Ball State University, with its nationally recognized Teachers College and being the alma mater to Garfield’s creator Jim Davis, has joined forces with Garfield’s creative group, Paws, Inc., and dozens of world-renowned experts in education to launch a free website overflowing with educational games, activities, instruction, drills and demonstrations.
A visit to www.professorgarfield.org. brings you to the door of Professor Garfield’s Laboratory, a space-age classroom with portals to interactive educational material focused on mathematics, social studies, art instruction, science and health — and Davis’ personal favorite, reading.
Through the site, students can hone reading skills while wrestling Dr. Stripp in the “Reading Ring,” learn to draw with Jim Davis and his staff artists in the “Art-Bot,” climb into the “Knowledge Box” to play math, social studies and language arts games, see how sleeping well means doing well at the National Institutes of Health’s “Star Sleeper,” and challenge Professor Garfield in a trivia contest in “G-Cubed.” Content on the site includes teacher’s lesson plans and incorporates assessment methodologies.
The site also includes free printable award items for teachers to use as incentives. Over time, the site will mature into areas of writing, mathematics and other core areas, first at kindergarten through third grade levels and systematically expanding to encompass grades K-12.
