Help me give my students the tools to become Video Game Design engineers- to create, and not just consume!
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Larkin's classroom raised $418
This project is fully funded
My Students
My school is a Title I, high-poverty, school in NY, with a class of 8th grade students in a technology class. I want to tap into their passion and enthusiasm by creating a Video Game Design curriculum for them.
My students need to be challenged, to develop higher-order thinking and collaborative problem-solving skills, while also feeling intrinsically engaged.
When I taught them 2 years ago, we completed a curriculum on block-coding (Scratch) and Lego Robotics. I would love to give them the opportunity to now hone their skills, while using their passion for video games to turn them from consumers into creators.
My students can manage higher-order thinking if they have the right tools. I am always looking for hands-on tools that can allow them become engineers.
My Project
Every day in my computer lab, students are tempted to play games instead of working. Their passion for video gaming is bottomless. If I can leverage their passion into a class activity, they will learn and create, when they think they are "just playing."
Learning through games teaches children problem-solving skills and collaboration in the most engaging way possible.
The same analytical and iterative process in coding or writing formally- plan, draft, assess, revise- applies to video game design. Students will need to plan their game, program, play-test, and revise, based on their own analysis and on peer feedback.
One of the greatest challenges in learning is analytical problem-solving skills. Gamestar Mechanic lets me help children develop and refine these skills in an environment of play.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Larkin and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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