This post is written by Ivan Kaltman, a K-5 educator, Game-Based Learning advocate, and designer of Sydney’s World from New Jersey. Ivan is doing amazing work around video games and literacy. Here he describes how he is using video games to redefine the classroom read aloud.

Game-based learning is certified organic (it’s the natural way children learn). As
PARCC fades to memory, some states are beginning to shift away from national
standards and the obsession with standardized testing. Traditional educational
paradigms are on the defensive as new models such as Future Ready provide
blueprints not only to improve student outcomes, but to actually transform
learning. These events have opened the doors of public education to real
innovations.

In our fourth grade PLC, we attempted to leverage the power of digital game-
based learning to mitigate the known weaknesses of read alouds (teacher-
directed, no student ownership, passive activity, difficult to tell if students are
engaged) to improve our ROI (Return on Instruction) during one read aloud
session per week.

We call this new task “Future Ready Read Alouds”. The learning design/pedagogy
was heavily influenced by Tom Murray’s (Director of Innovation for Future Ready
Schools) “Learning Transformed: 8 Keys to Designing Tomorrow’s Schools, Today”
he co-authored with Eric Sheninger, and James Gee’s (Mary Lou Fulton
Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies) “What Video Games Have to Teach Us
About Learning and Literacy”.

In digital games, meaning, thinking, and learning are linked to multiple modalities, not just to words. This “situated language” helps many students improve their reading comprehension. #stonybrookschool #stonybrookdolphins pic.twitter.com/QfJVrnQNda

— Stony Brook School (@StonyBrookElem) January 28, 2019

Novels remain sacrosanct in classroom read alouds, but it wasn’t long ago that
graphic novels (now ubiquitous) were taboo. Interactive digital graphic novels are
the next logical progression. In the SAMR model, Redefinition represents the
pinnacle of how technology can transform a student’s experience. We have
redefined the read aloud experience for our students.

Digital natives accustomed to interactive media on-demand their entire lives are
far less likely to be engaged by traditional teacher-centered read alouds than
prior generations. Future Ready Read Alouds blend physical and virtual learning spaces to facilitate joint media engagement. We substituted the traditional
leveled middle-grade novel with a differentiated (mixed Lexile) middle-grade
novel of text embedded within an RPG (role-playing game) format.
Students are assigned to groups of four based on reading ability. Each group has a
student from the class’s top quartile and one from the bottom quartile. This
ensures each group has all students reading fluently at their reading level.
Students go beyond reading their characters text by actually exploring the story-
world. They control the main characters (graphically represented as sprites) using
the keyboard. Students collaborate with their group to make decisions where to
go and what to do, and sometimes even what to say (dialogue branch choices).
This format may be relatively new to the educational world, but it’s well known in
the gaming world (RPG’s debuted to wide audiences in the early 90’s). There are
roles beyond “reader” that allow students to be valued for intellectual abilities
other than reading. These additional roles (such as explorer, battler, navigator
and problem-solver) foster inclusion. All students in a class—including special
education and ELL students—can collaborate together, regardless of reading
ability.

Digital game-based learning provides rich interactive multimedia that engage
students more than traditional text. These multiple modalities (continuous
images, animations, actions, music, sound effects, etc.) of information increase
understanding of text, a term James Gee defines as “situated language.”
The teacher now has extra time to assess oral reading fluency, comprehension,
and robust vocabulary (while also providing assistance and feedback), engage in
small group discussions, and take on more of a facilitator role.
Future Ready Read Alouds provide an additional literacy benefit: preparation for
future learning. All students get a solid grasp of the literature essentials, such as
characters, setting, plot and themes (as opposed to traditional text formats that
not all students comprehend). This helps to level the playing field, enabling
students of all abilities to engage in curriculum-based instruction.

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Until Next Time,

GLHF