001+Wii





 The Nintendo Wii was produced after the Game Cube in 2001. The basic design of the Wii was completed in 2005. The Wii was first known as the “Revolution” and was not given its name until just before its reveal in 2006. The entire supply of Wii’s was sold out in the first day in the United States. The Wii was designed to create a new form of player interaction. The Nintendo Wii allows players to be active while playing video games and allows more interaction with others while playing. ("The History of the Nintendo Wii," 2007) The Nintendo Wii can be versatile in the classroom; it can be used in all subject areas, music, physical education, and it can also help english learners and special education students. 

Movement and physical activity is vital to incorporate in the classroom to keep the students engaged in the activity, maximize their energy levels, and keeps students concentrated for a longer period of time. Rather than confining students to their desks with worksheets and books, there are many ways to incorporate Wii in the classroom to get the students out of their desks and moving around. The Wii offers many different games and strategies to tie into any subject that is covered in the general classroom including Math, Science, English and History. There are many ways to incorporate math by using the Wii. A teacher can plan a math lesson plan about collecting data using Wii Bowling. In small groups, students can play a full game of bowling. After the game is done, the students can observe how many pins they knocked down in each frame and calculate the mean, median, mode, and range. This is an easy and fun way to have students on their feet, practicing math. On the Wii, there is a setting where the screen can be changed from 2D to 3D. When learning about dimensions, this is a good visual to distinguish the difference between both perspectives. There are also many games that focus on memory, visual recognition, and number crunching. There are also many ways to incorporate science in the classroom using a Wii. On the Wii, there is a weather channel that shows the weather for the week. The students can observe different weather patterns and changes throughout the different seasons. The teacher can also start a discussion about what clothes the students should wear and/or bring for recess the next day. There are many fun activities that can be done as a whole class such as choosing a state capital and tracking the weather data over a period of time. As a class, they an create graphs and charts. There is also games that can be purchased for the Wii such as Endless Ocean and African Safari. This game can be used to teach food chains, different types of animals and under the water species, and different habitats. The Wii can also be used to watch shows and movies. Especially in elementary classrooms, movies are shown frequently. Having a Wii in the classroom can allow teachers to easily obtain a wide genre of movies and shows for the students to watch. The Wii is also a good resource to use as rewards and incentives. The Wii can be used only for students that are on their best behavior and work to their best of the abilities. There are many behavior management techniques that can incorporate use the Wii as an incentive to behaving and performing well. This will motivate the students in any subject are tat is taught in the schools. The Wii can be used for a variety of reasons in the classroom and one day will hopefully be a popular and vital material in the classroom.



As one can see, there are many different ways a teacher can use the Wii in their classroom. Not only can it be used with “average” school students but with specialneeds students as well. The Wii is a great way to help them improve their hand/eye coordination. Some special needs students might not be able to kick or throw a ball but are able to hold the Wii remote in their hand. This will also help promote movement and much-needed circulation in the body of students with disabilities. Games such as Wii tennis, bowling or baseball would be a great way for them to have “virtual physical education”. The games that also require more than one player would teach them teamwork and make them feel confident because they are getting to do something interactive with their fellow classmates. A lot of times special needs students might be shy or uncomfortable around other people and the Wii would be the tool to get them to talk to their classmates and make relationships. Students with ADD or ADHD would benefit from these games because it helps develop their focusing skills when they are required to concentrate for a period of time. Also, the Wii games would help special needs students develop critical thinking because they have to make decisions during the games to complete a task. The Wii is a creative way to help special needs students and I believe if teachers started using them more, they would be surprised at the positive response.

As we have already discussed the Wii can be used for all major subject areas; it can also be used for teaching music. Wii Music is a game that allows students to learn virtually how to play sixty different instruments that range from bagpipes to drums. Students can virtually be the conductor of an orchestra with their own Wii and control the speed of the performance. There are games that can help the students manage pitch and distinguish between major and minor identification. Students can participate in exercises for rhythm, tempo, and song structure. Using Wii Music in the classroom allows the students to get involved in playing the instruments virtually when they normally are not exposed to all the different instruments that are available on the game. Students can have their own jam sessions where the student is able to pick an instrument, a song, and a venue and perform the song as a soloist or with a five-piece band. The Wii also allows the students to work together while playing the game, the jam sessions can be played by up to four players at a time. Wii Music is allowing students to enjoy learning the concepts of music while working on their hand-eye coordination. Playing the guitar or banging the drum is made easy while using the wireless remote and the nunchuk. This game is opening up new doors for teaching music in elementary schools. (Bennett, 2009). Physical education is an important part of the school day for all children. Throughout the majority of the school day, children are in the basic classroom sitting at their desk learning basic subjects. When the children enter Physical Education they know that they will be moving around for kinesthetic learning. As technology advances teachers must think of unique learning tactics to educate the children. Wii Fit is one way a physical education teacher could incorporate advanced technology into their lesson plan. The teacher using a Wii Fit must have the following software; a Wii, controller, and a television. The Wii Fit board comes with Wii Fit Plus software. This Wii Fit Plus software gives students the capability to test their “balance, body mass index (BMI), body control, Wii fit age, and track progress.” (“Wii Fit Plus,” 2007-2009) Balance is tested so that one can be tested for balance of posture and BMI. The body mass index is measured by a “formula comparing a person’s weight and height.”(“Wii Fit Plus,” 2007-2009) Body Control is then measured by balancing on opposite feet. When the body test is complete the Wii fit age is given based on the earlier results. After the body test is complete, both the teacher and student have the opportunity for a starting point. When the testing is finished the student will choose an amount weight they want to decrease or increase. The program will then record the information and a stamp will be placed on the Wii fit calendar to view daily progress. When a teacher uses this in the classroom the students will get an idea of how to “work towards their personal goals for better future health and fitness.”(“Wii Fit Plus,” 2007-2009) The Wii Fit Plus includes; “yoga, balance games, strength training, aerobics, and training plus.” (“Wii Fit Plus,” 2007-2009) The yoga training will teach the students a one on one approach for helpful tips and breathing exercises. Balance games will allow the students to use different types of activities that include; snowboarding, skiing, soccer heading, etc. Throughout all of these games the progress for each individual student is tested. Strength training builds muscles and helps keep pace that most have trouble with during any exercise. Aerobics has games such as; hula hoop, obstacle courses, running, biking, etc. All of these games can give exercise opportunities to increase one’s BMI. Training plus allows a unique fun game while giving a workout. A p hysical education teacher could use the Wii Fit Plus to help them educate their students on health and exercise. Also, by allowing multiple work outs that give students and option may influence more children to stay healthy. When using this in the classroom a teacher can incorporate the results into each class to give the knowledge of how important health and exercise to everyday life.

Works Cited Works Cited

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Brooks, D., & Brooks, S., (February 9, 2009). //Teaching Wellness Through Wii Fit.// Retrieved September 13, 2010, from http://www.hotchalk.com/mydesk/index.php/editorial/121-classroom-best-practices/567-teaching-wellness-through-wii-fit-

//Eight Interesting Ways to use a Nintendo Wii in the Classroom.//(2010). Retrieved September 14, 2010 from Ideas to Inspire: http://www.ideastoinspire.co.uk/ wii.htm.

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