Teacher Comments

"I purchased four copies of You’ve Been Sentenced for my sixth grade Language Arts classes, and we (students and teacher) love it. The students enjoy the game because it gives them a creative outlet and allows them to have a fun time playing with their peers. However, I realize You’ve Been Sentenced is much more than just a game; I was utterly amazed to watch groups of sixth graders debate whether or not what they had created is actually a sentence (Well, if this is a sentence, what would the predicate be?) When I watch them play, and listen to their logic as they defend sentences, I know they are learning important skills about sentence structure.

What has me most excited is that every single student can be successful. I knew many of the advanced students would love the game, but I was not sure how it would go over with some of the struggling students. What would happen with the students who agonize over simple sentences in their writing? I was overjoyed to see them successfully create sentences. The pride on the face of one young man was unmistakable as he told me, “Mr. Flynt, I can make a sentence.” This was a student who had been struggling all year long and suffers from very low self-esteem. On the first day we played You’ve Been Sentenced he walked out of my classroom with his head held high. For one of the first times ever in a Language Arts setting, he felt success. I cannot thank you enough for enabling me to reach and to teach this young man.

We’ve played the game multiple times now. The students love it more each time. As I’m writing this letter, it is the last day of school before the Christmas Break. In the past, I’ve always been badgered with questions like - Can we have a party? Can we bring in a movie? Can we bring in our Ipods? This year those questions have been replaced. Instead I’ve been hearing for almost a week now, “Can we play the ‘Sentence Game’?”

I plan on brining this game with me when I travel to visit my family this Christmas. I am sure they will love it as much as I do.

Thank you for creating this game."
--Mr. Flynt, 6th Grade Language Arts Teacher, Vero Beach, Florida

“The game is great. I bought one for a friend who homeschools her two children. She is a college professor. They love it and play it with other homeschooled students. I have used it with my son and I brought it in to my University of Delaware Curriculum for Gifted and Talented class this summer to show to the Gifted and Talented teachers taking the course…they enjoyed it and found it challenging and fun.”
--Lisa C., English Teacher, Cab Calloway School of the Arts

 “…I was so excited when I discovered this new language game, because as a teacher of English as a foreign language, I realized right away that it could be an excellent and fun tool for teaching English.  I'm an American living in Paris and I've been teaching French adults English for the past three years, and I'm always looking for new and creative ways of teaching our language.  This game will be a great help with fluency work and reviewing grammar and vocabulary in an amusing way.”
--Karen D., Foreign Languages Teacher, Paris, France

“You’ve Been Sentenced is a cool game.  It truly strengthens the imagination, vocabulary, and speed of all who play.  The quicker one can twist up a sentence with as many points as possible, the quicker and faster one learns to imagine. Yes the game is a challenge.  This game is a race.  Playing it is a race against the imaginations of the other players.  Thank you for the thrill.”
--Hannah V., High School Student, Bridgeville High School