“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss
I've always loved the quote above; even though I'm not the avid reader that I would like to be. I do believe reading broadens your mind and your horizon of dreams, just as I think travel is a great education, hence, the more you learn, the more places you'll go.
As a TOSA (teacher on special assignment) at an elementary school in Long Beach I teach all our students, K-5, technology. I also provide reading intervention for struggling students, using the new Core 5 Lexia Reading program. I am very interested in finding ways to help our students want to read. When I came across the video "Open a Book" from the WatchKnowLearn.org site, I immediately wanted to share it with my students. First of all, the video is upbeat, has great lyrics, a cool message, and is performed by students whom my students could relate to! This video was not only a tool I could use to motivate my students to develop a love for reading, but an example of a type of production that they could possibly create to promote some other educational information. My mind began spinning with ideas!
After viewing this video, e-learning could take place by having students respond to a survey created in Google forms, which they would access through google classroom. The survey would gather information by asking questions such as:
How much time do you spend reading when it is your choice (not assigned in school)?
and
What reading format do you prefer? Please rank using the drop down menu next to each choice.
I would love to hear from other teachers about methods they have used to help struggling readers. Surprisingly, I am not "all in" when it comes to using technology to help students read. It just seems like holding a book to read bonds you with the book and its story more than reading from a screen. that isn't just a personal observation; it is backed by research. While many studies point out that any reading increases intelligence, boosts brain power and can even make you more empathetic, there are many studies that indicate reading from a screen has it's drawbacks. One study found that when the text involved more than 500 words or took up more than a page of the book or screen, comprehension scores were significantly better for print than for digital reading (e.g., Harvey & Walker, 2018; Mangen et al., 2013; Mayes et al., 2001). Another article on the health website RealSimple.com, written by Abigail Wise, claims that reading on a screen can slow down your reading speed and the more you scroll, the less you remember.
References:
1. Sandick, H. (2012, May 03). Open a Book. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHfutDRE-HA
2. Wise, Abigail. (2018) 8 Science-Backed Reasons to Read a (Real) Book. (n.d.). Retrieved
from https://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/benefits-of-reading-real-books
3. Harvey, H., & Walker, R. (2018). Reading comprehension and its relationship with
working memory capacity when reading horizontally scrolling text. Quarterly
Journal of Experimental Psychology, 71(9), 1887-1897.
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ReplyDeleteHi Lynda! Very thorough and thoughtful blog post. From a critical perspective, I don’t know if there is much you can do to improve the post, as it seems you have checked all the boxes. I will offer this, however: I wouldn’t be too concerned about the detriment of technologies in helping students read. I know the current research indicates that students learn better when reading from a physical book and there is a certain kinesthetic value in reading while holding a book. I believe that will change as children will be exposed to more digital texts as time goes on. I believe eventually, there will be a shift in the wiring and preferences of kids’ brains where they learn more effectively from digital texts than physical texts. I was never much of a reader growing up, but now that I have to read far more as an adult than I did as a child, and the bulk of that reading takes place on my device, I do have a preference for digital texts. I have also noticed ways my brain makes up for the lack of the kinesthetic factor, like paying attention to the vertical slider, and knowing where certain passages I have read are based on the location of the slider.
ReplyDeleteThank you Chris. I think you are right about the shift in wiring and preference's of kids' brains. To be honest I was impressed last semester when I observed you on your phone and you could read the small text and flip from one thing to another and verbalize to class what you looked up and then go right back to where you were to add more to the discussion.
DeleteMaybe you could do a poll with your students and see how many prefer which medium, and what strategies they use -- could be interesting.
DeleteI agree that the song and video were very catchy and I want to show the video to my students too. I was unsure if I was suppose to answer the Google form or if that was for future use? So that confused me a little. I can definitely see that you put a lot of work into your blog and you see that with your research.
ReplyDeleteThe google form was just an example of part of a survey that could be given to find out more about my students' interest...or lack of interest in reading.
DeleteHello! The video is very catchy your reasoning for its use is great! I would suggest revising some slight mechanic errors with use of commas and the use of contractions and the possessive. Could fiddle around with the text formatting, maybe use of single font color for references, use a space between paragraphs or indentations. Since the format of the embedded assessment sticks out of the main page. I would suggest just embedding a link to it instead.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful blog! I love the background, very fitting. Your blog name is super catchy and I like that you started your post with a Dr. Seuss quote. The video is hilarious and I like that you put the actual video on your blog post (I don’t know how to do that..) I will definitely show my kids this video! The quiz at the end of your post was an interesting twist as well. I’m also not “all in” when it comes to using technology to read. I learned to read with a real book and a lot of practice. I struggled tremendously with reading fluency and I think that’s why I don’t like to read as an adult. My school district uses “Raz Kids,” an Ipad or Chrome Book app that provides leveled books for each student. I love that it is individualized, however, I want my students to know how to read a real book as well. Practicing with both the app and a regular “old” book seems like the best way to go. I hope libraries don’t start disappearing thanks to technology-based reading! I don’t really have any constructive suggestions, I think this is great work!
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda for sharing your blog and inspirational video on motivating students and children to read. I agree with you that if we finding fun and interesting opportunities for children to read, they may feel more engaged and eager to take on the reading challenge on a regular basis.
ReplyDelete