Mrs. Glover is a 6th grade English Language Arts teacher who wants to help students become the strongest readers, writers, speakers, and innovators. This is her second year teaching 6th grade ELA and her first year teaching at Hartfield. She has traveled to Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, and Central America volunteering with various organizations. She loves to incorporate her passion for travel into her curriculum. She also loves singing, reading, theatre, and cooking. She hopes that her students enjoy learning and growing through completing this WebQuest.
Introduction
Are video games harmful or helpful to kids? Researchers, doctors, educators, and parents have differing opinions about this topic.
In this WebQuest you will explore what experts say about the impact of video games on kids. After reading various articles and watching various videos, you will create a Google Slides Presentation to argue pro or con that video games are helpful or harmful.
Task
As the cumulative project of our argumentative writing and persuasive techniques unit, you will create a Google Slides Presentation to argue pro or con that video games are helpful or harmful. This final project will count for one-third of your grade this nine weeks.
This presentation should include argumentative writing and persuasive techniques including loaded language, appeals to authority, and appeals to emotion.
As a reminder, here are the definitions of loaded language, appeals to authority, and appeals to emotion.
- Loaded Language: Words with strongly positive or strongly negative connotations.
- Appeals to Emotion: Persuading the reader through creating feelings, such as pity or fear, through images, words, sounds, or other techniques.
- Appeals to Authority: References to people who are experts on a subject.
Use various communication methods such as writing, images, graphics, music, sound, and video to enhance your argument.
More specific guidelines are outlined in the process section.
Links to articles and videos are listed in the process section.
Cite all references at the end of the presentation.
Process
Step 1: Choose whether to argue pro or con and read/watch the links in the corresponding section. You may also read/watch all the links first and then choose your side.
PRO: Video Games are helpful to the development of kids.
Read this article about 10 reasons that video games are good for kids: https://www.gamedesigning.org/why-video-games-are-good/
Read this article about 5 reasons that video games teach problem solving skills: https://learningworksforkids.com/2012/04/5-ways-that-video-games-teach-flexibility-skills/
Watch the video in this article to see the difference in the reaction time and cognitive skills of a non-gamer and a gamer: http://video.wired.com/watch/tech-effects-how-video-games-impact-you
Watch this video about a research study at the University of Texas Medical Branch that demonstrated that playing video games can help people become better surgeons:
CON: Video games are harmful to the development of kids.
Read this article that presents many strong reasons against the overuse of video games: https://www.creditdonkey.com/negative-effect-video-games.html
Read this article about the correlation between video game addiction and health issues: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160509150010.htm
Read this article about potential negative psychological effects of video games: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/Video-Gaming-Can-Lead-to-Mental-Health-Problems.aspx
Watch this video about the mental health hazards of video game addiction:
Step 2: Create a Google Slides Presentation that uses argumentative writing and persuasive techniques including loaded language, appeals to authority, and appeals to emotion.
Your presentation should include 2 examples of loaded language, 2 examples of appeals to authority, and 2 examples of appeals to emotion. Use five examples of multimedia components including images, graphics, music, sound, and videos to argue pro or con.
Your Google Slide Presentation should have the following slides:
Title Slide with the title of your presentation and your name.
Intro Slide: State the thesis of your argument on the intro slide. You can use this format for your thesis: (PRO) Video games are helpful to kids because reason A, reason B, and reason C. (CON) video games are harmful to kids because reason A, reason B, and reason C. Make sure to have three reasons to support your thesis.
Reason 1 Slide(s): Write 2-4 sentences explaining the first reason that supports your thesis. Use evidence from the articles and videos including quotes from experts. You may use multiple slides for reason 1 as you may need additional slides for images, graphics, and videos.
Reason 2 Slide(s): Write 2-4 sentences explaining the second reason that supports your thesis. Use evidence from the articles and videos including quotes from experts. You may use multiple slides for reason 2 as you may need additional slides for images, graphics, and videos.
Reason 3 Slide(s): Write 2-4 sentences explaining the third reason that supports your thesis. Use evidence from the articles and videos including quotes from experts. You may use multiple slides for reason 3 as you may need additional slides for images, graphics, and videos.
Conclusion Slide: Write 2-4 sentences to restate your thesis (in different words) and to wrap up your presentation.
Sources Slide(s): List the links to articles, images, videos, and any other sources used in your presentation.
