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Chance
Well-designed games contain an element of chance that has an equalizing effect, or levels the playing field. The brightest students will not win every game because every player (and teacher) is susceptible to the random luck of the chance card. Struggling students will experience the confidence and self-esteem boost that come with winning the game.

Focus
Games extend the attention span. They engage students as active, hands-on participants, and keep them focused until they reach the end of the game path, win the most points, collect the most chips, or beat the clock. Games provide the added benefit of channeling students’ physical energy in appropriate ways.

Models for Learning and Instant Feedback
The answer sheet is a key component of an educational game. It provides either the correct answer or a model answer for situations where players must compose individual creative responses. Players will see and respond to dozens of these models as they draw new game cards at each turn and receive instant feedback from the answer sheet. A teacher can use games as a means of providing instant feedback to a large group of students, but should also follow up with students who show difficulty with a particular concept or idea.

Practice
Games may be the single most effective method of providing students with the structure, time, and incentive to practice a new skill. By the end of a single language arts game, students will have analyzed and applied specific grammar concepts such as parts of speech or sentence structure, word relationships such as synonyms, antonyms or analogies, or word study concepts such as etymology, roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Students will be practicing basic skills without tedium or drudgery, which will make practice sessions longer and more effective.

Flexibility
The component parts of games will appeal to various learning styles. Visual learners will enjoy the game boards, spinners, and illustrated game and chance cards that present the targeted skill or concept. Auditory learners will benefit from team play, where game directions, questions, and answers are shared aloud. Kinesthetic learners will benefit from games that encourage students to act out their answers in charade-like fashion or manipulate game pieces in challenging ways. Games can always be customized to fit the learning styles of individual students and/or the size of the class.

Cooperative Learning
Games foster cooperation as students work together in teams toward a common goal. Games allow for the pairing of students with diverse learning styles and strengths, creating opportunities for inclusion and collaboration. Players are encouraged to interact socially with other players as they interact intellectually with ideas and information. Vygotsky recognized that students often work best with more skilled participants, in the “zone of proximal development,” which allows students to continually challenge themselves. A teacher may build cooperative groups according to the principles inherent in his or her classroom, thereby differentiating instruction in truly meaningful ways.

Motivation
The competition that is synonymous with game playing produces lively and sustained energy for learning. Most students will be more highly motivated to master concepts when they have an opportunity to win, or be recognized in some way by their teacher and classmates. Collaborative work, or work in teams, can reduce competition in a highly competitive class. Research has shown that cooperative environments are more likely to produce students who are more likely to study, be accepting of their peers’ differences, and show self-confidence (Johnson & Johnson, 1988; Johnson, Johnson, & Maruyama, 1983; Schmuck & Schmuck, 1997; Slavin, 1990).

Fun
Educational games benefit good students as well as students who are at risk. Even the most reluctant learners find it hard to resist the invitation, “Let’s play a game!” The playful format of games often removes the threat of new or difficult material. Students who are mystified by prepositions and pronouns will be enthusiastic about playing games such as Preposition Expedition and Pronoun Touchdown. The humor and laughter that accompany game playing reduce stress and release creative energy. A playful atmosphere, where educational games are a part of the students’ “work,” relieves students of the anxiety surrounding difficult subject matter and “frees them to take chances without fear of being ‘wrong’” (Fredericksen 1999). Most importantly, students will remember most the lessons they enjoy.

About the Author
Joanna Kennedy is the author of Game Plan: Building Language Skills with Games. She is a learning specialist with 25 years of teaching experience in grades K–9. She serves as a tutor for children and adults with language-based learning differences and has taught in both public and independent schools, including Ashland Junior High School in Ashland, MA, The Advent Day School in Boston, the Apple Orchard School and Park School in Brookline, MA, and the College Readiness Program in East Harlem, NY. A graduate of Connecticut College with a B.A. in French, she has an M.A.T. from Harvard University and is certified for both elementary education and the teaching of reading. Trained as an Orton-Gillingham practitioner, she also holds certification from the Massachusetts General Hospital program of therapy for specific reading disabilities.

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