Quack: A Youth-Targeted Game for English Comprehension

Abstract

Second grade is a critical year in the development of a child's understanding of literature. Studies have shown that students who struggle with reading at the second grade will continue to struggle with reading for the rest of their lives.The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new method for increasing English comprehension for at-risk youth. In this paper we propose a fun and easy-to-use game called Quack. Our approach is to leverage new technologies with an existing school program, such as one-on-one mentoring, in addition to a targeted English comprehension game to enhance the educational experience of second graders struggling with reading comprehension. The Quack game implements a spelling challenge system to test the student's vocabulary and spelling ability. Part of the game, an options system, allows instructors and students to customize the experience to each individual's needs. Quack provides a novel approach to educational gaming through three new concepts: (i) Quack is free to use and open source (ii) Quack is customizable to the individual's English comprehension needs (iii) Quack incorporates a rewarding English-comprehension system, effectively "gamifying" learning proper spelling.