Gamification in Language Arts

Gamification is the hot new buzz word teachers and teacher-educators are throwing around nowadays. But what does it mean? Basically, teachers are now restructuring their curriculum to incorporate a video game-esque point system, complete with levels, challenges, and leaderboards. Or, otherwise put, infusing gaming principles into non-game activities. This new way of teaching incorporates technology in the classroom and appeals to this generations' needs regarding engagement. So how does one "gamify" an English classroom?

One teacher I've observed has done so it an interesting way. Each of her students in every class has their name on the wall. As the year progresses, with every book they read they earn a badge and points. There are many different kinds of badges with outrageously funny names. A few examples include, "Once Upon a Time", "Swashbuckling," and "Whodunnit?" to represent books with fairy tales themes (such as Cinder), about pirates, or mysteries.

Points are awarded for finishing books or for finding literary elements studied in class in their book, such as identifying personification in a novel. The teacher uses Google Docs to keep everything organized and prints out a leaderboard every month. The point-system is on a large scale, awarding 5,000 points for doing a smaller tasks such as finding an example of irony. I think gamification in this sense is excellent  for encouraging students to read.

This teacher's work makes me wonder about other ways gaming can be brought into the classroom. One option I've been testing out is a website called ClassCraft. ClassCraft is a classroom management point-system that has been gamified. When you create an account and class, you can choose or create things that students do in the classroom to lose or gain points. Students are able to choose their characters, with each type of character having special advantages. An example includes how the Warrior class has a skill called "hunting" that allows him to eat a snack in class.

The website offers preset items, such as "recite a poem if you fall in battle" but you can change them. I personally don't believe in using literature as punishment because I don't want my students to hate it, so I changed my tasks to things like "Push in all the chairs before leaving." Below is a video explaining a typical day in ClassCraft:

ClassCraft offers a fun, gamified alternative to classroom management that I think students, especially in the middle level, would positively respond. With so many schools going 1:1 and incorporating technology in the classroom, I hope one day try this website out with my students.