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Review by Stacy Zeiger, Common Sense Education | Updated November 2013

Language Adventures Quiz Game Show - Gr. 4-6

Fun, Jeopardy-style game focuses on basic English skills

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • English Language Arts
Skills
  • Communication & Collaboration
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
4–6
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (2 Reviews)
Platforms:  iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

Take a look inside

4 images
Choose from 11 different categories.
Players select point values from the grid to receive questions.
All questions are multiple choice.
Positive praise motivates teams.

Pros: The game features 11 categories and can be played with up to four different teams.

Cons: Questions cover basic knowledge, and teams must fight to be the first to answer questions, which is awkward on small devices.

Bottom Line: Language Adventures covers a large number of skills and categories but doesn't provide many higher-level learning opportunities for students.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

The fact that Language Adventures Quiz Game Show doesn't promote higher-order thinking skills doesn't mean it has no use in the fourth- to sixth-grade classroom. It offers a good way for teachers to gauge what students know and also helps refresh their memories when it comes to preparing for a standardized exam. It's also fun for students to play, so using it as a time-filler or as a way to get students involved at the beginning of class could help them build confidence in their skills and review key bits of knowledge at the same time. It may also play a role in the ELL or low-literacy classrooma where students need to build some of that basic background ELA knowledge to help them understand more difficult concepts.

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Standards:

Students can opt to play Language Adventures Quiz Show as a single team of one or with up to four teams of any number. After determining factors such as the number of teams, whether questions should be timed, or if they want to turn on audio narration on the question cards, students select categories. Each game features four categories chosen from a list of 11. Categories include forms of writing, reading comprehension, sentence structure, study & research, grammar & usage, and story elements. Once the categories are selected, the Jeopardy!-style game begins. The more multiple-choice questions a team answers correctly, the more points it earns. Hidden among the cards are double and triple bonus cards to give teams even more chances to pull ahead. The team with the highest point total at the end wins.

At the fourth- to sixth-grade level, students should be focused on building their higher-order thinking skills and applying their knowledge to creative scenarios. In Language Adventures Quiz Game Show, they don't have that opportunity. Instead, the questions simply test whether students have a good base of ELA knowledge. While some categories, such as Study & Research, Reading Comprehension, and Story Elements offer a little more than just identification and recall, they still focus on simpler concepts, such as recognizing basic cause-and-effect scenarios or determining the plot of a short story. In the categories that require basic identification and recall skills, some questions are below grade level. For example, the parts of speech category has students identifying nouns and adjectives, which are typically covered in lower grade levels.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Kids will enjoy the Jeopardy!-style game, cool narrator, and entertaining sound effects. The ability to play with up to four teams helps multiple kids get involved at once.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Multiple-choice questions cover multiple subject areas, but some focus on memorized knowledge, not higher-order thinking skills.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Kids have help getting started, and the app is generally intuitive to use, but it doesn't offer tutorials, practice sessions, or explanations for incorrect answers.

Common Sense Reviewer
Stacy Zeiger Homeschooling parent
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Key Standards Supported

Language

  • L.4.2

    Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

  • L.4.4

    Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

  • L.5.2

    Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

  • L.5.4

    Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

  • L.6.2

    Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

  • L.6.4

    Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

Reading Literature

  • RL.4.5

    Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.

  • RL.4.2

    Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

  • RL.4.3

    Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).

  • RL.5.5

    Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.

  • RL.5.2

    Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

  • RL.6.2

    Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

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Teacher Reviews

(See all 2 reviews) (2 reviews)
Featured review by
Marla Kay D. , Classroom teacher
Classroom teacher
Forest Lake Education Center
Longwood, United States
Language Adventures is an entertaining tool students can use for Language review.
Overall, I like the app, and plan to use it again next year with my sixth grade students. The ability to have an engaging and quick review of language available for warm-ups and practice is a plus. Students liked the "quiz game show" theme and the encouraging remarks of the animated show host. Practice categories include word analysis, sentence structure and reading comprehension as well as other literary categories. My students enjoyed playing for short periods of time Using the game on a small device becomes difficult when playing for longer time periods or with several team members.
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