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​Does the use of multiple digital platforms and tools build emerging reader comprehension?

School should be a place for children to come to that is full of excitement, inquiry, and a place to explore and experiment with the world around them.  What if teachers used a game designers philosophy and transferred that mentality into the classroom? We live in a digital age where global learning is happening in every career around us. Why not use games to make learning fun?  There is nothing more invigorating than getting to the next level of a video game; learning should be that thrilling too. Innovative learning through gaming, video and gamification motivates and engages students through digital tools to inadvertently become better readers. This site will open your eyes to some of the possibilities in LEVELING UP! your teacher game.

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Does the use of multiple digital platforms and tools build emerging reader comprehension?


Teachers want students to learn the standards, be prepared for the sequential grade, and display 21st century skills to be college or career ready. What better way than to formulate lessons that exhilarate, captivate and influence autonomous students to incite their own inquiry through digital tools used in a gaming format?  Having an audience that is captured by the medium creates more voracious readers. 

At the school I am at, in California, half of the third graders coming in were below grade level when it came to reading and comprehension.  This makes it very challenging to teach grade level materials when so many readers don't have the motivation, growth mindset or skills to read at a third grade level. "...the research indicates that children today are fundamentally different from previous generations in the way they think and in the way they access, absorb, interpret, process and use information, and above all the way they view, interact, and communicate with the world." (Greenberg and Zanetis, 2012) I am going to take you through my journey on how to motivate struggling readers to make at least one year's growth in one year's time with the impact of video education.  

Video Impact in Education provides: 
  • Interactivity with content (learner relates to visual content, verbally, by note taking or thinking, or by applying concepts)
  • Engagement (the learner connects to the visual content, becoming drawn in by the video, whether on-demand or real-time)
  • Knowledge transfer and memory (the learner may remember and retain concepts better than with other instructional media)"
Greenberg and Zanetis, 2012 Portion Cisco Systems Inc. and portion Wainhouse Research, LLC

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4th Grade Students Exploring Science Computer Games

Rounds of Action Research

Round 1: Reading Survey, Reading Inventory baseline, & Goal Setting

Round 2: Mindfulness

Round 3: Video Teaching vs. Computer Game Teaching

These three rounds of research have evolved from one need of motivation to another.  Motivating struggling readers that have always felt lesser-than when it came to reading progress was always the main drive.  I used various forums, digital tools, and games to increase their comprehension in reading.

Results: Third grade students scored an average of 132.4 points higher on the Reading Inventory over the control group. 


My site, Level Up! explores a journey of trial and error exploration in the classroom.
On this site you will find:
  • Reading Survey 
  • Goal Setting
  • Mindfulness lessons (to support focus for reading stamina)
  • Tech Tuesday (teaching through technology)
  • Teaching through video
  • Teaching through computer games
PictureLink to my blog to find out what was inside my head along the way.

Research Articles:
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Cabral-Márquez, C. (2015). Motivating Readers: Helping Students Set and Attain Personal Reading Goals. Reading Teacher, 68(6), 464–472. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1053138&site=ehost-live

Foster, W. A., & Miller, M. (2007). Development of the Literacy Achievement Gap: A 
Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten through Third Grade. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools

Zimmerman, B. J., Bandura, A., & Martinez-Pons, M. (1992). Self-Motivation for Academic   Attainment: The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Personal Goal Setting. American Educational Research Journal, 29(3), 663–676. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312029003663


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