Step 3: Present your presentation to the class. During your presentation, you should use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
Evaluation
|
Criteria |
Proficient (5) |
Satisfactory (3) |
Needs Improvement (1) |
Points |
|
The presentation contains all seven required slides including a title slide, intro slide, reason 1 slide, reason 2 slide, reason 3 slide, conclusion slide, and source(s) slide. |
The student included all 7 slides including a title slide, reason 1 slide, reason 2 slide, reason 3 slide, conclusion slide, and source(s) slide. Each slide meets the requirements (such as writing 2-4 sentences) outlined in the process section. |
The student included and met the requirements (writing 2-4 sentences) for at least 5 of the 7 slides. |
The student included and met the requirements (writing 2-4 sentences) for at least 3 of the 7 slides. |
_____/5 |
|
The presentation includes loaded language, appeals to authority, and appeals to emotion. |
The student included 2 examples of loaded language, 2 examples of appeals to authority, and 2 examples of appeals to emotion. |
The student included 1 example of loaded language, 1 example of an appeal to authority, and 1 example of an appeal to emotion. |
The student did not include at least 1 example of loaded language, at least 1 appeal to authority, and at least 1 appeal to emotion. |
_____/5 |
|
W.6.1 The presentation makes a clear pro or con argument using clear reasons and relevant evidence. |
The presentation includes a clear pro or con thesis with three clear reasons to support the thesis. |
The presentation includes a somewhat clear pro or con thesis with two clear reasons to support the thesis. |
The presentation lacks a clear thesis and uses inadequate evidence to support the thesis. |
_____/5 |
|
L.6.1, L.6.2 The writing is free of errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization. |
The student’s writing is free of errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization. |
The student’s writing has some errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization, but these errors do not interfere with the meaning of the writing. |
The student’s writing has many errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization that do interfere with the meaning of the writing. |
_____/5 |
|
SL.6.5 The presentation uses multimedia elements (graphics, videos, sound,and music) and visual displays to clarify the argument. |
The presentation utilizes at least 5 multimedia elements/visual displays to clarify the argument. |
The presentation uses at least 3 multimedia elements/visual displays to clarify the argument. |
The presentation uses at least 1 multimedia element/visual display to clarify the argument. |
_____/5 |
|
SL.6.4 The student’s presentation included appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation. |
The student presented the presentation with appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation. |
The student’s eye contact, volume, and pronunciation could be improved but did not hinder the success of the presentation. |
The student’s eye contact, volume, and pronunciation hindered the success of the presentation and needs significant improvement. |
_____/5 |
|
Total Points: |
____/30 |
Conclusion
Through this process, you developed your critical thinking and analytical skills. I hope that you enjoyed learning about the reasons for and against video game use. The ability to craft a strong argument and utilize persuasive techniques and multimedia content to enhance your argument will be useful throughout your entire academic career. Furthermore, this project helps you develop skills that future employers value such as marketing and communicating. I look forward to seeing the results of your research and hard work. Good luck!
Best,
Mrs. Glover
Credits
10 Reasons Why Video Games are Good for You, Sometimes. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.gamedesigning.org/why-video-games-are-good/
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011, January 7). Video Gaming Can Lead to Mental Health Problems. Retrieved from https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/Video-Gaming-Can-Lead-to-Mental-Health-Problems.aspx
Brenner Children's Wake Forest Baptist Health. (n.d.). Image Retrieved from https://www.brennerchildrens.org/KidsHealth/Kids/QandA/Q-and-A/Are-Video-Games-Bad-for-Me.htm
Flin, B. (2018, October 24). Tech Effects: How Video Games Impact You - WIRED Videos. Retrieved from https://video.wired.com/watch/tech-effects-how-video-games-impact-you
Kulman, R., Kulman, R., Daley, J., & Daley, J. (2015, March 30). 5 Ways Video Games Teach Children Problem Solving Skills. Retrieved from https://learningworksforkids.com/2012/04/5-ways-that-video-games-teach-flexibility-skills/
McMaster University. (2016, May 09). Videogame addiction leads to sleep loss, obesity, and cardiovascular risk in some gamers. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160509150010.htm
P., K. (2019, March 31). Negative Effects of Video Games. Retrieved from https://www.creditdonkey.com/negative-effect-video-games.html
Parnell, J. (2019, March 14). Are Video Games Helpful or Harmful to Our Kids? Image retrieved from https://www.homeschoolacademy.com/blog/video-games-helpful-harmful-kids/
UTMBHealth. (2012, November 06). UTMB's Dr. Kilic on the Robotic Simulator Training Study. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hhnG-uwq4o
U.W. Medicine. (2018, September 04). Video games as mental-health hazards. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O98gUOL03ZE