Autumn Adventures: FableVision's 2022 Back-to-School Guide

After a sunny and spectacular summer vacation, returning to school or starting school for the first time can be scary. Whether your family traveled, relaxed, spent time outdoors, or simply had a different schedule, it takes time to shift back to your school and fall routines. To help your children combat the “school scaries” and enjoy the fall, we’ve compiled a list of resources to ensure that they have a fantastic year full of educational and engaging learning. 

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International Dot Day

Empower kids to make their marks by celebrating International Dot Day on September 15-ish. Based on FableVision’s Co-Founder and New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds’ book The Dot, International Dot Day encourages kids to connect and collaborate as they re-discover the power and potential of creativity in all they do. This year, join Peter at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City or watch the livestream of the event. September 15 doesn’t work for you? Here’s a little secret: you can celebrate Dot Day whenever you want! 

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UCAR’s SkySci for Kids

As we gradually add sweaters, scarves, and fuzzy hats to our wardrobe, check out UCAR’s SkySci for Kids to learn about weather, climate, and sky science. With humor, bright colors, and a clear breakdown of topics, FableVision-made animated videos and minigames featuring Yolanda the palm tree, Jeff the yeti, and Snacks the dog will teach kids about tornadoes, hurricanes, heat waves, and more. Visit the website to encourage your child to fight climate change.

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Cyber Fashion Challenge

Another great way to fight climate change – upcycling! Based on Cyberchase’s season 13 episode “Sustainable By Design,” born-accessible Cyber Fashion Challenge, created in partnership with FableVision, The WNET Group, PBS KIDS, and Bridge Multimedia, teaches 6-8-year-olds about avoiding fast fashion and encouraging the creative reuse of materials. Practice counting and shape identification by creating a sustainable fashion line for Fabio DeZine.

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Museum of Science “EiE Families” Website

Spark your child’s interest in engineering and computer science by checking out the Museum of Science “EiE Families” microsite, built by FableVision, with interactive features to support STEM learning at-home and on-the-go. Play Bye Bye Bug and create a way to lead a ladybug to safety, or explore the other activities, in both English and Spanish. Bonus: if you’re in Boston, take a field trip to the Museum of Science to see science in action.

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“Our State and the Nation: A Georgia Studies Course”

History fanatics – we have a treat for you. FableVision created a host site for Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB)’s online textbook, developing an online experience for eighth-grade students. In the revamped George history course, students can examine images, define vocabulary words, watch videos, and go on virtual field trips from the classroom or the comfort of their homes. 

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Pinna Original Yes No Audio Adventures

One of the best parts of fall? Halloween! Immerse yourself in spooky season by answering yes or no to questions in Escape the Haunted House, a Pinna Original Yes No Audio adventure, produced by FableVision’s audiyo-yo. Listeners are the main characters as they interact with the show and create their own story. If your kids aren’t fans of haunted houses, they can listen to Escape the Marshmallow Dream Forest or Escape the Sinking Ship. The 5-minute, voice-activated audio adventures provide a perfect, creative outlet during car rides, before bedtime, and more.

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Boston vs. Bullies Academy for Internet Champions

Join Bobby the Badger and his friends Ivy, Jordan, and Felix to score a touchdown, make a basket, and hit a home run with The Sports Museum’s bullying-prevention game. As kids continue to use the internet at younger ages and run into in-person and online bullying, Boston vs. Bullies Academy for Internet Champions, created by FableVision, helps kids navigate tricky situations, make smart choices online, and combat bullying. Learn how to stay safe by checking out the free game.

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“Friendlets” Animated Shorts

Besides stopping bullying, children should also see the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships to avoid abuse, love better, and find true friends. Created in partnership with One Love Foundation, “Friendlets” animated shorts showcase familiar, humorous scenarios to help elementary-aged kids understand the importance of communication and appropriate responses in healthy friendships. Visit One Love’s Education Center for the shorts and associated resources.

"Zoombinis" Now On FableVision Games!

The little blue guys on a logical adventure have found a new home!

The award-winning relaunch of the classic, beloved ’90s game Logical Journey of the Zoombinis is now available for classroom use on FableVision Games. Created in partnership with TERC, a not-for-profit leader in K-12 math and science education, and the Learning Games Network, a not-for-profit game company, Zoombinis is an engaging and entertaining logic puzzle game designed to teach Computational Thinking (CT) for grades 3-8. 

