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The
Website of Jessica Klimek |
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(A Review: With a focus on the
educational components of the site) Produced by PrimaryGames, Inc. Ó 2000-2009 Email: webmaster@primarygames.com Grade Level: Pre-K to 4 Subjects: Language Arts, Science, Math, Social Studies Reviewed by Jessica Klimek |
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This
colorful just for fun and educational website was created by teacher Susan
Shuey Beasley. Originally she had created many of the educational games for
her own students but once the site took off she expanded her site to reach
students everywhere! This site offers interactive materials for preschoolers
through grade 4. When you
first arrive at the Primary Games
Homepage there are colorful tabs for each link on the site including
language arts, science, social studies, math, the print zone, postcards,
virtual worlds, games, puzzles, holidays, arcade,
On the
right of the website a large portion of the page is taken up for
advertisements and a selection of games offered under the arcade section of
the site. There is also a portion called Teacher View where teachers can
print handouts and access a curriculum guide provided by Primary Games which
assists teachers in selecting appropriate games by topic and grade level. There is a
wide variety and mixture of educational games and games just offered for fun.
Some of the arcade games include copyrighted television shows like Spongebob
Squarepants and Dora the Explorer. Some of the educational games include
copyrighted materials like JumpStart. The site works with a number of
sponsors and partnerships. Primary Games has also won a number of awards,
many of which are from educational web pages. |
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Since there
is a numerous amount of content on this site I have focused this review on
the educational components of the webpage which concentrate on the Language
Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. The page has conveniently put a
curriculum guide for each of these academic areas which explain the
appropriate grade level and skill being taught. Below I have broken up the
accuracy of each content area. While reviewing and trying out certain games I
realized you need to be extremely careful with the content you choose. Some
games are educational and are great for practicing learned skills. Others,
however, are just simply games and require little academia in order to play. The
Language Arts section concentrates on grades Pre-K through 4 and offers games
on the following skills; alphabetical concepts, vocabulary, handwriting,
reading, cryptograms, spelling, contractions, and keyboarding practice. I
found that most of the games focused on vocabulary and spelling skills. When
reviewing some of these games I noticed that many of them mimic popular
television or video games like Wheel of
Fortune or Tetris.
The games are engaging and fun but the vocabulary and spelling words are
randomized which would make the website difficult to correlate with whatever
units of study are occurring in the classroom. Although many of the games
suggest Pre-K to 4 many of the games are easy enough for a Preschooler or
Kindergartner to play. There are few challenging games for the older levels. The Math
section offered a more balanced selection of activities among different grade
levels. Games concentrated on the following skills; number sense, patterns,
measurement, operations, counting, geometry, money, positive and negative
numbers, time, problem solving, and fractions. These skills are related to
many of the skills required according to the Connecticut Math Teaching
Standards for preschool through fourth grade. I found several of the math
activities to be engaging and accurate. Again games tended to mimic common
television games or video games like Pac Man. The Social
Studies section is primarily composed of games on holidays. Other
concentrated areas include economics, countries, geography, fire safety, and
patriotic symbols. There were a variety of games in this section and even
some of the Holidays had valuable information like the Presidents
Day Game. However, the majority of the The
Science section of the site was organized by different units like nutrition,
the seasons, etc. I also found many shape games in this area which I thought
would be more suitable for math. Only four out of the twenty-nine games were
available for fourth grade students. Many of the topics were geared towards
preschoolers through first grade. Even though some of the games sound
educational when students play them they are not really interacting with any
educational material. There was one game on Cells called The Innards
where all you do is just click on the red blood cells. This game was
recommended for the third and fourth grade but no informational reading was
required about the topic. Some of the science videos on specific animals
included were informational and would deem useful in the classroom. The
Science printouts are very educational for the latter grades. |
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The
website is colorful, graphics works quickly, and is easy to navigate through.
I did notice that many of the different links on the menu would repeat many
of the games in different areas. An example of this is how the games on
shapes were located in the math and in the science section. The The sound
quality of some games can be very loud or sometimes annoying and repetitive.
Students do not need to play with the sound on if it becomes an annoyance.
However, some students may prefer it. Some of
the games require Adobe Flash Player which may be a problem on some
computers. The printouts also require Adobe so this will need to be installed
on the computer in order to use these materials. All of the
educational games do not require a username and password but many of the
arcade games require this. It isn’t necessary to sign students up with a
username or password and is completely a teacher preference. One username and
password for the entire class could be helpful. The number of ads may also be of annoyance. There are usually a number of ads on the homepage. Some games may also display ads before the game starts. There is an option to skip ads but this may confuse some children at the younger ages. All of the ads I did come across seemed to be appropriate enough for children to view. Nonetheless they can get in the way of student focus and learning. |
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Many of
the games are simply for fun. Some of the activities, especially for the
early learners regarding phonics and basic number sense do promote learning.
