I am so excited to share with you about one of my favorite reading platforms that is forever FREE to use… DREAMSCAPE! Dreamscape is a fantastic game based reading program that engages my students, and keeps them always wanting to play more! Anytime you can find an educational game that meets learning standards it’s a win in my book and Dreamscape does just that! One of the things I love most about Dreamscape is I’m able to use it as a tool to assess where individual students are at with specific learning standards. It also gives me great information about what areas students need improvement in. All of this information can be found in the newly updated teacher dashboard which I will be focusing on during this post!
Because Dreamscape is a web-based platform it can be used with students who are in person as well as virtually learning. Just recently I transitioned back into the classroom for in-person learning five days a week. This transition came after teaching virtually since the beginning of the year due to funding cuts. My district has teachers teaching concurrently, meaning there are both students physically in the classroom as well as students who are remote and using Google Meets to access lessons. Dreamscape has allowed me to provide students with an interactive way to build their comprehension skills and works for all learning environments! Being that I teach concurrently my class really enjoys the multiplayer mode which allows my kids in the classroom to challenge and collaborate with the kids I have learning remotely. With so many kids gaming today Dreamscape makes a truly amazing product because it promotes and builds strong readers through play.
The multiplayer aspect of this game is what I believe captivates these young minds. Gaming is something that has become more and more prevalent with children over the most recent years, and with so much isolation happening over this past year it has really allowed our students to safely come together while learning. In fact, the multiplayer games allow children to interact with others who live across the world. Talk about building connections beyond the four corners of the classroom! As a parent I often worry about limiting screen time and making sure that the screen time my kids engage in is educational. Dreamscape’s platform intentionally resembles games that kids today play, all while promoting a positive and safe learning environment for children. Once students realize they can battle one another you will quickly see how invested they become in their learning. They make it a top priority to answer their comprehension questions correctly because they become so focused on wanting to build up and protect their base from other students which can only be done with progression and success during the reading portion of the game.
When getting started the first step you will have students do is complete a Placement Test within Dreamscape. The placement tests will determine the reading level for all students by having the students answer questions (with a varying difficulty range) and based on their answers a “just right” placement will be provided for them. And no need to worry about administering the placement tests, Dreamscape automatically assigns it to students directly in their new accounts. This placement test really ensures that all students will be working at their appropriate ability level and can be successful within the game. Once students have completed the placement tests you will see their results within the teacher dashboard.
As an educator one of my favorite features is Dreamscape’s teacher/parent friendly dashboard. This dashboard is where I can keep track of individual classes, as well as get a better understanding of how the students are doing with their questions and answers during their game play. Let me walk you through some of the amazing features the dashboard offers. Once you select an assigned class, that classroom’s dashboard will automatically show up within your account. On the left hand side of the screen you can see the following features.
- You can see the total questions asked, % read and total passages read within this tab.
- When you select the student button you can invite parents and guardians so they can track their child’s progress as well as edit individual student’s grade level within the game. This is helpful to give parents access to the detailed data that Dreamscape provides based on the students’ reading abilities.
- Use the planner to create assignments for either skills or genres for the class
- See the reading level reports for each class and the reading level over time for each individual student in the class
- Skill level reporting by class as well as individual student level
- Identify the struggling players within the class and where their deficits are
- Reports are automatically created based off of the assignments that have been assigned by the teacher and pushed out through the planner
Don’t miss out on this awesome resource, sign up now for your FREE DREAMSCAPE ACCOUNT!
