Principle Attorney
How do you make learning fun?
How do you motivate kids to learn when it’s not fun? It’s a lot harder, that’s for sure.
Alan Fishel, partner at Arent Fox LLP, asked himself this very question. He wasn’t seeing the fun in traditional education, which is why he created GeoPlunge, an award-winning game for learning U.S. geography. This game has been a huge success on the east coast for over ten years now, and for the first time, it is coming to the west! On January 26, 2016, the west coast’s very first GeoPlunge tournament will be held in Lakewood County.
We here at Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya are incredibly excited that Colorado’s youth will finally have the chance to participate in one of these amazing tournaments. That’s why our team of lawyers is supporting this experience with our sponsorship. In addition, our staff will be present the day of the event to help conduct the tournament.
How does it work?
The game, created by LearningPlunge, Inc., is open to students in grades three through eight. Students compete in teams of three, and each team is given a stack of cards. In order to win, a team must correctly answer the questions before the other teams. The questions vary in difficulty according to age level.
The students play a series of games that require geography skills, such as knowledge of bordering states, state rankings, capitols, state flowers and birds, and flags. Games include “Race for the Borders,” “Play the Ranks,” and “Guess My State.”
Why We Support GeoPlunge
GeoPlunge has been a wildly successful game. It helps students to meet many social studies learning standards, but participants learn more than just U.S. geography. GeoPlunge teaches higher order skills, such as critical thinking and teamwork skills.
Teachers who have had their students participate in this learning game have noticed significant improvements in their students’ confidence levels. Kids who hesitated to answer a question in class suddenly were raising their hand after having participated in GeoPlunge. In fact, students didn’t just show improvements in their geography class but just about everywhere—inside and outside of the classroom.
Students in grade school are at a crucial stage of their development, which is why a game such as this is so important to our nation’s youth. If we fail to show them that learning can be fun during this phase, how can we expect them to find the motivation and drive to challenge themselves academically to go to college, get a degree, and contribute to the world by being critical thinkers?
GeoPlunge is one way we can do just that, which is why we at the Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya are sponsoring this amazing opportunity for the students of Colorado and other western states. We hope to see GeoPlunge take off on the west coast so that more kids can reap the benefits.