14 Ways To Gamify Your

Classroom Using an LMS

A Crowdsourced Anthology of Strategies from Real Education Professionals
A Word From the Editors

Gamification in the classroom is not a new concept. In fact, students have been playing games in
class way before we recognized “gamification” as a word. Since almost 155 million Americans play
video games on a regular basis, it makes sense to bring the concept to school, where students spend
much of their time. If you’re struggling to figure out how to incorporate this method to enhance
student learning, we’ve got you covered.

This eBook was created to provide fun and effective gamification strategies to try in the classroom.
The best part? It’s a compilation of ideas directly the Schoology community—diverse educators from
across the country.

When it comes to gamifying learning, these teachers have all the cheat codes.
Self-Paced Gamification for
Elementary Students

I began using badges in my classroom as soon as I was introduced to

Schoology. Learning more about gamification, I brought in game rules Stephen Rao
for each unit and folders to organize my units. When students were using
Computer Science Teacher
Google Docs, they would be challenged to a self paced gamified unit.
This unit would give them challenges (assignments) on formatting text, Ramtown Elementary
inserting pictures, and more advanced Google Docs features for Word School, NJ
Processing. Students would watch instructional videos which allowed
them to work at an individualized pace and receive 1:1 instruction.

At the same time, I could pull strategy groups to provide students with
additional assistance and also have students become leaders by assisting
their peers. After completing all challenges, they would earn point values.
If they surpassed a certain value, students would receive a badge!

Students worked through the challenges to not just learn the material
but get the highest amount of points. Our scale worked from Rookie
(50 points) to All-Star (125 points) status. After completing all required
challenges, students unlocked bonus challenges. This became students’
mission, as they would receive an exclusive top secret badge after
completing the challenges. Throughout entire units, students were
engaged in cognitively complex tasks.
Making It Fun For Everyone

I have used the platform Deck.toys to create “breakouts” for my students.

They loved the game and actually asked me to share the link so that they
could play it at home! We used it to review for our Colonial Virginia unit.
Not only was it fun for my students to play, but it was really fun for me to
Amanda Cline
create. 4th Grade General
Education (Language Arts
I had so much fun that I am taking it further and creating a “deck” to and Virginia Studies)
embed into a larger project: Unlock Your Identity. Kids will use both the Manassas City Public
deck that I created, videos, and other resources to figure out their mystery Schools, Virginia
person’s identity. This will then allow them to become the expert of their
important Virginian. I can’t wait to do this next step with the class, as they
had so much fun the first time around!
Personalized Mastery Learning
through Gamification
I used badges and a game board to facilitate a gamified sentences unit.
This was an AR game that involved not only mastery of the sentence parts
and types, but students were also engaged in solving a mystery for group
points and prizes. The game was divided into two rounds. The first round Kate Green
was devoted to the parts of sentences (nouns, verbs, etc.), and the second Teacher
round focused on the sentence types (simple, compound, etc.). For each
St. Cloud Technical High
part, students completed a folder with completion rules in Schoology
School, MN
that helped them practice. The quizzes in the folder were designed to give
them unlimited chances to get 80% or better to move on. When students
completed the folder, they would complete a paper mastery assignment. If
they passed this, they would receive a mastery badge in Schoology and a
clue to the mystery. Students were engaged and were competing with one
another and coaching one another during this unit.

I also gamified my Summer School curriculum using Schoology and choice/game boards. Each week, students would choose
a character on a game board that would allow them to choose what they were going to write about for the week (the class was
Composition). For example, in one week, students could choose to write a literary analysis paper on one of five topics including
Arthurian literature, popular poetry, or a short story. They were all working on the same writing standards, but the process and
the materials they were using were different and chosen by them. Engagement was much higher than in previous years; many
more students completed their work each week.

Engagement with the gamified lessons and units that I have done so far has been great! The competition led students to be
engaged and to coach one another. Students also were able to show mastery on skills without the pressure of traditional tests.
When my co-teacher and I gamified our Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy unit, students chose how to interact with the text while
reading (i.e. Cornell Notes, Sketchnotes, Journaling) and also had choices on how to show mastery on comprehension and
theme (i.e. essay, one-pager, multiple choice test, etc.). This allowed studentsto show mastery in the way that worked best for
them.
Gamifying Language Class to make it
Engaging and Relatable

I gamified my middle school German 1 classroom by reworking all of the

units into “Levels.” Each level had three micro-credential badges that Emily Thomas
acknowledged a specific discrete skill that students would learn. There
Technology Trainer
was a boss for each level that was a part of the former unit exam, that also
had a badge. The whole game was a story about a middle school student Northeast Metro 916
who was studying abroad on a trip to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Intermediate School
District, MN
The quizzes and exams were tied in to the student’s trip and were her
challenges (i.e. finding her way through the train station to get to her host
family’s house was a quiz about letters and numbers).

