Blog One Simple Reason You Should Try SPaG Monsters....
By Bobby Whiley | Holiday activities, Interview, SPaG Monsters
Bobby Whiley (Milbrook CP School, Liverpool) tested out our SPaG Monsters online literacy app and found fantastic benefits for his pupils...
One simple reason you should try SPaG Monsters? A significant impact on children's learning...
I responded to an email from Young Writers in April 2021. They were looking for 3 x teachers of 5-7 year-olds (KS1 or equivalent) to test their new game “SPaG Monsters” which helps pupils develop their literacy skills.
They said ‘The game is ready for Beta testers – are you interested?’
I am a KS1 teacher and an ICT Coordinator so I was definitely interested in discovering new ways to develop children’s literacy skills using an online learning tool.
At Millbrook C.P School we use workbooks which are focused on the teaching of all core literacy skills and we also use SPaG songs, which utilise repetition, physical actions and melody to consolidate the pupils’ knowledge of, and ability to implement, a grammatical skill (or word classification) within their writing.
However, the idea of using an online learning tool that supports children to develop their spelling, punctuation and grammar skills really excited me!
To become a beta tester I had to explain why I was interested in taking part. Luckily, Young Writers selected our school to participate and test ‘SPaG Monsters'.
My task was simple, I had to set up my class on “SPaG Monsters” so that they were ready to start using it for a week. After the week I had to complete a teacher questionnaire and provide pupils’ feedback which we completed throughout the week as the children were playing the game.
The feedback was instantaneous, there was a real buzz in the classroom and the children absolutely loved playing SPaG monsters. My experience was that there were many benefits to using the SPaG Monsters app as a literacy tool with my pupils:
👉 Pupil Engagement - Pupils thoroughly enjoyed creating their monster before playing games. They loved unlocking new levels and buying accessories for their monster. They were constantly asking ‘When can we play SPaG Monsters?’ They were even playing it as soon as they arrived home from school!
👉 Suitable for Range of Abilities - With access to over 20 online games that support comprehension of core literacy skills that allow children to earn stars, coins and certificates, all children were able to access the game regardless of ability.
👉 Helps Assess Pupil Needs - SPaG Monsters enables teachers to identify knowledge gaps as well as areas where pupils are excelling.
👉 Challenges Pupils as they Improve - The games increase in difficulty as the children improve so the children are continuously challenged and their interest is maintained.
👉 Helps Reluctant Readers - The app also had a huge impact on reluctant readers; helping them to foster an interest in literacy, build habits and make them into confident readers and writers.
👉 Extends Vocabulary - In our school we focus on a ‘word of the day’ in every subject in order to widen and enrich children’s vocabulary. Another bonus of using this game is that all of the SPaG monster games help with extending vocabulary, containing words used frequently in reading and writing, as well as less frequently used words, with the aim of introducing children to words that may be unfamiliar to them.
👉 Positive Response from Parents - I received excellent parental feedback as they couldn’t believe how much their children were learning whilst playing SPaG Monsters.
👉 Aids Understanding of Grammatical Terminology - In each game a definition of the grammatical terminology is given for players unfamiliar with the terms. This is extremely useful for children, parents and carers as they can sometimes struggle with grammatical terminology.
👉 Gets Parents Involved - SPaG Monsters enables the parents to be fully involved in supporting their child’s education. One of the parents commented:
“Hi Miss,
James has been on SPaG monsters again after school. As soon as his eyes open he wanted to play! He loves it x”
👉 Supports EAL Pupils - This tool has also supported reluctant readers and EAL pupils. I have three bilingual learners in my classroom and I have to explicitly model language structures and patterns. SPaG Monsters has supported EAL pupils and helped them to achieve as well as their monolingual peers as their language develops.
The children wanted to actually bring their SPaG monsters to life by painting pictures of them and writing monster poems.
The SPaG Monsters app definitely boosts children’s knowledge and confidence in reading, spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG).
I would highly recommend it!
SPaG Monsters is a free online learning tool that supports children to develop their spelling, punctuation and grammar skills, as well as boosting their confidence and having fun!
With over 25 games focusing on core literacy skills that let children earn stars, coins and certificates, why not start playing SPaG Monsters today?
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ It's FREE! There are no in-game charges, no payment info is asked for ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
We just want to help children love literacy!
Simply click on the teacher or parent options for further information, including the game features, benefits of using, testimonials, and FAQs.
Let's start improving spelling, punctuation and grammar today with SPaG Monsters!
Published: Fri 5th Aug 2022