I knew the practice that each child needed, but getting an adult or other helper to each child for daily help with reading was nearly impossible. Eventually, I started to look to technology to help students get the practice and feedback that they needed, not only in reading, but in mathematics, science, and other content areas.

Here’s how it worked: After working individually with a student on a particular reading skill, such as decoding words with the short “o” sound, I would have him follow up the next day by reading an e-book that focused on the same concept, then tell me about the story. Later, I would have him play a game using software or a Web resource, again working on the short “o” sound and consonants. Simultaneously, an advanced third-grader would be taking a test on the computer to assess her understanding of the latest chapter book she’d chosen to read. I was still very much a part of my students’ learning and assessment, but the classroom became a dynamic learning environment with a constant “buzz” of activity as students moved naturally from getting new lessons from the teacher, to practicing new concepts using technology or another manipulative, to providing evidence of having learned the material.

Multimedia’s Role

Multimedia, by definition, is a combination of audio, video, animation, still photos, interactivity, and text, providing diverse and rich means of conveying information. Media-rich resources facilitate giving students multiple exposure to and practice with concepts, a strategy shown to impact student achievement (Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock, 2001.) Research also shows that students are more likely to integrate and retain knowledge when concepts are delivered through both linguistic and nonlinguistic means and when students are engaged in comparing and classifying learned concepts and terminology (Marzano, et al, 2001). Today’s multimedia technologies and content provide innumerable opportunities for students to strengthen reading skill and comprehension.

Your emergent readers can benefit from these tools just as my students did. Like their older brothers and sisters, very young children have come to expect that technology and media will be part of their day whether they are talking to a family member on a cell phone, watching TV or a favorite DVD, checking out books from the library using a computer, or helping a parent use the self-checkout computer at the grocery store. On “Sesame Street,” even Oscar the Grouch calls his friend Grundgetta using his “smell-phone.” They see their favorite characters in multiple venues and formats, and have many choices in learning activities. In other words, Oscar, Lionel and Curious George are standing by to help your young learners gain reading skill and confidence. Here’s how.

Early Literacy Resources

Pre-school children who are learning letter sounds, letter recognition, and sight words can be exposed to those concepts through television shows such as “Sesame Street” and “Between the Lions.” Later, when they are ready to practice and apply their understanding, PBSKids.org provides interactive games to help them do so. Below are examples of media-rich resources that help young students practice emergent reading skills.

Between the Lions: A B C D Watermelon helps children practice identifying letters of the alphabet in a fun, interactive way with several levels. In the first level, the student is shown the alphabet in order in all lower case letters with one letter missing, which the student has to identify. In the most advanced level, the letters are in random order and are a mixture of lower case and capital letters, with one letter missing. At any time, the student can click on Leona to hear the alphabet sung to him or her, aiding in memorizing the letters.

Between the Lions: Fuzzy Lion Ears is a game in which the student identifies the missing beginning letter sound. For example, Lionel will audibly ask the student to pick the letter that will make this word “_og” say “jog.” The student is given a choice of three letters, which Leona will sound out as the child moves the mouse over them.

Sesame Street: Cookie Monster’s Letter of the Day is another game in which students identify beginning letter sounds. Veteran watchers of Sesame Street will enjoy seeing his trademark “gobbling” of the correct cookies.

Between the Lions: Chicken Stacker helps the student practice identifying short vowel words. The child has to click on the hen that has the correct vowel sound, as assigned in the directions. The words are not read to the child.

Between the Lions: Pounce has the student identify whole words. For example, Cleo will audibly ask the student to identify the word “fish.” Listed are three words, one of which is correct.

Sesame Street: Elmo’s World: Elmo Rhymes helps students to listen for and identify words that rhyme.

In addition to the nonlinguistic and interactive features of these games, multimedia has the advantage of tirelessly giving feedback, a teaching strategy that is extremely important in the shaping phase of learning a new skill (Marzano, et all, 2001). Children can practice concepts as many times as they would like.

The PBS television line up also features Clifford the Big Red Dog, Arthur, Curious George, and Reading Rainbow, shows designed to teach important social and academic skills and concepts as well as to entice students to read the books about the familiar characters upon which the shows are based.

Classroom Snapshot

So how exactly does one organize a lesson using these resources? You might tape an episode of “Between the Lions” called “What Parakeets Need,” focusing on the “ee” sound. Read most of the story to your class, occasionally calling on the students to decode key “ee” words. You notice that some students find this lesson extremely challenging, as they are still working on identifying the letters of the alphabet or short vowel sounds. For others, this lesson comes at just the right time. Still others are reading beyond the Kindergarten level and seem disinterested. To address these differences you can book the computer room for the next day and have students work in pairs with level-appropriate games. For young children you can bring up the appropriate Web sites instead of having the students struggle with typing the URLs. Alternatively, you can bookmark the sites on the computers or save them on a social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us. You might choose to give a mini-lesson on each game as a small-group activity before having students work in pairs. Ideally, these students will use headphones to keep the activities from distracting other students.

Those students still working on letters of the alphabet play A B C D Watermelon together. Later that week, have those same students play Cookie Monster’s Letter of the Day game.

Those students working on short vowel sounds play Fuzzy Lion Ears and Chicken Stacker over the course of the week.

The students who need practice recognizing “ee” words go to Starfall, another Web resource for learning early reading skills. They read “Pete’s Sheep” together and then play the accompanying game that focuses on the long-e sound.

Finally, advanced readers who are ready to practice recognizing sight words play Pounce and Elmo’s World: Elmo Rhymes over the course of the week.

Teachers and parents often ask for computer management tips for their students and children. For pre-school children, I recommend using these interactive games as “lapware,” with the parent operating the mouse or touch pad and the child in his or her lap so that the child can practice the reading concepts, rather than having to worry about the mechanics of operating the computer. There is a place, of course, for helping children to develop the fine motor skills of using a computer, but these are best done with virtual painting programs or with games such as Mousercize, rather than during a content-specific activity. Classroom teachers can introduce these games as whole- or small-group activities using projectors or interactive whiteboards. Later, the same games are appropriate for individual use in order to provide differentiated practice.

The Pain/Gain Factor

Yes, in my classroom there was the occasional technology glitch. Yes, there were times when a student didn’t responsibly use the materials. But overwhelmingly, technology, multimedia in particular, helped me to reach twenty-seven students at individual skill levels and learning styles.

When teachers bring new tools into their instruction, their initial frustration with learning the tools and classroom management are often quickly balanced by the students’ level of enthusiasm, differentiation, and repeated practice. PBS’ rich collection of resources provides teachers with the tools they need to reach their 21st Century learners.

I’d love to hear from other teachers who are either interested in trying these resources for the first time or who are veterans of using multimedia in their early literacy programs. How did you organize your lessons? What went well? What challenges did you face? Are there other free Web-based resources that you’d like to tell us about? The beauty of edu-blogging is the exchange of information that happens between practicing professionals. I invite your comments, ideas, and suggestions.

Citation: Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.