TeachThought – Paul France, NBCT, InspirED
Teaching reading is an art filled with limiting factors: motivation, vocabulary, decoding, and comprehension are only a few of the comprehensive skills or traits that students need to be able to comprehend text, making the subject of literacy, in particular, difficult to teach.
video gameYes, there are ways to garner student interest, especially when it comes to interacting with text, but in a society that is becoming increasingly visual and dependent on instant gratification, the delayed gratification of interacting with text can be far less enticing to our little ones. And for this reason, it’s important to help them see that interacting with text can be just as gratifying as watching a movie or playing a game.
But this is not a simple task. Not simple at all.
Luckily, the teaching profession is one of innovation, and teachers are ceaselessly experimenting with ways to use innovative practice to help kids learn how to read. Recently, I’ve learned that some teachers are even using games to teach reading, arguing that these interactive video games provide the same skills that students need to be able to read. And they’re right, video games do help to teach critical thinking, creativity, making connections, and many other skills that can contribute to and support effective reading skills. Likewise, there are now texts on these games like how-to guides, and interesting projects where students create stories about the content within these games.
However, much to the our chagrin, this high-interest method still isn’t fully teaching the art of reading in and of itself because what you’ll see is that these games rarely mention the “text” at all, despite the fact that these games possess a great ability to foster creativity, imagination, and lateral thinking. At the end of the day, kids still need the basics — they still need the text — and many of these strategies, while supportive of the reading process, are only band aids unless we get to the root of a child’s issues with reading.
So where do we find the root? How do we help kids access these skills and traits?
While there is no one “correct” answer – as every child differs – removing text from our students and putting band-aids over the problem is not the way to go. Richard Allington, author of What Really Matters for Struggling Readers states that in order for struggling readers to catch up with grade-level peers, they need over double the amount of time with text than an average performing peer would need to make the necessary gains in reading. And as teachers, it is our job to give them that time and to help them thrive. Playing games, no matter how enriching they are for other skills, are not going to give most children this oh-so necessary time with text.
5 Anchors For Using Technology To Teach Reading
If games aren’t the solution, what are some of those ways to get to the root of the problem? Here are five “anchors,” or ideas to get started.
1. Assessment
One of the biggest misconceptions about standardized assessments is that they are simply a way to label children through a rigid system of objectives and goals. This, however, is not true. Rigorous standardized assessments allow for rich data collection so that teachers can provide students with exactly what they need — and exactly at their level. Giving them materials that are within their respective zones of proximal development positively affects their perceptions of themselves, helping them to have a “can do” attitude when it comes to reading.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
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