Finding a way to impress upon students how they directly connect to others around the world is a challenge. What they had for dinner, how they paid for their gasoline, and where they disposed of their Starbucks cup all provide fodder to help students see direct connections between their actions and the world around them. Consumption logs track…

Literacy researchers have explored how video games might be used as supplementary texts in secondary English language arts (ELA) classrooms to support reading instruction. However, less attention has been focused on how video games, particularly online educational games designed to teach argumentation, might enhance secondary ELA students'…

This qualitative study investigates a media transfer project in which a digital game was used to promote student creativity in an English as a foreign language (EFL) class. The paper first addresses the potential of opportunities for stimulating student creativity and motivation. Creativity has been highlighted as a core competency and has…

Drawing on fieldwork, this article examines nursing students' design and use of a patient health record during clinical simulations, where small teams of students provide nursing care for a robotic patient. The student-designed patient health record provides a compelling example of how simulation genres can both authentically coordinate action…

This study describes a foreign investment negotiation simulation game and evaluates its effectiveness on the teaching and learning of international business. The game involves the application of the major topics of an introductory international business course to a setting that is close to the real world, thus allows students to explore the…

There are many different kinds of words in the English language. Instruction in grammar and syntax helps young writers sort out when to use a plural or singular noun, or when to use an apostrophe. Silly Stories, a variation of a popular party game, reinforces the importance of word choice and conventions in writing. This article describes a…

We present an evaluation of the Writing Pal (W-Pal) intelligent tutoring system (ITS) and the W-Pal automated writing evaluation (AWE) system through the use of computational indices related to text cohesion. Sixty-four students participated in this study. Each student was assigned to either the W-Pal ITS condition or the W-Pal AWE condition. The…

Literacy remains an area of concern in early secondary education in Scotland (ages 12-14), with recent research suggesting a continued decline in attainment levels. As literacy underpins learning, interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to teaching literacy are now being emphasized through the new Curriculum for Excellence that aims to…

The author, a teacher educator, likens taking an English class to playing a game, and by taking the metaphor seriously, he develops an innovative and engaging way to start off the school year. This article describes the classroom-as-game activity that he used during the first week of school. Using the concept of a game as metaphor for the…

Stacey Brown energizes high school students with "brain-twisting" writing prompts, word games to hone vocabulary and spelling skills, and art to show complex ideas. Additionally, reading aloud to her class models fluent reading, expands students' vocabularies, builds community, and stimulates student-led discussions about the novel. (Contains 1…

"The Geography Teacher" provides hands-on reference and educative material for K-12 Geography teachers. The journal also pioneers innovative ideas for contemporary teaching methods, including lesson plans. This issue contains the following: (1) Census in Schools Program (census.gov); (2) Ask Dr. de Blij (Dr. Harm de Blij); (3) Eritrea:…

Describes two word games useful in secondary writing classrooms: "illot-mollo," in which freewriters announce words they just wrote which the other members must use in their subsequent freewriting; and "secret" in which students each write a secret (usually made-up) and then put them into a hat--students then pull out a secret and write about it.…

The 23rd EUROCALL conference was held in Cyprus from the 24th to the 27th of August 2016. The theme of the conference this year was "CALL Communities and Culture." It offered a unique opportunity to hear from real-world CALL practitioners on how they practice CALL in their communities, and how the CALL culture has developed in local and…

Describes a game whose goal is to make the largest three or four digit number possible from numbers appearing on successive rolls of a die. Discusses the written strategies developed for this game by third and seventh grade students. (RS)

Introducing middle school students (grades 6-8) to the joy of writing, this book presents ideas, practical lessons, examples, games, and resources. Step-by-step guidelines and helpful tips for educators are combined with numerous writing and prewriting activities for students--from "braindancing" and "zoom lens" to "downhilling." The book is…