Free and easy to implement on any LMS
Just the other day I was chatting in the hallway with one of the most admired humans I know, who happens to also be one of my very best teacher friends. Although there have been many positively influential individuals throughout my career, this teacher, she is my Marigold. For those that know the analogy, you just get it. For those who have no idea what I am talking about, Jennifer Gonzalez the creator of Cult of Pedagogy published an inspiring article, “Find Your Marigold: The One Essential Rule for New Teachers.” I highly recommend you do yourself a five minute favor and read and pass it along to any of the newer teachers in your building or social circle. My Marigold Mentor and I haven’t been 6th Grade teaching counterparts in over five years, but we still collaborate (geek-out about cool technology platforms we stumble on), present at professional development conferences together (eat, drink, and be merry), and corroborate (provide a sounding board for all the shenanigans that take place in a middle school setting) in what I like to call the hallway happenings. We always did, and apparently still do, some of our best planning in the short snippet conversations through the halls.
Maybe you’re like the two of us; and our teaching style and choices will resonate with you. Always looking for the next innovative way to deliver content, and to push yourself to be better for a larger impact. We teach ancient and world history, which doesn’t happen to change quite frequently, so we attempt to bring novelty through our instructional delivery methods. Can’t let history and apparently ANY of our school year’s repeat itself. We often feel like we’re trying to stay afloat, and that the ‘finish line’ so to speak a little further down the race track adding credentials, taking new courses, passing new certification programs, volunteering for in and out of district PD’s to turnkey best practices. But honestly, I don’t think either of us would ever have it any other way.
If you’re not like us, you probably still have students in your class similar to ours. As the abilities of learners in our classroom continue to widen, it has become more challenging to ensure the students who are identified as high-achieving and gifted are engaged and motivated to stay curious. Over the years, I have found that energizing these students (with the platforms I am going to share below) has made my classroom an environment where they want to thrive, go above and beyond and remain motivated to attain new heights of curiosity. Even for students who are not high achieving, the gamification, competition-based nature, and range of topics on the websites help to ensure the greatest learning outcomes for all. The list I have curated are 30 of my favorites, and the best part they are FREE with little to NO PREP to implement on any LMS. Check them out and enjoy!
Sorcerer: Sorcerer cultivates strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities through its immersive virtual world, providing educators with a versatile tool to seamlessly integrate game-based learning into the classroom.
GeoGuessr: GeoGuessr enhances geography skills and spatial awareness through interactive exploration, offering educators a captivating platform to effortlessly incorporate real-world mapping challenges into their lessons.
Financial Football: Financial Football hones financial literacy and decision-making skills through its interactive gameplay, giving educators a dynamic tool to easily introduce financial concepts into the classroom in an engaging way.
Contexto: Contexto stimulates critical thinking and cultural understanding by immersing learners in authentic language contexts, enabling educators to effortlessly integrate language learning activities that promote real-world communication skills.
WordWall: WordWall fosters vocabulary retention and active participation through its interactive word activities, providing educators with a versatile platform to seamlessly integrate language learning into the classroom.
GapMinder: GapMinder promotes data literacy and global awareness through its interactive data visualization tools, offering educators an easy-to-use platform to incorporate statistics and world development concepts into their lessons.
Quizizz: Quizizz enhances comprehension and retention through its gamified quizzes and assessments, giving educators a user-friendly tool to seamlessly integrate formative assessment and review activities into their teaching.
YouVisit: YouVisit facilitates virtual exploration and immersive learning experiences, offering educators an effortless way to integrate virtual field trips and interactive tours into their classroom curriculum.
Cultural Crosswords: Cultural Crosswords promotes cultural awareness and language skills through its interactive puzzles, providing educators with a captivating platform to seamlessly incorporate cross-cultural learning activities into their lessons.
NASA Kids’ Club: NASA Kids’ Club sparks curiosity and scientific inquiry through its interactive games and activities, giving educators an engaging tool to seamlessly integrate STEM concepts and space exploration into their teaching.
