This post is sponsored by
Think back to the classrooms of your childhood and the days of paper and pencil tasks, memorizing facts, and trying to conceptualize big picture concepts from books, encyclopedias, and microfiche. Thankfully, education has changed and today’s 21st century classrooms are engaging, hands-on, and interactive. Teachers are skilled at finding technology tools and games and integrating them into the curriculum to enhance educational experiences.
Games? Yes, games!
Game based learning (GBL) is a productive way for students to use screens in the classroom game play has defined learning outcomes. According to EdTechReview.com, GBL is “designed to balance subject matter with game play and the ability of the player to retain and apply said subject matter to the real world.” GBL is a way for students to learn and apply knowledge through learning contexts designed by teachers and a great example of this is where teachers create playlists of games that center around learning a specific topic within elementary or middle school science curriculum.
About Legends of Learning
Legends of Learning is a free game based learning (GBL) platform that gives educators the ability to find curriculum-based games that are aligned to current standards for grades 3-8. Called the “Spotify for learning games,” the platform includes over 1000 science games created through academic research and in partnership with Vanderbilt University. Teachers in the Legends of Learning community have also provided direct input and feedback.
Legends of Learning’s game-based learning platform includes:
- short games (5-20 minutes)
- support for many state standards, including Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), TEKS (Texas), GSE (Georgia), and SOL (Virginia)
- peer- and student-reviewed games that help teachers select content that engages students and helps them succeed in their studies
- an intuitive platform that allows teachers to easily deploy games in class via playlists and empowers advanced features, like in-class assessments and personalized learning
- a dashboard to observe student comprehension in real time and assess content mastery
Individual games are 5-30 minutes in length and either question (Q) or instructional (I) games.
Marked with a Q or an I in the upper left corner. Instructional games teach students the concept through game play and are best used for introducing or reinforcing materials. Question games offer students lots of multiple choice questions in a fun game, best used for assessment or review.
All games can be added to teacher-created playlists to customize learning around subject areas or ability. Playlists can range in length from 5-60 minutes long. Teachers can also add an element of “free play,” allowing students to play any game they want within the selected learning objective to reinforce their understanding of concepts being taught through game play.
Legends of Learning allows teachers to access thousands of games for middle and elementary school for three subject areas — Earth and Space, Life, and Physical Sciences — and include 146 learning objectives. Legends of Learning games align to the NGSS standards and select state standards, including GSE, SOL, and TEKS.
I also love that each game comes with teacher and student reviews so educators can get a sense of how they were received in other classrooms before adding them to their playlists. Additionally, Legends of Learning games are reviewed by the company’s curriculum staff, teacher Ambassadors, and outside curricular experts.
Why Game-Based Learning?
More fun than paper and pencil tasks or rote memorization, Legends of Learning provides an engaging way to learn curriculum objectives. Game-based learning platforms inspire children to learn because the interactive nature captures their interest. Legends of Learning offers 1000 games created for 90 science lessons across three primary subject areas, so there’s a game for every lesson.
For more information about Legends of Learning that is free for students and teachers,
- Visit to sign up for your free account
- Follow Legends of Learning on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest
- Download and read the white paper Legends of Learning wrote about game based learning
Parents: You can encourage your elementary or middle school to use Legends of Learning by sharing this post with teachers at your kids’ schools!
This post was sponsored by Legends of Learning but all opinions are my own.
