Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Play Vocabulary Game- Help The Hungry!


What if you found a way to play a fun vocabulary game with your children and with each correct answer you were able to feed a hungry person? I know many of you will wonder, "What is the catch and how much will it cost me?" My answer to you is, "ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, it's FREE and it's REAL?!"

I always write about trying to make a difference in the world. Each day we should make an effort to help someone, offer a kind word, help an elderly person in the grocery store, smile at someone who is having a bad day or give a small bag of food to a homeless person. Well today at work one of my bosses came back from lunch and told all of us to go onto this great website http://www.freerice.com/ he said it is amazing and he just found out about it from his 12 year old son. I couldn't believe that something this fun, educational and easy even existed. To think that while my family is learning and increasing their vocabulary knowledge, we will also be making a difference in the world by feeding a hungry person.

Here's how it works:

They post a word at the top, you click on a word below (4 choices) that best defines the word. If you get the word correct you get 20 grains of rice in your bowl (which is conveniently placed on the right side of the screen), if you miss the word, you will then be given an easier word. You will later be given the word you missed so you now can pick the correct answer and improve your memory. There are 55 levels but most people rarely make it to level 48. You get to watch your grains of rice rapidly increase with each click of the mouse. As the grains of rice in your bowl fill up, so does your knowledge. A high level of vocabulary has great benefits, you will read faster with greater comprehension, get better grades, write better papers and/or letters, score higher on tests (SAT, GMAT, LSAT, ACT) and improve your job performance.

The rice is then donated for the United Nation World Food Program to distribute, which is the world's largest food aid agency. They work with over 1,000 other agencies in 75 different countries. The United Nations estimates that to end world hunger and diseases it will cost approximately $195 billion a year. There are 22 countries who have joined by contributing 0.7%, less than 1% of the national income. You can play the game and check to see how your country is doing compared to others.

You may be wondering who is paying for this rice? The advertisers at the bottom of the vocabulary screen pay a fee to advertise and http://www.freerice.com/ uses ALL of the money to purchase the rice...they run the site at NO PROFIT.

THERE IS A WARNING: THIS WEBSITE IS ADDICTING AND WILL INCREASE YOUR INTELLIGENCE...PLAY WITH CARE. http://www.freerice.com/

Don't forget to share this with your friends and family (with your new larger vocabulary you will want those around you to be able to understand you!)

2 comments:

Mom said...

What a cool idea. I plan to homeschool my two younger kids so I'm sure this will come in handy.

Do you mind if I place a link to your site? I think my readers would benefit from this post.

Lisa Petrarca said...

Please feel free to place a link to my site. I hope to get the word out to as many people as possible...so we can make a difference!