The students were highly engaged in the story and excited to do the work
to earn the badges. The students showed off their digital badges and were
even more excited when they earned a rare physical (sticker) badge! The
students also found the story of a contemporary middle school student
with social media and a smartphone more relatable than the characters
the old textbooks portrayed, which were frequently out dated and
awkward with forced situations. I tried to make the situations as realistic
as possible; including anecdotes from my own time living in Austria and
needing to know the information they were learning.
Technology Knowledge Challenge -
At Trilogy of Transformation

I began gamifying lessons a few years ago for teacher professional

development. Teachers earn badges by completing certain technology Jeremy Mahoney
tasks that will help them use the technologies that we provide them. It is
Instructional Technologist
broken down into 3 seasons (or games). Each season grows with increased
difficulty and use of technology. For example, season 1 deals with simple Springfield Platteview
tech tasks like add a folder or link to Schoology, while season 3 challenges Community Schools, NE
the teachers to investigate different strategies of tech use within their
classroom.

Many of my competitive teachers like the challenges and work hard

at trying to complete. Finding time to do the challenges is the difficult
part. But, it was designed to take time and as they continue to move “up
the ladder” it is amazing how the use of technology transforms their
classrooms.
Gamification: The Final Frontier

After taking Glenn Irvin’s course this summer, I fully gamified my

classroom! I use Schoology to drive and house all of the content. I rely on
student completion rules in folder to monitor student progress. I am still
playing around with grading, badges, incentives, and other gamification Scott Nunes
items. Educator
Modesto City Schools, CA
Initially there was quite a bit of push back since this was unfamiliar to
them, but with on-boarding videos and a hard sell many of them bought
in, and some are becoming really invested in the class. By incorporating
mastery learning/grading and PBL I have noticed students benefiting
greatly. Some students that struggled last year are successful this year.
Many student grades went up as a result of this overhaul!
Review Relay Race

I use a relay race to review for assessments. I put a test/quiz for each topic
in one folder with completion rules. They must complete them in order
and they must score 100%, with up to 20 attempts. They are placed in
teams and are only allowed to use one laptop. They look at the questions Nekeila Mangrum
together and find the solutions. They are not allowed to communicate Math Teacher
with anyone outside of their team. I monitor from my laptop and keep
Green Run High School, VA
score on the board. The first team to finish all modules with 100% wins
the race.

Students are competitive and enjoy the activity. They have multiple
attempts to get the problems correct so this helps with retention. The first
time takes a little training, but after that the activity runs itself. Because
students are all using one device to complete the activity, they must all
agree on answers before they submit so they have to discuss the work and
this helps clear up misconceptions. Peer to peer learning is very effective
in this activity.
Welcome to 8th ELA: The Game

I’ve done my best to gamify my first week of school. Since I don’t know
my students at that point in the year, I appreciate the flexibility in timing;
some students can work through the content really quickly and others
can re-read and review content. This is especially useful when we review Alissa Warren
Accelerated Reader. New students to our school need A LOT of support Teacher and Team
with these expectations, whereas returning students can jump right to the Specialist
end of the “exploration.”
Denver Public Schools,
Hill Campus of Arts &
I believe the impact is that it gives students more ownership over the
Sciences, CO
expectations. When students forget my independent reading expectations,
the burden is on them, not that I “didn’t cover that” or I “went to fast” or
“didn’t explain it well.” So, I do think it helps the content stick a little bit
better. I will say, I don’t gamify a good majority of my content, so when I do
present material in that way, the novelty does impact buy-in. If I were to
use this method regularly, I don’t know if I’d get the same results.
Gamified PD - Engaging All Teachers

I am actually over professional development, so last year we rolled out a

gamified version of our PD course. We did tribes, badges, challenges, and
prizes. My teachers absolutely loved it and got super competitive. All of
the challenges were practical applications of things we had done that year. Hope Elliot
We focused on classroom integrations. We had so many amazing examples Instructional Tech Coach
that were submitted.
Lowndes County District,
MS
Many of our challenges focused on classroom integration. We had teachers
begin to think outside of the box and really worked on engagement. More
and more teachers began to give students a voice and a choice in their
classrooms. Teachers were really impressed by what they saw.
Reach the Summit

This school year I redesigned our university’s Student Orientation to

Schoology course using ideas that I picked up at Schoology NEXT last
summer. Gamification: The Musical was inspiring—and a lot of fun—but
participating in Schoology Champions helped me realize that adults could Diane Lytle
also enjoy the competition aspect. Adjunct Faculty &
Schoology Coach
Since our school has “Summit” in its title, I divided the course into three
Clarks Summit University,
main segments: Walking, Hiking, and Climbing. Each level gave the PA
students more experience in using our LMS. I even picked up ideas on how
to design the badges through NEXT! Some of our challenges included Meet
the Prez (upload a selfie with the university’s president), Sweet Spot (post
a photo of your favorite study spot and tell why you like it), and Welcome
Mat (post a photo in front of our university’s sign).