Some of the games suggest they promote learning and can be found in the
curriculum guide but do not really promote any higher order thinking and
simply require repetitive clicking in order to win. The websites ability to
promote learning seems geared towards the preschool through first grade
level. Many of the grades for the older students are more repetitive and
about game play rather than educational content. At the end of some games students can assess how they have won with scores. Scores can be compared to others that have played the game but only if students have a username and password. The games will let students know if they have won or not. The print zone provides copies of many printable pages that can be used to assess student’s handwriting and basic knowledge. Much of the material provided in this area could also be found or created by the teacher though so although it is helpful it isn’t necessary. |
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Students
should be able to easily navigate this page independently and work on the
games independently or with a friend in the classroom or during a computer
lab. Most of the activities offered are prescribed and there is not much room
for learners to grow. Some of the activities do offer room for advancement to
the next level. Many of the games are generic in nature and even though they
are randomized they could seem too easy for students that may need a
challenge. |
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The
teacher’s role is to facilitate while children are using the websites. It may
be helpful to pull the website up on each computer before children arrive to
use the computers. Because there are so many facets including un-educational
games and ads on the website for students to wander to it is important that
teachers are monitoring them on a regular basis. The
problem with Primary Games is that many of the games may not be suitable for
instruction. Teachers must thoroughly explore the topics and the games they
select before letting students use them to make sure that the learning will
be beneficial. I suggest using the curriculum guide on the website in order
to find grade level and the subject focus. Some games will benefit students
as a review or for new learning. Teachers
can also find many useful tools under the print zone section to create
handouts for students on designated topics. There are also areas to print
calendars, awards for students, and stationary for students. Sometimes these
are great tools to have for everyday blank writing templates or special
awards. There is also a coloring station in the print zone to print coloring
materials for free time or recess and an area to create bookmarks. There is
an EZBook printable area where books on science topics like the climate can
be printed out to use with the classroom as well. |
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Some of
the games are useful for students to review information or learn basic
primary school skills. However, the majority of games on this website are
just for fun and entertainment even if they seem to be categorized as
educational. I would recommend using this website for students during recess
or as a reward if they finish an assignment early. Students can benefit from
some of the educational topics but the majority of the site seems to be just
for fun. Some of
the early childhood games on the alphabet could reinforce alphabetic
principals and concepts. Early childhood teachers could benefit from using
these in their lessons. After working on the letter sounds of the alphabet
this may be helpful to use in the computer center to reinforce ideas. With
the older games many of the answers can be figured out by simply clicking the
mouse. In order to make sure children are grasping the concepts trying to be
taught a simple worksheet that they need to fill out along with the site may
help maintain focus and emphasize understanding. One tool
that the site offers which I thought was useful was the typing practice
games. Many children may not have experience with computers and will benefit
from typing practice. Because the
site can be tedious to navigate through due to repeating games in a number of
different categories and misrepresentation of the educational quality of some
games, I have included a list of the games on the website that I believe
would benefit students educationally. This list is organized by academic
subject. Of course Primary Games is always being updated and games are added
frequently so this may not include all of the games that enhance learning. |
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Language Arts Games
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The ABC Game, Alphabet Zoo, Bookshelf, Dragon
University, Letter
Blocks, Letter
Rip, The
Number Game, See N Spell
Blends, See N
Spell Digraphs, See N Spell
Long Vowels, See N Spell
Short Vowels, See N Spell
Plurals, Treasure
Trove (Contractions), Word Lab |
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Math Games
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Add Em’ Up, Arithmetic
Game, Cube
Counting, Da’
Number, Even And Odd,
Fishy Count,
4 Piece Tangram,
Math Man, Moon
Cakes (Largest to Smallest), Pattern Mania, Pizza Party
(Fractions), Quick Math, Space
Station (Geometry), Spending Spree,
Squiggly Apples
(Number Ordinance), Take it Away, Time Clock, Two Minute
Warning: Add, Two
Minute Warning Combo, Two
Minute Warning Subtract, Two
Minute Warning Multiply, What Time is It? |
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Social Studies PreK-4
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Name
that Flag, Name
that President, Name
that State, Survivor
(Fire Safety), US
Symbols |
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Science PreK-4
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Typing Practice
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Typing
Tide pool, Cup
Stacking, Typing
Monster, The
Typing of the Ghosts |
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The
website is colorful and intrigues children. Many of the games are fun and
challenging for students although they may not always be educational. The
site is easy to navigate and offers suggested crafts and printouts to use in
the classroom. Most of the games are of good quality and many are
entertaining. Although
there are a few games on this website which may enhance learning, the
majority of the games are just for fun. I would only use this for children as
a reward, during free time, or with intervention groups that may need to
buffer up some of their skills. A few of the games I mentioned above would be
great to use as add ons to a current unit of study but they are not really a
necessity in order to enhance learning taking place in the classroom. Many of
the pages that I did visit required certain programs like Adobe Flash or Java
Scripts and I could not open several on my computer. Some required you to
download the games and others required a username and a password to play. The
majority of the educational games were free but difficulty to access some
games on the site may frustrate children even if they are using the site for
free time. Plus many of the downloadable games will attract students because
they are games including famous television characters so if they are unable
to download them this may also increase the frustration level. |
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I gave the
Primary Games Website a 6 out of 10. It is a nice tool to use for children to
review skills or to play for free time. The technological quality is pretty
good, besides not being able to access some games on outdated computers. The
Curriculum Guide and the amount of material on the site is plentiful and
informational but it could be organized better. Many of the games do not
really enhance learning and are more for fun but if used the right way
children can benefit from the site. |
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Homepage | Review of Science
Court | Lesson Plan | PowerPoint
| Web Quest |
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© Jessica Klimek | Revised |
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