levels.
Within each subject area, you’ll find categories of games related to each of the NGSS learning objectives. Teachers can pick the specific objective they’re interested in exploring based on the simulations available. Typically, each learning objective has ten games associated with each learning level.
Each learning objective will have a highlighted game, based on current teacher and student reviews. Teachers can utilize reviews to chose games to connect weekly and daily objectives in-class. Or utilize vocabulary words, suggested questions, and concept boards for each game to choose selected games.
If the highlighted game isn’t for you, there will be other options available to choose from at the bottom of the screen. All of which are still connected to specific learning objectives. Best still, teachers can also hit the Try Game button to test all of the games before students play.
Once games are selected, teachers simply add them to curated student playlists. From here, you’ll also be able to decide how much time you want your students to have available to play each game and insert assessments within the playlist as well. Assessment comprised of multiple choice questions automatically generated based on the learning objectives.
Then after you create your playlist, teachers are given a link and a login code that you can share with students. Which can be scheduled as needed. Teachers can also create differentiated groups. Great for individual student learning plans. This also helps maintain district objectives and lesson plans while proactively incorporating students learning accommodations and ability levels.
One of my favorite features is that you can get detailed analytics pertaining to student performance. Including details on actual time spent in-game and assessment answers. All helpful in monitoring the engagement levels of students in real time.
Teachers can also access past data to study how students have done with the site over time. Data that can be downloaded into an Excel file. Making it incredibly helpful for parent-teacher and IEP meetings. Allowing educators and parents to access areas in learning where students have excelled and may still be struggling with daily tasks and objectives.
In terms of affordability, teachers can sign up for free to see if Legends of Learning is a good fit for their classroom needs. A district can buy an upgraded version that allows for custom assessments, rostering, and homework features.
Legends of Learning games are an incredible way for educators to actively engage a student in the classroom. While providing educational support and accentuate the lessons teachers are already implementing in their classrooms overall.
Coupled with an in-depth teacher and student rating system, for which educators can easily select which games will be the best fit for their classrooms all while actively collecting data that can help teachers and parents create a more customized environment to foster positive, proactive, futuristic-minded classroom learning, district standards, and beyond.
For 3rd – 8th-grade science and technology-based teachers looking for fun new ways to increase classroom engagement, Legends of Learning is a must-have for your classrooms this academic year and I encourage all educators, both traditional and homeschooling, to sign-up or a free account and try it out for yourself this year!
Friends, have you checked out the Legends of Learning site or do you plan to incorporate these games into your curriculum this year? Leave me a comment and let me know what you most like about this awesome gaming site!
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