Players must use their logical reasoning, data analysis, pattern finding, and problem-solving skills to help their Zoombini characters complete unique challenges, escape imprisonment from the evil Bloats, and reach the promised land of Zoombiniville. On this journey, they face 12 puzzles and four levels of increasing difficulty in each, including Pizza Pass, Titanic Tattooed Toads, and Mudball Wall. The Zoombinis travel in groups across multiple levels until all 400 blue creatures are saved.

Zoombinis uses implicit learning—learning that can’t be necessarily articulated on a test or in a question, but that manifests itself as behaviors or practices within a game. Throughout gameplay, players learn important life skills including algebraic thinking, data analysis, and theory formulation in a fun and engaging setting. 

The classroom version features additional educator materials and guides, as well as tracking that allows educators to collect data as their students play Zoombinis, and—through the use of detectors—identify when players demonstrate the four fundamental practices of CT: problem decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithm design, and abstraction as they appear within the puzzles.

The web game is now available to play on FableVision Games, where you can also access accompanying professional development resources.

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"Cyberchase Fractions Quest" Now Available for Purchase!

Blast your students’ fractions skills into Cyberspace with Cyberchase Fractions Quest, now available for classroom play! After a successful summer beta launch, FableVision is thrilled to invite educators to experience the world of PBS KIDS’ popular math series Cyberchase. Third and fourth-grade students embark on an immersive journey that integrates an interactive adventure with a research-based approach to fractions contexts. The game (complete with educator dashboard for student performance tracking) and corresponding Teacher Guide are available for purchase now on FableVision Games. 

The villain Hacker and his henchbots Buzz and Delete have captured the CyberSquad and it’s up to your students to save the day. In order to save the Motherboard from his dastardly plot, students step into the role of the hero and use their mathematical sequences and problem-solving skills to outsmart Hacker. As they explore Ecotopia, Castleblanca, Aquari-Yum, and Radopolis, students play through a series of minigames and make leaf parachutes for chameleons using their knowledge of fair shares, make tacos for underwater friends by practicing adding fractions, and more!

In collaboration with THIRTEEN and Education Development Center (EDC), FableVision created this game-based learning and assessment tool to offer a holistic view of fractions as parts of a whole and ensure fractions and future STEM learning success! Cyberchase Fractions Quest makes learning fun and challenges common teaching methods by using the latest research surrounding the best ways children learn fractions. The game follows the sequence and scope of fractions learning aligned with the Common Core Standards for Grade 3 and 4 mathematical structure. As they progress through the game, students explore different contexts of fractions including area, set, and number line. Combining research-based fractions teaching methods with an engaging narrative context, this game motivates students and increases their confidence in the classroom by improving their understanding of complicated math.

Cyberchase Fractions Quest is a result of a 2.5-year-long research project as part of the IES Department of Education SBIR program. The game also features additional professional development and game integration resources that are fully customizable to each classroom’s needs, allowing for maximum fractions learning fun and success. Formative assessment and cumulative review are also embedded in the game through the problem sets that students encounter. In the state-of-the-art teacher dashboard, educators can track students’ progress through the four CyberSites, how they performed in mini-games (out of three stars), and scores in the formal assessment pieces of the game.

Curious to learn more about using Cyberchase Fractions Quest in this time of blended learning? Check out our recorded edWeb webinar here.

FableVision Launches Free Summer Beta of "Cyberchase Fractions Quest!"

Brain power to the rescue! FableVision Studios invites your students to embark on a new immersive journey that integrates an interactive adventure with a research-based approach to fractions learning in the just-launched public beta version of Cyberchase Fractions Quest! Third and fourth grade students can explore the world of PBS KIDS’ popular math series Cyberchase and save the Motherboard from Hacker’s dastardly plot.

Hear from the “Cyberchase Fractions Quest” team!

In the game, the CyberSquad has been captured by the villain Hacker and his henchbots Buzz and Delete. As they launch into Cyberspace, students step into the role of the hero and use mathematical sequences and problem-solving skills to outsmart Hacker and save the day. As they travel through Ecotopia, Castleblanca, Aquari-Yum, and Radopolis in a series of minigames, students learn fair shares by splitting up leaves evenly to make parachutes for chameleons, practice adding fractions by making tacos for underwater friends, and more!

