Connecting with Beginning Readers
From TechSource Gaming Symposium
Presenters: Amber Creger (ALSC Children and Technology Committee), Teresa Walls (Allen County (IN) Public Library)
Description: Think about your own frustration with a slow computer connection. Now imagine you are a beginning reader. This session will focus on off-screen games designed with beginning readers. We'll experience old-fashioned games, create our own games and discover ways to help beginning readers express their imaginations and energy.
Check out the ACPL Flickr page of the beginning reader book club members creating their own games: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acplinfo/sets/72157608237084392/.
Intended Audiences:
- Youth librarians
at
- Public libraries
- School libraries
During our 45-minute hands-on session, we will attempt the following schedule:
Contents |
9:30-9:35: Introduction
9:35-9:45: Two large group games
9:45-10:05: Playing and sharing and developing games with beginning readers in mind. Areas of consideration:
Comprehension According to Diller (2007), "Comprehension is understanding. It involves thinking and can be likened to a converation between the reader and the text" (p.36). The games we bring to the table for practice in comprehension include
- Make Your Own Game based on a beginning reader
- Direct and Draw -- One person is chosen to be the director whose job it is to think of something for the followers to draw. He won't tell them what it is. He must give such clear instructions that the follower's finished drawing will be almost the same as what the director draws. The others listen and follow the directions carefully by drawing on their own pieces of paper. Show the finished drawings. (p. 36, "Games for 1, 2 or more")
- Next Word? -- Read aloud a story or article but pause either in the middle or toward the end of a sentence and say, "Next word?" Players or teams take turns supplying a word. First to give the correct next word scores a point. Most points at the end of the story wins.
Fluency Diller (2007) writes on page 67, "Fluency is not just speed. It's a combination of several factors -- rate or speed, prosody or phrasing, expression, intonation, and pacing -- along with comprehension. Reading and rereading stories promote fluency. Games with high frequency words, commonly called "sight words" helps with fluency. Reading the punctuation is part of fluency. The games we bring to the table to practice fluency include
- Sight Word Bingo
- Punctuation Game--Say your punctuation marks at the end of every sentence, add commas.
- Fairy Tale Game -- LIke reader's theater, have a selection of easy fairy tales. One person reads dialogue of a character and others try to guess the character and/or fairly tale.
Phonemic Awareness
Diller (2007) writes (p. 89): "Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness are related terms that are often used interchangeably by teachers. However, they do not mean exactly the same thing. Phonological awareness is an umbrella term that refers to an understanding of spoken words, and includes an awareness of words, syllables, rhymes, and individual sounds [...] Rhyme awareness is a part of phonological awareness and is a stepping stone for children on the way to developing phonemic awareness. When students have learned to rhyme, it is a signal that they're ready to manipluate smaller units of speech, down to phonemes--the smallest units of speech a word can be divided into." The games we bring to the table to practice phonemic awareness include variations of
- Rhyming Zig-Zag
- Silly Sounds (an alliteration or initial consonant game)
- Space Flight (a game of blends)
- All three of these games are old Ideal board games. Teresa Walls is revamping to share with her local Project READS (http://www.abouteducation.org/reads.htm) tutoring sites. She is in the midst of contacting the permissions department of Ideal School Supply Co. who have discontinued the games. The address is School Specialty Publishing, 8720 Orion Place, 2nd Floor, Columbus OH 43240, Attn Permissions
Phonics Phonics "involves the associations between sounds and how they are represented by print. The goal of phonics is to teach students the most commonly used sound-spelling relationships so that they can decode all kinds of words. When children are using phonics, they can use what they understand about letters and their sounds to read and write words (not just do worksheets). They are applying the alphabetic principle--understanding that the sounds within spoken words are represented in writing by letters, and that those letters represent the sounds rather consistently" (Diller, p. 115). Games we bring to the table to practice phonics include
- Rhyming Zig-Zag
- Teresa revamped the official rules and suggest making new game board for shorter play. Here are the revamped directions:
Select a game token and place it on "Zig." Spin to determine the number of boxes to move on the game board. Move the token from box to box in any direction that follows a line. A player cannot move diagonally. When you land in a box, say another word that rhymes with the word in the box. Can't think of a word? Other players can give clues. Still can't think of a rhyming word? Move back one box toward "Zig." If you spin "Back 1" on the spinner, move back one box toward "Zig" and name a rhyming word for that box. Other players can give clues if you can't think of a word. Still can't think of a word? Move back one more box. To Win: The player must spin the EXACT Number to land on "Zag" and then say another word that rhymes with "Zag." CHALLENGE: Do not repeat words already said during this game.
- Silly Sounds (an alliteration or initial consonant game)
- Space Flight (a game of blends)
- Word Slide Relay
- Doghouse
- Teresa revamped this one too using suggestions by the Project READS director with whom I have met. They won't be able to implement the games in the tutoring sessions until later this month.
Vocabulary and Spelling
- Spelling Golf
- Stand back! I'm a SuperHero!
10:05-10:15: Large group discussion
Bibliography of Sources Consulted
Bear, Donald R., Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton and Francine Johnston. (2004) "Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction". Third Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Blevins, Wiley. (1997) Phonemic Awareness Activities for Early Reading Success: Easy, Playful Activities that Prepare Children for Phonics Instruction. New York: Scholastic.
Diller, Debbie. (2007) Making the Most of Small Groups: Differentiation for All. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
Fredericks, Anthony D. (2008) Songs and Rhymes Readers Theatre for Beginning Readers. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited /Teacher Ideas Press.
"Games for 1, 2, or more". (1974) Chicago: Childrens Press.
Mandell, Muriel. (1978) Games to Learn By: 101 Best Educational Games. New York: Sterling Publishing Co.
Morag, Stuart; Masterson, Jackie; Dixon, Maureen. (2000) Spongelike acquisition of sight vocabulary in beginning readers?Journal of Research in Reading. 23 (1), 12-27.
Piekart, Ferry & Deltrap, Lars. (2002) Playing with Stuff: Outrageous Games with Ordinary Objects. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller Publishers.
Richards, Regina G. (2008) "Helping Children with Learning Disabilities Understand What They Read." LD Online. accessed 10 Sept. 2008. http://www.ldonline.org/article/5598
"Six Games for Reading." (1997) Reading Rockets. accessed 2 Sept. 2008. http://www.readingrockets.org/article/79?theme
Smith, Laura J.H. (2004). The Book Bunch: Developing Book Clubs for Beginning Readers. Fort Atkinson, WI: Upstart Books.
Walpole, Sharon & McKenna, Michael C. (2004) The Literacy Coach's Handbook: A Guide to Research-Based Practice. New York: The Guilford Press.
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