Keeping students engaged while practicing their math skills can sometimes be difficult. But luckily, there is a powerful and free platform available for grades 1 through 8 that will help them achieve mastery and have fun doing it. And that platform is Prodigy.
What Is Prodigy?
More than 15 million students around the world are using Prodigy right now, a curriculum-aligned math game for elementary and middle school learners. With more than 1,200 crucial math skills covered and a guarantee that the product will ALWAYS be free to educators, you will definitely want to get your students registered to use this program. It begins with a diagnostic test for each student so that they begin working on their best level and follows up with embedded assessments and differentiation. And the teacher can see individualized reports about each student’s progress at any time.
Played like a video game, the platform includes the ability to create a persona, take part in quests, level up, and engage in social learning. It is game-based learning at is finest and most engaging. And the research behind the math learning is spot on, so as a the teacher, you know that your students are learning what they are supposed to be.
Getting Started with Prodigy
To begin using the program, the teacher creates an account with name, email, and password. Then you must select the curriculum you want your students to use. Choices include the Prodigy Math Curriculum, which is the default, along with Common Core Math Standards, Florida standards, and yes, standards aligned to the Texas TEKS. Set up your class and enter your students and then determine on what topic you want them to start. Then you are ready to go. You will receive a URL for each class created for your students to enter, along with a unique class code. Students will then be asked to create a character and can start playing.
More about this Math Game
Prodigy works on any device that can connect to the Internet, which makes it perfect for the BYOT classroom. In addition, there is also a Chrome extension for the game. The game even includes virtual manipulatives for the students to use, along with text-to-speech/question read-aloud features. And in case you’re wondering how Prodigy is paying the bills, they sell an optional membership to parents that allows them to see exactly what their child is working on and how he/she is doing.
In a time when some educational companies promise, but don’t deliver, and when those that do may come with a hefty price tag, Prodigy is a beacon of what is best for student learning. Create your teacher account today and get your kids engaged!
