I have long been a fan of 4 Teachers Family of Tools. I revisit and recommend Rubistar, Web Poster Wizard, and PBL Checklists frequently. Imagine my delight when I realized that the Family of Tools has added a site called Academic Skill Builders. The site includes numerous colorful and educational games that students can play to practice and improve math, geography, and ELA skills.

The games were colorful, simple to master, and some of the games even offered options to compete with other players (in other words, up to four students could be on different computers competing with each other virtually). Information from the site…
Our approach is based on these principle points:

• Students respond to challenge and errors can be viewed as opportunities to improve rather than as indication of failure. An unlimited ceiling on performance will help the student reach his/her maximum level of proficient performance.
• Repetitious drill can be fun, as fun as methods typically associated with the higher order aspects of learning. Games increase the time-on-task for drills and increase engagement through competition.
• Immediate corrective feedback facilitates improvement in performance. Students can quickly see mistakes and how to correct them.

Generally speaking, I would say these games are best suited to younger students, though certainly the games could be used to practice and spiral basic skills.

• Interactive Whiteboard Resources – this is a UK collection;  the many Flash resources included on the site are excellent in terms of content
• SMARTboard Portals – a portal of links to excellent material posted by teachers.  Look for the files I posted at the bottom of the page.
• Pete’s PowerPoint Station – find numerous PowerPoint presentations and activities that you can download and use in the classroom.
• SMART Notebook Express - view, save and interact with SMART Notebook files online, at no charge.

It’s no secret I am a strong advocate of Pro Prof online products for educators. The online quiz maker, poll creator, and flashcard generators are terrific. Now Pro Prof has added over 4,000 Brain Games & Puzzles to their already robust (free) product line. ProProfs Brain Games allows users to create their own custom games that can quickly be uploaded to blogs, teacher pages, and social media sites. Users can also take advantage of the numerous pre-made games on the site and embed them on teacher sites for student use. I love the strategy games section, as I feel many of the games can be used to challenge and enrich students to think more creatively and critically.

To create personalized games you will need to have an account, but registration is simple and quick. If you already have a Pro Prof Polling or Quizmaker account no registration is required; simply login to your account. Currently, the games that can be personalized include:

• Word Search Games
• Crossword Puzzle Games
• Sliding Puzzle Games
• Hangman Games
• Jigsaw Puzzle Games

I have embedded a couple of strategy games to get you started, but I would strongly encourage you to explore ProProfs Brain Games for games that you feel are appropriate for your students. Be forewarned, however, these new games are addictive and plentiful! Enjoy!

Check out my previous Pro Prof Product Posts (say that ten times fast!)…

Pro Profs Polls
Create Online Quizzes with ProProfs