Reading Racer
About the game:
The game I chose to write my journal entry about is Reading Racer, it is an online reading game that promotes fluency. It can be used for students of all ages and reading levels, by having the students read a passage out loud their level of accuracy and fluency will help them win a race. Reading Racer was created by SeaShel Education and is a free Early Childhood reading app. The app uses the device's microphone and voice recognition software to listen to a child read aloud the words on the screen. The app's goal is to allow students to gain confidence and fluency when reading aloud. The app is geared toward students ages 5-8 and contains over 200 stories and poems for students to practice with. Due to the nature of the game the student receives instant feedback and visual rewards.
Playing the game:
When beginning the game the parent or teacher logs into the app, and picks the age of the student and the pace of reading. A video then plays explaining how to use the app. There are two modes when playing the game. The first is practice mode, the second is race. During practice mode the student will read on their own, the more fluent their reading is the faster their race car moves. If the student is having a difficult time decoding the word on their own they will be given the ability to listen to the word before they continue. However, they are not able to choose the story they read during practice, the algorithm of the game will determine which story to give them. During race mode, students can either play on their own or with their peers. They will then pick their racers and cars, and the story they want to read. If they are playing with peers the device uses voice recognition to allow the students to take turns reading. The student with the highest rate of frequency will win the race. I think this game will be a great way to encourage students to continue to practice their literacy skills, as well as social skills by playing with peers.
I am really intrigued by this program. I found that the different types of modes (Practice or Race) tailor to the various learning needs o f the students. Students who are looking for a challenge when it comes to the vocabulary from each reading can use the race mode, while those who still might need some more practice can use practice. I also found the interactive texts to be a plus. This helps with those readers who need more visual aids as well as auditory aids. The speech recognition is a big plus, especially for those students who may have problems with pronunciation, and the use of immediate feedback will help them moving forward. Great find!
ReplyDeleteI think this app sounds great for students who need help gaining confidence reading aloud. I feel that it has the potential to do some harm as well. Obviously, students need to be able to read and decode words at an appropriate pace. However, if we focus on solely increasing the pace that our students are reading and don’t put equal focus on appropriate comprehension skills, it would seem that we are teaching our students to read words in isolation instead of the context that helps students create understanding. Do you use other apps or games to help students gain comprehension skills?
ReplyDeleteHi Tristen,
ReplyDeleteI have heard of reading racers before but never tried it out. I like that there are over 200 stories for students to choose from to read. I think it is great that it gives the students instant feedback so they can see how they are doing. There are not many fun reading games that give students feedback. Most are just rewards based on scores. Are there any other reading comprehension games that you use with your students?