What Is The Sentence?
A Brain-Stretching Game for Everyone by Sherry
Martin, CEO of SFM Intl LLC
Having
a successful business is about finding a need and filling it. I accomplished
this goal with a game that promotes fun and creativity while developing vital
skills in the English Language Arts.
As
an African-American game developer, I’ve seen firsthand what it takes to
inspire African-American children to strive for their goals and succeed in
life. While developing my game, I wanted it to be tremendously effective in
improving English Language Arts skills for children who may not have had the
best educational experiences or opportunities. As they enjoy creating crazy
sentences with the game, they are unconsciously practicing sentence creation,
learning parts-of-speech, understanding classifications, and developing their
creativity. Dr. Karyn Purvis, founder of the Karyn Purvis Child Development
Center at Texas Christian University stated a few years ago, "Scientists
have recently discovered that it takes about 400 repetitions to create a new
synapse in the brain, unless you do
it with play, in which case, it takes only 10-20 repetitions, with an average
of 12!" What a difference a game can make!
I
loved playing games with my family as a child and often created my own rules
while playing my favorite games. I grew up getting enjoyment out of creating
games too, but it never occurred to me until later in my life that I could
market my own games until I saw a television show featuring the luxurious home
of a woman who made her fortune by creating and selling her games. I was so
excited that I stayed up all that night creating
What Is The Sentence?, formally known as
Sentence Says. I had also studied music as a child, encouraged by
my mother who was a school teacher, prompting me to want to incorporate games
with the same type of mental reflexes that are developed when learning to
sight-read music fluently. It was important to me that the game be educational,
creative, and fun for a wide age range so the whole family could enjoy and be
challenged by it.
What Is The Sentence? fulfills all these requirements and more. It is
laugh-out-loud funny while developing creative writing, grammar, vocabulary and
quick thinking skills simultaneously. It is simple enough for a seven-year-old,
yet demanding and creative enough for the most accomplished adult. I have
incorporated multiple variations to keep the game fresh with different
challenges in every round.
The
basic game involves dealing 4-6 Consonant Cards and one Vowel Card to each
player. One of the 67 Action Cards is also drawn and read to the players. The
Action Card gives some sort of instruction for that round of play. The great
variety of Actions can include using a color, emotion, country, state,
adjective, plant, sound, insect, etc.
For
instance, if your cards are: R, A, C, M, P and the Action Card says, “You must create a sentence with at least
one vegetable in it,” your sentence could be:
Carol
Makes Really Awesome Pumpkins or
Color
My Rumpled Asparagus Purple.
Thus,
players will create 5-7 word sentences, many of which will be laugh-out-loud
funny, with little stress but lots of challenge. There are special instructions
for children under 7 years old to make it easier for them to play and compete
and alternate game instructions for Advanced Play. What Is The Sentence? is also great for children with short
attention spans; you can play 3-4 rounds in only five minutes! It is also a
good “hands-on” activity as your cards are flat on the table but must be moved
around to get them in the right order for your sentence. This gives fidgety
hands something to do.
As
I’ve been seeing that my business succeeds, I’ve truly experienced enjoyment
from, and true success in the engagement and creativity from kids who otherwise
wouldn’t be so keen on learning traditionally. It’s been amazing to hear
feedback from teachers and parents on how something I designed has inspired a
decisive educational moment and motive that was a stepping stone toward a
child’s bright future.
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