Welcome to Tech Tools, our new newsletter feature. Written by Debbie Harris, this column will bring you excellent technology tips to inspire you and add creativity to your teaching.

The Technology

Create your own interactive games and share them with your students to play. To create a game, first download the Make It application to your device.

  • - Download the Mac app here
  • - Download the iOS app here

You’ll also want to create an account so that you’ll be able to save your game. (Your students will not need to create accounts.) To create a game:

  • - Click on “Create New”
  • - Name your project
  • - Select a theme
  • - Choose what type of game you’d like to create: For example, you can choose to make a sorting game, a matching game, or a quiz, among others.
  • - Customize your game: You can add sound, text, images or video to your game’s design
  • - Hebrew is supported, so you can also choose to add Hebrew text 

Once you’ve created your game, share it with your students to play. Simply click on “Share” and upload your game to the Make It server. Make It will then provide you with a code for you to give to your students so that they can enter it into the Make It server, and play.

Make It is free to use, but if you’d like to track your student’s progress, you need to purchase a premium account. Information about the various subscription plans can be found under the “Subscribe” link in the app.

In Your Classroom

  • -Create a Make It game to help your students review holiday terms or prayer text.
  • -Share your Make it game codes with your student’s families, so that they can be played at home as well.
  • -Kids will enjoy to creating their own games, too. Ask them to create their own Rosh Hashanah game. Then, suggest that they trade, and play each other’s games.

 

Debbie Harris is the Director of Educational Technology at Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago and blogs at http://www.museforjews.com. Reach her at deb@debharris.com