author: Terry Goodkind
name: Rebecca
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1994
rating: 2
read at: 2008/04/25
date added: 04/25/08
shelves: borrowed, fantasy
review:
This book could have been half the length and still covered the entire story. Very few of the plot points felt woven together. It was more like reading linked short stories in a row.
Apr 142008
I’ve blogged in the past about using Pokemon to get a child resistant to reading to start reading. It seems I’m not the only one who thinks gaming can get kids to read.
Often, when you try to encourage a child to read, all they can think about is reading in class, where they might be expected to read out loud but are embarrassed because they don’t read as fluidly as another child. They might associate reading a book with comprehension quizzes that they might not do so well at because they have a hard time reading quickly and deeply enough to actually understand what they’re reading. You could be trying to encourage the child to read a book on their favorite sports figure, and you’ll get more of a reaction from the wall. The child’s experiences with reading in the school setting are a far stronger motivator than reading about how Michael Jordan became a fantastic athlete.
When you sit a child down in front of a game, regardless of how text-heavy it is, the child is motivated to read. If you hand them a TCG game, they want to read the cards to see what each one does. If you hand them a game like Kingdom Hearts (I realize I’m dating myself slightly just a hair here), then some will choose to read the story while others will choose to focus solely on the directions for accomplishing a task in the game.
Either way, the child is reading.
The article focuses on encouraging students to decode symbols, which really is what’s taking place in reading, but I think just seeing characters read a picked-up letter, a book, or a newspaper also reinforce and encourage literacy ideals because the child sees that and can understand that reading allows the character to gain the knowledge they need to move on. Now it’s not just trying to decode the symbols on the page, it’s associating meaning with them, and most children can follow that.
In the attempt to reach tweens and teens, games are likely going to incorporate more and more literacy concepts, both to help the student navigate the game and to keep them engaged in learning how to read and think critically.
I have no artistic ability.
Okay, that’s not entirely true. I can actually do a number of arts in a competent manner, but drawing has eluded me most of my life. I had brief flashes of drawing ability my freshman year of high school and my freshman year of college (odd coincidence). I can get the image of what I want to draw firmly fixed in my mind, but there’s a severe disconnect between my head and my hand. Now that I’ve developed a strong interest in blended storytelling and am trying to figure out how to apply that to Dead Bunny, it’s really annoying me.
Last summer, I started drawing stick figures for a fellow teaches. Initially, they just decorated notes I was leaving her, but they quickly became something else and they started gathering a fan base among the other teachers. My horrible little drawings were coming alive and telling their own stories.
The stories focus on this one little stick figure family- Mom, Dad, and Little One, a precious preschooler who loves to read. The family celebrates holidays and spend time together doing fairly typical family activities. Side stories away from the family have been reactions to various things going on. They’re starting to become my teaching assistants. I’ve even turned myself into a stick figure (although I don’t think I have that one).
I don’t have as much time to spend on them anymore, but they still dot my design notebook. If you want to check them out, they have their own section in my deviantArt gallery. But look quickly. My artist roommate is eying one of the larger stories for one of her future projects.
