It's our belief that a well designed educational game must: 1. complement and further the educator's mission; 2. attract and hold the interest of all students, from the gifted to the reluctant learner; 3. require all players to concentrate on the educational material; 4. mesh humor and genuine enjoyment with a meaningful learning experience; 5. make an educational subject come alive; 6. build student camaraderie and interaction around the subject; 7. present material important to developing a good understanding of the subject; 8. enhance information retention; 9. stimulate interest in continuing as well as out-of-class play; and, 10. most important of all, trigger self-motivated interest in learning more about the subject. - Covey MacGregor Albert Jay Nock wrote in Memoirs of a Superfluous Man (1943), "As sheer casual reading-matter, I still find the English dictionary the most interesting book in our language," and most readers smiled at his sense of humor. The statement was thought so peculiar that it earned a prominent citing in John Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Had Nock named any other book, it is unlikely the sentence would have been recorded anywhere outside the Memoirs. This reflexive response to dictionaries--or to words--is surprisingly universal and shows how much we take them for granted. Most parents and teachers know that the young are even inclined to view words as little more than noise-laden extensions of their biology. The attitude forms a towering wall of obstruction that must be brought down before students are made word conscious. For example, when vocabulary is taught by the traditional triad method (i.e., word / definition / example of use), it is generally accepted by educators that students must be force-focused on a new word eight to as many as a dozen times before they add it to their working repertoire! The creation of Bethump'd with Words® was guided by these observations as well as the premise that imagery is vital to achieving comprehension and retention, especially in today's TV-molded world. The game's goal--because English is changing so rapidly that continued literacy is an educational need--is to trigger sustained interest in words. Ironically, the combination leads back to a classical method: The etymology of words--perhaps the oldest approach to teaching vocabulary--is image filled! The least among our words has a colorful story to tell. Question by question, Bethump'd with Words® weaves the stories of the origins, history, and evolution of everyday words into the fabric that comprises the story of English. The result is a game that does far more than build vocabulary. It stimulates curiosity and, most important, triggers sustained interest in vocabulary. And, simultaneously, it develops understanding of the forces that mold and govern the English language, and of the intimate, linguistically unique relationship that exists between it and the lives of its users. As Albert Nock recognized, an English dictionary, in reality, is a comprehensive, massively condensed history of the English-speaking peoples. Reports from ESL educators in Asia and Europe indicate Bethump'd with Words® is helpful to those studying English as a second language. It enables the novice to better integrate the language's vast array of mind-numbing oddities, and see each in the context of everyday use. We are very interested in feedback from educators that are using our games as teaching aids. Please send your comments to: Product Development Group, Mamopalire, Inc., P.O. Box 24, Warren, VT 05674, or email them to bethumpd@wcvt.com |