The document proposes a vocabulary game to help Spanish students learn about Hispanic culture and practice their vocabulary. The game would have different worlds based on Spanish-speaking countries. Students would complete mini-games and levels to move through the worlds, learning vocabulary and cultural facts along the way. The goal is for students to internalize vocabulary to improve their Spanish proficiency based on ACTFL guidelines. It describes the student and teacher interfaces, gameplay, and technical details.

1. Alexandra Baltodano
EDET652-061
Alexandra_baltodano@charleston.k12.sc.us
08/05/2018
UN
JUEGO
PARA LA
CLASE¡PRACTICA!

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¡Practica! Un juego para la clase
Overview of concept
The concept is to create a platform game, for Novice Spanish students, that provides an engaging and relevant
way to learn about Hispanic culture and memorize vocabulary words. Topics covered in the game are tied to
the South Carolina world languages’ standards in Reading and Listening. The game is made up of different
worlds. Each world is a different Spanish speaking country. To get through the worlds, the student must play
with the vocabulary words assigned by the teacher and learn about the culture in that country they are in. To
gain more experience and strength students can play mini games outside of their path and some mini games
are multiplayer games. Many teachers are differentiating their curriculum and implementing personalized
learning to some degree. This game is a great tool to have when students are done with their work early or are
ahead of the class. This game also helps those behind schedule because it helps them study through game and
competition. Students can practice their vocabulary anywhere they have an Internet connection.
Outcome
Students will be able to internalize their vocabulary through games. The more vocabulary students internalize,
the better-equipped students are to produce in Spanish at the Novice Mid-Novice High level, according to the
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL). They will also have a better understanding of
Hispanic Culture and will be able to meet the standards of Culture in the South Carolina world languages’
standards. Students will be able to perform well on the performance assessments.
Instructional Objectives
At the end of the game the learners will be able to:
READING
 NOVICE MID
o Recognize words and phrases and characters with the help of visuals.
o Recognize words, phrases, and characters when they are associated with things the
learner already knows.
 NOVICE HIGH
o Answer questions about short simple messages on familiar topics.
o Answer questions about short, simple descriptions with the help of pictures or graphs
80% of the time.
o Identify the main idea of published materials.

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o Answer questions about simple everyday notices in public places on topics that are
familiar to me.
LISTENING
 NOVICE MID
o Answer a few courtesy phrases.
o Identify basic information in words and phrases that I have memorized.
o Identify words and phrases that I have learned for specific purposes.
 NOVICE HIGH
o Identify simple questions or statements on familiar topics.
o Answer questions about simple information when presented with pictures and graphs.
o Identify the main idea of conversations that I overhear.
CULTURE
 NOVICE
o Identify some common products related to home and community life of other cultures
and my own.
o Identify some beliefs and values related to age, gender, social class and ethnicity.
o Identify some characteristics of national identity.
o Identify ways in which cultures are globalized.
o Imitate some simple patterns of behavior in familiar settings across cultures.
o Use memorized language and very basic cultural knowledge to interact with others.
o Use memorized language, and very basic knowledge of the culture to accomplish
simple, routine tasks.
Characters
The Students will be able to choose a basic Hispanic character type and customize skin color, hair color, eye
color and basic clothing items. Hispanic people are very diverse in their looks and giving the students the
option to customize their character will allow them to see the range of options. They will be able to customize
clothing in the clothing shop. The clothing shop will have outfits from all over the Spanish Speaking world.
Some outfits will be free but students will have to level up to unlock other outfits. They will be able to name
their character. There will be other non-player characters (NPCs) throughout the game that will be used as
enemies. Some NPC will consist of Monkeys in the Costa Rica world, Bulls in the Spain world, Llamas in Peru,
Guinea Pigs in Bolivia and so on. Each country will have its own enemy.
Game Environment
There will be twenty-one small worlds, each one representing and shaped like a Hispanic country. Each world
will represent the country’s diverse geography. For example, the Nicaragua world will have rainforest, dry

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forest, Volcanoes and lakes. Panama will have black sand beaches, Mountains, rainforest and clear water
beaches. Chile will have dessert, mountains and snow. The worlds will have four stops on each map. This will
allow students to go at the speed of one stop per day in semester long classes. Each stop will include a cultural
fact. Culture facts could be delivered in a video or a reading. Two games will be focused on reading and two
will be focused on listening.
The Teacher platform looks different. The teacher logs in and there will be options to choose from. Teachers
will be able to add vocabulary and matching pictures to a unit, edit and insert culture facts, view student
progress and award a limited amount of XP or coins.
Game Play
Once the teacher has assigned the words for the Unit, the students will be able to log on to the teacher’s
classroom. Each student will pick their basic character out and then land in their first country. They will click
on the level they land on and will be able to play a game. Some mini games might include: Crossword puzzles,
a game where you have to eat the correct translation of the word, a matching game, a multiple-choice game, a
listen and hit the word game, a listen and hit the translation game and hangman. Some of these games could
be available in the multiplayer mini-games. Other multiplayer mini games include a drawing guessing game or a
digital fly swatter. Two of the stops will be geared towards reading and the two towards listening. Students
will move through the 4 levels of each world with the possibility of engaging in other mini-games and bonus
levels to cross over to the next country. Bonus Levels will pop up as “airplanes” to get to the country. They
will include some kind of realistic document the students have to answer questions about. Students will be able
to see where their classmates are if they are in the same world.
Consequences
Students will win XP points if they answer the games correctly. If they pass the level with an 85% or above they
are allowed to move on. If they do not pass with an 85% then they must play mini-games to practice a little
more with the vocabulary before trying again. By the end of each level they must have at least 1000XP points
accumulated in that world. Each level is worth 150 XP points. Each mini game is work 100XP points. Bonus
Levels are 200XP but do not count towards the 1000 XP. Each time students level up they receive coins.
Students can win coins in Bonus games and multiplayer games. In the multiplayer games they have to pay coins
to enter but if they loose they will also loose their coins but will win XP points regardless of the winning status.
Look and Feel of the Game
A comment that has been heard repeatedly about Central and South America is that it is like travelling back in
time 20 or 30 years. This game will have a retro feel to it to keep the feel of gaming in that time period,
around the 90s. It has a carton feel, it will be made up of very bright colors and each country will be designed

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with a specific style of art from that country. The music that will play in the background while on the map will
be music from that country. The design is very simple. The map is on the main page. Amount of XP and coins is
on the top right corner. When the player enters a game the game will take up the whole page and the XP and
coins will still be available on the top right corner.
Technical Description
This game will can either be web-based or an app. If it is web-based, the teacher and the students must
download a plugin so they have the necessary software to play the game. The teacher will have a different
version so they can customize the input the students re receiving. If it is an app, there will also be two
different versions, a student version and a teacher version. Either version will be housed on a server outside of
the schools.
References and Acknowledgements
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
South Carolina World Language Standards

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