I have been using Prodigy Math Game in my classroom for over 6 years now. It has become such an integral part of my math instruction particularly when it comes to student choice and station rotations. I love the game so much, I became a Prodigy Global Ambassador and member of their invite-only Champions Club. If you’ve never heard of this high engagement, low-cost (aka FREE!) game, let me fill you in:
How to Play
Prodigy is an online game consisting of several different worlds where students are employed with different challenges in an attempt to recover gemstones for the Academy. In different quests throughout the worlds, students encounter many foes they must defeat in wizard battles. To battle, students answer a series of math questions. The questions are either chosen by the teacher to align with a given standard or they are randomly selected by the game within the student’s zone of proximal development.
How to Access
Students can play Prodigy on most internet-enabled devices by visiting prodigygame.com/play. Tablets and phones can download the free app. For a complete list of approved devices, go here. Students can then be added to your class list automatically by entering your class code when they register. You can also manually add each child if need be. Students with accounts from another school or teacher can easily join your roster by changing their class code upon logging in.
How to Use
At the start of the school year, I assign students game time. Prodigy administers an adaptive placement test in August/September that runs in the background as students play. It starts at one grade below the grade you’ve actually selected for the class, and then works to determine each individual child’s actual level. After the test ends, the game curriculum adapts, revisiting prerequisite skills or jumping ahead depending on how students performed.
My favorite part as a teacher? ALL THE DATA! As your class plays Prodigy, your teacher dashboard will automatically fill up with detailed reports. You’ll have access to data and graphs showing skills students are struggling on, how much curriculum they’ve covered, and more!
Being a special education teacher, I use the dashboard reports ALL THE TIME. They make great printouts for progress monitoring and IEP meetings. Parents can even link their email to their child’s account and get reports sent directly to their inbox. What’s not to love here?!
ACTIONABLE STEPS: Sign up for your free teacher account and get your students playing Prodigy! If you need help or have questions, let me know. I’m here to help. Prodigy also offers live webinars and playbacks of previous recordings. Happy gaming!