Understanding fractions is a key cornerstone building block in future STEM learning success. To challenge common fractions teaching methods and make fractions learning fun, FableVision Studios teamed up with THIRTEEN and Education Development Center (EDC) to develop a Common Core-aligned game-based assessment that offers a holistic view of fractions as parts of a whole. The game combines research-based fractions teaching methods with an engaging narrative context to motivate students and improve their understanding of complicated math, increasing their confidence in the classroom.

As students progress through the game, they follow the sequence and scope of fraction learning that align with the Common Core Standards for Grade 3 and 4 mathematical structure. Throughout gameplay, students explore different contexts of fractions including area, set, and number line. The engaging storyline and vibrant, colorful characters and backgrounds provide them with motivating visual settings that, in turn, allow for them to ground their conceptual understanding of fractions. The game design integrates the latest research surrounding the best ways children learn mathematical concepts.

Cyberchase Fractions Quest is a result of a 2.5-year-long research project as part of the IES Department of Education SBIR program. The game also features additional professional development and game integration resources that are fully customizable to each classroom’s needs, allowing for maximum fractions learning fun and success. Launch your students on their very own adventures in Cyberspace today! 

In response to the pandemic and growing need for distance learning resources, Cyberchase Fractions Quest is launching this public beta version for free for a limited time, only available on FableVision Games!

In “Gasha Go!,” Numbers Just Make More Sense

For many kids, math can be a daunting subject. And many teachers agree: without fun, engaging tools to teach math, early learners—particularly students in Kindergarten to third grade—will struggle to understand the basic foundational concepts, leading to greater struggle grasping complicated theories down the road.

This is precisely the problem that caught the attention of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Vice President of Education and Digital Media, Andrew MacCartney and Director of Education, Laura Evans. Georgia educators expressed concern about their students struggling with the essential concept of “number sense”—the understanding of what numbers are and how they relate to one another. Their solution? Teaming up with FableVision Studios to create GASHA GO!, a colorful, engaging, and curriculum-based math game world!

GASHA GO! is the first in an expandable series of educational games and animation all set in a vibrant, cute, character-filled arcade. GASHA GO! features Mash, the mustachioed foreman, and his friends who need your help solving math problems to refill the toy capsules inside the gashapon machine.. The different modes of play let students use numbers in different contexts, such as word problems and counting. FableVision also created an original animated song arranged by Junior Joe about number sense and numeracy featuring the same lovable characters from GASHA GO! The video can be played separately or in tandem with the game.

Feedback and user-testing were essential in building this game. Two K-3 math teachers consulted as GPB’s experts, and provided insight on how these standards are taught in the classroom—and how they felt technology could be used to convey the lessons. Georgia first and second graders voted on their favorite character designs and suggested names. While we couldn’t accept all suggestions (sorry, “Chicken Master” and “Mr. Taco”), getting feedback from the students ensured we made something they would enjoy playing.

With characters so cute, they had to play an instrumental role in the hit song, Numbers: They Make Sense!. To help both parents and children get a high-level view of number sense and help round out the toy world, FableVision cooked up a short, catchy animated music video and song that was bound to be on repeat in your head! Written by in-house FableVision lyricist and Creative Director, Leigh Hallisey, the words and images in the music video demonstrated the many places you might find numbers, and the different ways the same number might look. By embedding this content into an energetic, fun music video filled with cute, dancing characters, math that was once daunting and confusing became colorful and engaging.

The rest of the arcade is currently under construction, getting ready for more games to join the universe. But in the meantime, leave your flashcards at home. Grab your tokens and tickets instead!

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For More On Immersive Learning,
Join GPB and FableVision at SXSW EDU! 

Join FableVision’s Peter Stidwill and Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Andrew MacCartney and Laura Evans as they discuss the intricacies and production process behind the award-winning Georgia Race Through Time game at SXSW EDU!

What: Immersive Learning: Teaching History Through GBL
When: March 5 at 12:30 p.m.
Where: Room 17B, Austin Convention Center