http://www.abcya.com

Overview:
ABCya! is a website that includes educational games for grades K-5. These games are separated first by grade level, then by subject category.  The categories are: letters, numbers, holiday, strategy, and skills. This is a free resource with many different game types and interests for students to choose from. Games can range from different types of bingo to typing racing games. It is an arcade style website with many options to choose from to keep your students or children entertained. Although there are ads on each page (students must be taught not to click on them), the website is free to use.

How to:
1) First enter http://www.abcya.com as the web address.
2) Then, select the appropriate grade level.
3) Third, choose what subject type.
4) Finally, choose a game and follow directions for that game.

**When a particular game is chosen, the directions may need to be read to younger students.

Sample Game:
I played through several games in each category that were intended for 5th graders. There was only one I came across in the numbers section that I thought was too easy for a 5th grade level. In that game, you simply use base-ten blocks to create the number listed at the top. This seems more on point for grades 1-3 if anything.

The game I sampled last was within the letters category. I played Spanish Bingo, a game that helps students practice their Spanish vocabulary. It was a challenge for me and a real refresher on my rusty high school Spanish. You began the game by choosing which categories you would like to include. The minimum required was two categories.

You then proceeded to choosing methods and difficulty level. There was the option for choosing the words to be read in Spanish and you find the word in English or vice versa. As for difficulty, you choose which size grid you would like to play from. The larger grids, of course, had more words to search through. A beginning student could start with the easier grids and then advance to the larger ones as they feel ready. The game is differentiated well for different learning needs.

Once you choose your options, the game begins. As needed, you are able to have words repeated by the speaker. Just like in regular bingo, the goal of the game is to get 3, 4, or 5 words in a row (depending on your chosen level). As you work through the words given, the game seems to give enough time to have to find at least several words before making the bingo. If you guess too many times, the game makes you start over.

Overall, I would rate this educational website a 4/5. There is so much variety in content and helps build independence in the students with taking control of some of their own learning. It isn’t perfect as it could use some tweaking on ability levels for certain games. I would definitely keep it as a forerunner for classroom needs when it comes to integrating technology. It breaks up the use of worksheets and projects with fun games that keep the students engaged and learning.