Parents' Guide to

The Grading Game

By Ana Beltran, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Mark every mistake in advanced grammar game.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad Paid Educational Games
The Grading Game Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • The Grading Game: Screenshot #1
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What’s It About?

THE GRADING GAME tasks kids with reading papers on various topics and of varying levels of difficulty in order to identify spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. The app offers three different modes; Quickplay, Career, and Practice mode. The Quickplay mode selects content and difficulty level randomly. Career mode allows kids to choose both content and level of difficulty, ranging from freshman year of undergrad to doctoral years. "Spite Houses," "Embryos in Space," and "Hotel Toilet Paper Folding" are just a few of the paper topics kids can proofread. Practice mode allows kids to choose a focus and decide how the material is presented. They can target capitalization, grammar, spelling, and/or homophones specifically. When choosing the format in which errors are presented, they can select from a variety of layouts that include randomly, in one sentence at a time, as a minefield, or as a needle in a haystack. Under both Practice and Quickplay, kids can activate the Free mode, which turns off the timer and allows them to play at their own pace. Options give kids control over music and sound in addition to text size, line spacing, and the timed length of each round. Timed options include 35 seconds, 55 seconds or 80 seconds to complete a round. To play, tap misspelled words or errors in grammar. Earn money points when errors are identified correctly and lose money points when errors are missed or incorrectly tagged.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This fun proofreading game offers a range of difficulty levels, but it’s definitely more appropriate for teens who will understand the content and find humor in some of the crude and mature remarks. The Grading Game doesn't teach spelling or grammar; instead, it tests users' ability to identify mistakes in writing samples, so a foundation in these skills is necessary to play. The timed sessions require fast-paced reading and an eye for mistakes. A definite plus is the fact that the size of text and the line spacing can be adjusted to be inclusive of different preferences and abilities. The Free mode that allows players to turn off the timer to play at their own pace takes the pressure off the game and encourages focus on spelling and grammar. Some of the topics are also quite comical. For example, the explanation of "spite houses" and "spite fences" designed to upset neighbors will have readers chuckling to themselves. The interface is easy to navigate but lacks a bit of luster, and the graphics and color quality are dated. Some users may also dispute some of the identified -- or unidentified -- errors. Despite these flaws, The Grading Game is a fun way to pass time and enjoy playing against the clock to identify all the spelling and grammatical errors in each of the quirky papers. Some of the mistakes are super obvious, while others are a bit harder to spot, ensuring that players stay on their toes.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can extend learning by talking about how to fix mistakes they identify when playing The Grading Game. Playing under Free mode, which is untimed, will create the space for discussion around why something is a mistake and how it could be fixed before the app produces the correction. Talk about capitalization and punctuation rules, homophones, and correcting spelling mistakes.

  • Talk about how to use social media responsibly. (The app links users to Charlie Deck's Twitter account when they tap on the Twitter logo on the top right corner of the launch page.)

App Details

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