GrammaText: New Computer Game Makes Solving Writing Problems Fun

WASHINGTON -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Game of GrammaText, an educational smart game designed to teach students the fundamentals of writing and to entertain adults who enjoy playing word games, is available today for previewing in invite-only mode at http://grammatext.com.

Created by Mike McClory, founder of Write Smart, LLC, the Game of GrammaText employs a simplified, 12-step grammatical system based on the writing patterns used most frequently by professional writers and editors in America’s publishing industry.

“In survey after survey, employers give failing grades to the writing skills of high school and college graduates,” McClory says. “The problems cited most often are poorly organized sentences and errors in basic grammar.” The National Council of Teachers of English, in response to growing concerns about declining levels of literacy, has acknowledged that teachers need additional resources to show them “what to do about grammar — how to teach it, how to apply it, how to learn what they themselves were never taught.”

Playing the Game

In the Game of GrammaText, sentences are treated as puzzles. Certain pieces (words and combinations of words) work together to create meaning — what Mark Twain called the art of putting “the right word in the right place.”

After logging in to grammatext.com, players figure out the solution to each puzzle by fitting the pieces together. As they become familiar with fundamental grammatical functions and relationships — the architecture of English — players develop the ability to organize sentence elements logically, and they have some fun in the process.

The Game of GrammaText takes the pressure off busy K–12 teachers as well, because a new game is generated every day, Monday through Friday. Each game comes with a brief tutorial and specific guidance to online instructional resources. A hardcopy version, the Game of GrammaText manual, is also available.

Company Seeks Partner

“Clearly, the market for this time-tested educational smart game is enormous,” says McClory. “It’s a computer game that provides practical solutions for the nation’s financially strapped school systems, which need to find innovative approaches to improve the writing skills of more than 50 million students.”

State and local school systems, home school networks, and private schools could gain access to the GrammaText Website for an annual subscription fee. As a spin-off, the game could double as a mobile phone app — a perfect fit for millions of word-game lovers of all ages.

The next step, according to McClory, is to find and partner with a company that has broad experience in educational technology and is already engaged in providing educational solutions to the K–12 market.

To play the game, or to evaluate its potential as a commercial product, visit http://grammatext.com to request access.

About Write Smart

Write Smart^®LLC, a single member limited liability company in Arlington, Va., is owned and operated by Mike McClory, who has taught writing to professionals in business, government, and education since 1983. Before that, he edited a Capitol Hill newsmagazine and taught English (grades 7–12) in Berkeley, Ca., and Washington, D.C. McClory began creating the Game of GrammaText™ in the 1990s, then contracted with Brian Tanaka Consulting Services LLC of Emeryville, Ca., in 2008 to develop the current online version. The Game of GrammaText (patent pending) is protected by all applicable U.S. and international patent, trademark, and copyright laws.