RadioGarden: RadioGarden immerses learners in global cultures and languages through its interactive map of live radio stations, offering educators a unique platform to effortlessly integrate multicultural listening activities into their classroom.
Groove Pizza: Groove Pizza nurtures creativity and mathematical understanding through its interactive music composition tool, providing educators with an innovative platform to seamlessly integrate music and math concepts into their lessons.
AutoDraw: AutoDraw sparks creativity and visual communication skills through its intuitive drawing tool, offering educators an effortless way to integrate visual learning activities into their curriculum.
QuickDraw: QuickDraw fosters creativity and quick thinking through its fast-paced drawing challenges, providing educators with a dynamic platform to seamlessly incorporate artistic expression into the classroom.
Tinker Ball: Tinker Ball cultivates problem-solving and engineering skills through its interactive physics-based puzzles, giving educators an engaging tool to integrate hands-on STEM learning into their lessons.
TierMaker: TierMaker promotes critical thinking and categorization skills through its interactive list-making platform, offering educators a versatile tool to seamlessly incorporate classification activities into their teaching.
Hide and Seek: Hide and Seek enhances strategic thinking and spatial awareness through its classic game format, providing educators with a fun and active way to incorporate movement-based learning into the classroom.
Quordle: Quordle stimulates vocabulary building and word recognition through its challenging word puzzle game, offering educators a captivating platform to seamlessly integrate language learning and critical thinking skills into their lessons.
TKSST: TKSST sparks curiosity and interdisciplinary learning through its curated collection of educational videos, providing educators with a rich resource to seamlessly integrate multimedia content into their teaching.
NYTimes Flashback: NYTimes Flashback offers historical insights and primary sources through its archival news articles, giving educators an invaluable tool to seamlessly incorporate current events and historical context into their lessons.
Whisperfy: Whisperfy fosters creativity and storytelling skills through its collaborative audio storytelling platform, offering educators an innovative way to seamlessly integrate oral communication and narrative writing into their curriculum.
Conflict of Nations: Conflict of Nations promotes critical thinking and strategy development through its multiplayer strategy game, offering educators an immersive platform to seamlessly incorporate geopolitical concepts and global issues into their teaching.
FreeRice: FreeRice enhances knowledge and vocabulary skills through its trivia game that donates rice to those in need, providing educators with a meaningful way to seamlessly integrate learning with social responsibility.
MissionUS: MissionUS immerses learners in American history through its interactive narrative adventures, offering educators an engaging platform to seamlessly integrate historical context and critical thinking skills into their lessons.
iCivics: iCivics fosters civic engagement and understanding through its interactive civics education games, giving educators a dynamic tool to seamlessly incorporate citizenship education into their curriculum.
More or Less: More or Less promotes numeracy and critical thinking skills through its interactive math challenges, offering educators a versatile platform to seamlessly integrate mathematical concepts into their teaching.
WODB (Which One Doesn’t Belong): WODB stimulates critical thinking and reasoning skills through its visual reasoning puzzles, providing educators with a thought-provoking tool to seamlessly incorporate logic and problem-solving activities into their lessons.
How Stuff Works: How Stuff Works offers accessible explanations and educational content on a wide range of topics, giving educators a valuable resource to seamlessly integrate real-world applications and curiosity-driven learning into their teaching.
Code.org: Code.org empowers learners to develop computer science and coding skills through its interactive programming tutorials, offering educators a comprehensive platform to seamlessly integrate computational thinking into their curriculum.
5 Clue Challenge: 5 Clue Challenge enhances deductive reasoning and problem-solving skills through its mystery-solving game format, providing educators with an engaging platform to seamlessly incorporate logic puzzles and critical thinking activities into their lessons.
~All summaries adapted from ChatGPT
Easy one-click access here, or under Freebies Tab–>30 Engaging Tech Platforms
Works Cited: Jennifer Gonzalez. “Marigolds.” Cult of Pedagogy, 29 August 2013. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/marigolds/