Since our student orientation course is not required, it’s been a challenge
to get students to complete it. With gamification, we went from about 25%
participation to 75%, and many students not only complete the basics in
order to earn their Schoology badge, they also compete in extra challenges
in order to earn more badges and chances for prizes. The grand prize is a
free online course, so that certainly gets their attention! The last challenge
for the basic Schoology badge asks students to answer questions about
what they found most interesting about Schoology. Here’s a typical
response: “The most helpful thing was how easy it makes online learning. I
thought it was going to be more complicated.”
Treasure Chest

I used the discussion feature to provide students with a combination to

a lock. The lock was on an old trunk filled with candy and badge stickers.
As students completed tasks, they were able to access the discussion
board. I asked them a question based on their previous assignment. Once Arthur Vambaketes
they answered it, they got part of the combo because students had to Educator
respond prior to seeing the numbers. This was repeated until they got all
Jennings School District, MI
six numbers for the lock. They were then able to try to unlock and get their
prizes.

Students were very engaged to retrieve the combination for the lock.
Obviously, the rewards motivated them and it made it like a treasure
hunt. The actual trunk made it real to them in the classroom. In addition,
seeing their classmates open the trunk and enjoy the incentives gave them
additional drive to complete the tasks.
Gamifying Your Reading Class

I have done it with the 40 Book Badge Challenge in reading class that
included badges. I created specific folders for each genre. Within
each folder, students had specific standards they needed to show an
understanding of. I created Playposit videos, tests, and then had students
Christina Nording
create a tech project on the specific standard based on the book in that Library Media Technology
genre they read. Students needed to follow the completion rules within Specialist
Schoology to go onto the next task. The kids LOVED it! Madison Metropolitan
School District, WI
Students were more engaged, the standardized test scores increased.
Students retained the information longer, too.
Creating Point Values to Motivate
Students

In my class I place a high amount of value on the final product/assessment

that students produce, but I do not place a large emphasis on “grading” Chris Madson
homework. I view it as practice or helpful tools for success on the final
Social Studies and Digital
product/assessment. However, in order to avoid a decrease in motivation
Literacy Coach
or incentive to utilize the homework and practice materials of my courses,
I have gamified my class so that everything homework/practice related McHenry High School, IL
is worth a set amount of points rather than a grade. Students can use the
points they achieve from class to earn rewards from me, such as executive
privileges in my class and other rewards like food, candy, McHenry High
School clothing/swag, etc...

Assignments are created and curated all on Schoology, where I use a folder
to group each activity/assignment and then place individual challenges
and tasks inside the folder, as this allows me to set student completion
requirements and progress requirements before students can move on. I
allow students multiple attempts at quizzes and allow them to see their
results so they can learn that failure and mistakes are acceptable as long
as they go back, find their errors, and correct them. I love this function
of Schoology because it allows me to care less about a “grade” and care
more about student learning and progress. Students are encouraged to
keep trying because they want to earn the points for the assignments and
tasks, but also because in time they realize it is preparing them for the
final/summative task which represents majority of their overall grade.
Student Completion for the Win!

I used gamification and Schoology when I created my Breakout of the

Earth game. I used completion rules and multiple folders for groups and I
gave them different tasks to work on as a group and they got clues on what
to do next through Schoology. Also, at one point in time the clues that Nicole Burns
they were collecting throughout the game sent them to a locker to find Science Teacher
what they needed to complete a video.
Bellevue Public Schools/
Bellevue East High School,
My students have been way more engaged whenever I use gamification. NE
There is just something about that competitive nature in people that really
gets my students fired up to complete the tasks first.
Conclusion

So there you have it: fourteen different gamification ideas from real educators who work with real
students everyday. This further proves that there’s no single way to gamify learning, and activities
will resonate with students differently. You’ll never know what works if you don’t try, though. Take
a few ideas from here or use them as inspiration to create your own game using digital tools in the
classroom. As always, we love to hear your ideas. Share them with us on Twitter @Schoology.

Learn more about how you can gamify your classroom with
Schoology’s LMS

LEARN MORE