Three Rs for Teachers

No, not those! I'm thinking Rah! Rah! Rah!

I love teachers. My dad finished his career as a principal, but while I was growing up, he was a teacher. We were his cheap labor ... I have the purple fingers from sorting dittoes to prove it. We may not have wet, inky copies anymore, but teachers don't work any less.

Each year, during the first week of May, we celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week. In schools everywhere, we'll be doing what we should do every day: celebrate and thank teachers for all that they do. In some ways, it's bittersweet, because it reminds us that another year is about to close.

One of the forces behind Share a Story-Shape a Future is the belief that reading is the foundation for all other learning. And while our emphasis is on encouraging reading at home, we know that teachers play an important part in the learning-to-read process, too. Like gym, music, and art teachers, reading specialists aren't always the first teacher kids think of when it's time to say "thanks." We want to fix that.

Sabi, Inc. has generously donated 10 copies of their award winning game ItzaBitza (http://ItzaBitza.com), designed to enhance a child’s computer time through, play, creative thinking, and problem solving. Sabi sees their new game as a seed that empowers a child to overcome the challenges of reading and grow a lifelong love of reading. Along with the game, Sabi provides complimentary reading activities for parents and children designed by their reading specialist, Dr. Diana Sharp. In the Let’s Read online area, Dr. Diana Sharp discusses ways parents can engage their children in reading.

A popular section of the http://ItzaBitza.com web site is where the Sketchy Adventures reside. Delightful Until… adventures to inspire children to read with their parents and think how their adventure might end. Sketchy Adventure #1 can be located by clicking here. Rather than recreate the game description, I'm going to paste in the details I received from Sabi Inc CEO Margaret Johnson:

ItzaBitza is a simulation game in which a child’s creativity powers the construction of the game world. The main characters are called Sketchies. Sketchies have interesting wants and needs. A child provides for Sketchies by drawing new objects into the game world. The game ignites a child’s imagination by understanding what they draw and bringing it to life using Living Ink®. For example: a child draws a house shaped like a banana. The Sketchy goes inside and waves back at the child through the window the child drew. The creativity comes in when children discover this freedom to explore interactions and push boundaries. A whimsical dance of cause and effect plays out.

The game uses the extrinsic motivation of collecting stars to provide problems solving and light weight assessment opportunities. One quest is to pick five purple flowers. If the child has not drawn the sun, there will be no flowers. Once the sun is drawn and the flowers grow, the child needs to know they need to pick purple flowers. If they find only three purple flowers, the child discovers they must tap on the sun to generate more flowers.

ItzaBitza includes five playsets. Each playset is a blank environment waiting for a child to use Living Ink® to draw the objects needed within the environment. The blank environments include a location for a home, a camp site, a haunted house, outer space and a farm. Children read sentences that appear as thought bubbles on their Sketchy. If the child hovers the mouse over a word, the word turns red, grows larger and is pronounced in the voice of a child. As children progress through the playsets, the sentences become richer in meaning and construction.

Here at Share a Story we feel very strongly about finding creative ways to ignite a passion for reading with kids. It is Margaret's philosophy that piqued my interest in this tool ...

My goal with all this is to inspire children to read. Where the game might spark it, but additional reading of things like these adventures ignite more, and Dr. Sharp’s additional reading suggestions take it one step more. It struck me when I read an article Dr. Sharp sent me about the digital divide got worse when lower income children got computers in the libraries.

Although everyone would love to have this in their classroom, the contest is open only to teachers in Title I schools working with struggling readers. You will need to have access to a computer, because the copy is activated with an online code. To enter, please watch the video, then leave a comment with how you think Sketchy would help/motivate the kids in your classroom.