Patent Publication Number: US-2013241149-A1

Title: Educational Board Game For Words

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an educational board game and methods to play said game. More particularly, the present invention relates to an educational board game for words, and specially for sight words, sight phrases and/or sight numbers, and methods to play said game. 
     Sight words are some of the most frequently used words in the English language and can be seen in the majority of books that students read in and out of school. Many teachers know that learning these words are an essential skill that students must possess in order to increase their success in reading efficiently. There are five levels of sight words which are pre-primer, primer, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and nouns. Sight Words have also been coined numerous other names, to include Dolch words and High-frequency words. However, each name refers to the same general word listing and should not be confused to mean anything differently. The Dolch Word List is a list that was compiled by Edward William Dolch in 1936. The list contains 220 of the most commonly used words in literature which should be recognized by “sight” for fast or “fluent” reading. The compilation excludes nouns, which are comprised on a separate 95-word list. In further explanation, many of the 220 Dolch words do not follow the basic phonic principles, and therefore cannot be “sounded out.” These words should instead be learned by sight and in light of this fact, Dolch words are now often referred to as Sight words. 
     A large majority of teachers and parents struggle to help their child/children and students learn to read. Most often, teachers use Sight word flash cards in their classrooms to teach students to recognize these words. Unfortunately, this way of teaching the subject is not exciting, and students easily become bored with the lesson and consequentially do not retain much of the information. In order to rectify this disconnect between teachers teaching Sight words and students effectively learning them, there needs to be a more fun and innovative way of presenting these Sight words lessons. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Some related prior inventions are disclosed as prior art herein. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,371 to Bledsoe discloses a board game that includes a die that controls the movement of player pieces along a continuous path and which directs the players to use a spinner of the board game. Herein words may be formed within the second playing area and can be spelled forward, backward, vertically, horizontally or diagonally. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,504 to Powell discloses a word game utilizing a game board containing the vowels and consonants of the English alphabet with each letter placed in a defined letter area. A plurality of markers that are thrown at the board of such a structure to releasably stick to the board. The object of the game being to make a recognized word in a time less than an opponent after a predetermining plurality of markers are thrown at the board and land in letter areas. 
     The invention described herein stands unique from these prior art findings. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed an educational board game and methods to play said game. More particularly, the present invention discloses an educational board game for words, and specially for sight words, sight phrases and/or sight numbers. and methods to play said games. 
     The said game set comprises a game board with words, phrases, obstacles and tasks embedded on the movement spaces defining a play path, also with a start point space and an end point space; game pieces; means for randomly generating a number. The method of playing said game comprises 1) furnishing a said game set; 2) assigning a game piece to or selecting a game piece by each player and placing the game pieces on the start point space on the play path; 3) determining the order of players in the said game; 4) generating a random number by the first player using means for randomly generating a number, moving first player&#39;s game pieces that number of spaces down the play path. If the game piece stops at a movement space with an obstacle or a task, the player must follow the command of the obstacle or fulfill the task. Then the others in turn play the said game in the same way; 5) the player first arriving at the end point space wins the said game. 
     The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description which follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow. 
     Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals. 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of a game set of present invention of an educational board game. 
         FIG. 2  is an illustration of methods playing said educational board game. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is disclosed an educational board game, and more particularly, the present invention discloses an educational board game for words, and specially for Sight words, sight phrases and/or sight numbers. 
     The said educational board game comprises game boards  10 ; movement spaces  5 ; words  20  or phrases  30  or obstacles  50  or tasks  60 ; game pieces; and means of randomly generating a number  70 . The movement spaces  5  define a play path and game pieces  40  move along said path. On the movement spaces  5 , words  20  or phrases  30  or obstacles  50  or tasks  60  are embedded. The movement spaces  5  also include a start point space  80  and an end point space  90 . 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the words are selected from the 220 Sight words on the Dolch Word List and the excluded nouns of a separate 95-word list. In one embodiment of the present invention, the Sight words are selected from a single difficulty level of one of the following: pre-primer, primer, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and nouns. In another embodiment of the present invention, the words are selected from a mixed difficulty level of one of the following: pre-primer, primer, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and nouns. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the phrases contains Sight words selected from the 220 words on the Dolch Word List and the excluded nouns of a separate 95-word list. In another embodiment of the present invention, the phrases contain sight words selected from a single difficulty level of one of the following: pre-primer, primer, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and nouns. In another embodiment of the present invention, the phrases contain sight words selected from a mixed difficulty level of one of the following: pre-primer, primer, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and nouns. 
     The obstacles  50  in the game set include, but are not limited to, losing a turn, skipping to a word, going back to a previous word, moving back one, two, three, four, five, six previous spaces. The tasks  60  in the game set include, but are not limited to, using a word in a sentence, or using a phrase in a sentence. In one embodiment of the present invention, obstacles and tasks are randomly selected and randomly embedded on the movement spaces of said game board. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the game pieces  40  are made to different colors. In another embodiment of the present invention, the game pieces are made to different shapes. In another embodiment of the present invention, the game pieces are made to different colors and shapes. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the means of randomly generating a number  70  may be by way of die. In another embodiment of the present invention, the means of randomly generating a number may be any similar tools in a board game. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , there is also disclosed methods of playing an educational board game, and more particularly methods of playing an educational board game for words, and specially for Sight words, sight phrases and/or sight numbers. 
     The said methods comprise 1) furnishing said educational board game set comprising of game boards with words, phrases or obstacles or tasks embedded on the movement spaces defining a play path, with a start point space and an end point space; game pieces; means of randomly generating a number; 2) assigning a game piece to or selecting a game piece by each player of said game, and placing the game pieces on the start point space of the play path; 3) determining the order of players in the said game; 4) generating a number by the first player using said means of randomly generating a number, moving his/her game piece that number of spaces down the play path. If the game piece stops at a movement space embedded with an obstacle or a task, the player must follow the commands of the obstacle or fulfill the task. The other players then in turn play the said game in the same way; 5) the player first arriving at the end point space wins the said game. 
     The said game may be played by one player or by up to five (5) players. The said game may be played in the classroom as a way of teaching or may be played after school at a placed deemed suitable by the consumer. Words, phrases, obstacles, tasks may be randomly selected or combined or may be arranged in a fixed manner. 
     While there have been shown, described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.