What are typing games?
Typing games are interactive modules in TTRS where students type words correctly to earn points.
TTRS typing games are educational games that promote word retention and hone typing, reading and spelling skills in a fun and engaging way.
Games are unlocked at the end of each module set in the Main Course and use words from the previous five modules, helping students review and reinforce the phoneme and spelling patterns they’ve recently learned.
How are TTRS typing games different?
TTRS typing games were designed with neurodiverse learners in mind. There are three different activities to choose from (Word Drop, Fishing for Words, Typing Trail) and they can be adjusted to allow for different challenge levels (easy, medium, hard) and visual discrimination abilities (basic, lite and full visuals).
Games can be turned on or off by an admin and they can also be restricted once enabled, to ensure they are not over-played.
Students only compete against themselves, seeing a leaderboard with their top scores after each play. The points earned in games modules are self-contained. This means game plays do not contribute to stars, trophies and badges earned for completing regular typing modules in the Main Course and Subjects.
How do students access games?
Typing games must be enabled in settings for students to see them on their level overview screen. Once enabled, they are unlocked when a learner completes a five-module sequence in the Main Course.
Typing games are locked by default. Students need to complete the previous five modules to unlock them and start playing.
Depending on the number of game plays set by the admin, game modules remain available until a student reaches the maximum number of plays. Students must then complete the next five module sequence to unlock another games module.
Games can be set to unlimited plays by an admin in settings, in which case they will remain available for the student to take. Games can also be turned off completely, in which case they will not appear on a student's level overview screen.
Enabling and disabling typing games for your students
Typing games are located under the General tab in Settings, giving parents, admins, and teachers full control over when they are enabled. They can be turned on or off for individual students or groups of learners by going to Settings, turning on Enable typing games, choosing the max number of game plays allowed, and saving the changes.
For Home Users and Homeschoolers
Open the Admin Console
Click Settings from the top menu
Select a student from the list
Under the General Settings tab, turn on Enable typing games
Set the Number of game plays allowed (3, 5, 8, or unlimited). Note, each game play lasts 60 seconds.
Click Apply changes
For Education Accounts
Enable games for an Individual Student
Go to the Students menu
Select a student
Click Actions → Settings
Turn on Enable typing games under the General Settings tab
Set the max Number of game plays allowed
Click Apply changes
Enable games for Groups of Students
Go to Settings
Select the preset your students are using from the list. If you're not sure you have the right one, you can always check the "Applied to" tab once the preset is open to see which students are using it.
Turn on Enable typing games in the General tab and adjust settings
Click Save changes → Overwrite existing preset → Yes, apply
How typing games work
There are three typing games available: Word Drop, Fishing for Words, and Typing Trail. Each game offers three difficulty levels, Easy, Medium, and Hard, to match different skill levels. In Word Drop and Fishing for Words, the number of words on screen at once and the speed at which they move increases with higher difficulty settings. In Typing Trail, the path becomes longer and students must type more words to complete it.
Please note, difficulty settings do not affect the challenge level of the actual words typed. All games within a particular games module feature the same set of words which are taken from the five previously completed typing modules of the Main TTRS Course.
In all three games, both the Space bar and Enter key can be used to submit a word. Each game play lasts 60 seconds. Students can choose to play the same game each time or play different games until their max plays are exhausted. They can also pause or skip a game at any time and return to regular typing modules.
More on each game
Word Drop
In Word Drop, words appear attached to parachutes floating in the sky. Students must type each word correctly before it falls or disappears from the screen.
Difficulty: Set higher levels of difficulty to see more words falling at once and increase the speed at which the words fall.
Visuals: Game visuals can be adjusted from inside the game by clicking on the settings icon in the top right corner, next to the Pause button. Basic visuals feature words falling in blue or green blocks. Lite visuals add a parachute on top of the blocks and in full visuals words dangle from parachutes and appear directly against the blue sky background.
Scoring: Students receive points for every word they type. No points are deducted for incorrectly typed words, instead learners are encouraged to try again while the word is still on screen. For every four words that fall from the screen without being typed, students lose one heart. Hearts are replenished with each new game play.
Fishing for Words
In Fishing for Words, fish carry words and swim across the screen, coming from either the left or right side. Students need to type each word correctly before it disappears.
Difficulty: Set higher levels of difficulty to see more fish on screen at once and increase the speed at which they swim.
Visuals: Game visuals can be adjusted from inside the game by clicking on the settings icon in the top right corner, next to the Pause button. Basic visuals feature word blocks that move across a simple blue background. Lite visuals add a fish tail to the blocks and include more of the seabed background. In full visuals, fish of different sizes and designs swim across a bright ocean scene.
Scoring: Students receive points for every word they type. No points are deducted for incorrectly typed words, instead learners are encouraged to try again while the word is still on screen. For every four words that swim off the screen without being typed, students lose one heart. Hearts are replenished with each new game play.
Typing Trail
In Typing Trail, students move along a trail by typing words correctly. This is a great game for students who would like to set the pace of play and may struggle to type words that move, as in the previous two games. When a student types a word correctly, the circle they're on turns green, they receive a checkmark and move on to the next stop.
Each path includes at least one special challenge stop which gives them bonus points, turns orange and unlocks a forest item or creature. A student has three chances to type a word correctly. If they're not able to do this, the circle turns silver and they move on to the next stop.
Difficulty: Set higher levels of difficulty for a longer path with more words to type and more special stops to unlock.
Visuals: Game visuals can be adjusted from inside the game by clicking on the settings icon in the top right corner, next to the Pause button. Basic visuals feature a plain green background with a simple brown path. Lite visuals add more depth to the forest background. In full visuals, students traverse a rich forest scene with trees, bushes and the occasional treehouse or two.
Scoring: Students receive points for every word they type and can earn more points by completing more stops on the trail. No points are deducted for incorrectly typed words or stops they haven't reached when game play ends. Each stop provides three chances for a student to type a word. For every word that is incorrectly typed three times, students lose one heart. Hearts are replenished with each new game play.
Adjusting typing game difficulty and visuals
A game's difficulty level can be selected before the game begins or adjusted from inside the game using the Settings cog icon in the top right corner of the screen, next to the Pause button. The settings icon is also where different degrees of visual complexity can be selected.
Typing games in TTRS offer a fun and engaging way for students to build their typing skills and stay motivated while they learn. With flexible settings and multiple game options, you can easily tailor the experience to suit different learning needs, or turn them off if you prefer the program to remain game-free. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our friendly support team.