Can interactive media such as games, websites and apps really help children learn?

How do resources like the Martha Speaks and Arthur websites help children learn?
On the Martha Speaks website, the goal is to teach oral vocabulary (hearing and speaking words), rather than reading or writing words, so kids can play the games and use the site independently, whether or not they know how to read. Children hear new words and then have to understand and use the words to play the games.

Students' oral vocabulary knowledge in first grade is an indicator of what their reading comprehension skills will be in 11th grade, so the more vocabulary they know at an early age, the better their reading skills will be. By playing games, watching videos, and doing activities again and again, they are repeatedly exposed to new words, and we know that this is an effective strategy for teaching new vocabulary.

Arthur covers lots of important social topics, from learning about Asperger’s to making new friends. The day-to-day life of the characters models a love of reading, visits to the local library, and an enthusiasm for learning. Kids gain social skills and new interests from watching the show. The website offers lots of creative games on related topics. For example, we have a brand-new sustainability game called Groovy Garden that is designed to get kids to think about the environment and make environmentally-friendly choices. You can also combine the fun of Martha Speaks and Arthur with our “Marthur” Sticker Mashup game where kids create their own scenes using characters from both shows and watch the video of Arthur and Martha together!

As you know, “summer slide” is a significant concern for children of all ages. How can parents and families use websites and interactive media to help kids continue learning over the summer months?
Just as parents think about what to feed their kids, they need to think about their kid’s media diet and ask questions such as, What games are my children playing online or on mobile devices? How much time should my kids stay online or play computer games? What is the educational value behind a particular game? Parents do control their children’s media use. Parents can have educational games already downloaded, linked, or bookmarked, and make sure that they offer lots of educationally-based media for their kids.

Not all media producers use education as a basis for television shows or online games and apps, but WGBH does, which is what sets us apart. We work with advisors and do research to make sure what we’re producing is useful, educational, and really helps kids learn. Common Sense Media and Parents’ Choice Awards are also great places for parents and caregivers to find reviews of games and educational content.

Another thing to keep in mind is that web-based and mobile activities are a good way to “cool down.” If kids have been outside running around all day, they can wind down with a game online. And they’re still learning, because every PBS game is packed with educational content. Of course, web-based games and interactive media can be incorporated into summer reading programs as well.

Martha Speaks has a new mobile optimized site. What is this? How can families use this as a learning tool?
The Martha Speaks mobile optimized site, which you can only view on your handheld, touch-screen mobile device, is an alternative to the Martha Speaks website. As we see more and more people accessing our websites by mobile devices, we are rethinking our ideas on design and optimizing sites for the large or small screen.

I am very excited about mobile technologies and their impact on children. Kids can use them everywhere, so it breaks down the notion that learning only happens in the classroom. Kids are now learning in both formal and informal settings—in the car, on a bus, waiting in line. Games are designed for individual kids, but the awesome thing about mobile technologies, especially for younger kids, is that a parent or adult is usually involved, since the child is generally using a parent’s mobile device.

We know that having a parent present has a greater impact on learning, so it’s great to have parents involved in their child’s learning, and talking with the child about what they’re playing. With the Martha Speaks iPhone app, for example, parents/caregivers are aware of the words kids are learning and can use them during their daily routine.

What keeps you busy at home?
I have 1-year-old twin boys so that keeps me very busy! We have lots of outside time at the water table in our backyard and at the pond near our house. We painted a wall in our house with blackboard paint so they can chalk it up—I draw pictures of animals and we make the animal’s sound together. We go to the library (where they wreak havoc but are working on their inside voices!) and they get to pick the books we read to them before bed each night. Currently, two of their favorites are Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin and John Achambault.

We use our fair share of media too. My twins were born just before the iPad and it’s incredible how much has changed in just their tiny lifetime. They love interactive stories on the iPad. It’s stunning to watch them interact with this kind of technology—they have an intuitive facility that is just mind-blowing.

Related

Theresa Lynn is the executive director of ReadBoston, a nonprofit children’s literacy program founded by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. In this role, she has led many new literacy efforts to address reading development, including the creation of the Early Words program, which seeks to substantially increase verbal interaction between parents and infants and toddlers. She has also overseen the development of the Environmental Literacy Project, a multifaceted program which seeks to increase literacy skills using environmental themes. This program has been extremely successful, especially with boys and reluctant readers.

What impact do the ReadBoston book distributions have on young children? 
The research on the “summer slide” is very clear. Children who have access to books in the summer can avoid the academic slide that many children from families with low-income experience. As few as six books can make a difference. Free book programs are important to young children because the “summer slide” effect is cumulative. So after a few summers without access to books and educational engagement programs over the summer years, an at-risk student might be as much as a full academic year behind his fellow classmates. By reaching them early, we are working with WGBH to stem this problem before it starts.

Tell us about the many programs that ReadBoston sponsors for young children, and how Boston families can access them.
The centerpiece of ReadBoston’s summer activities is our popular and ubiquitous Storymobile program, which will visit 80 Boston locations each week for seven weeks. At each stop, children receive a free, new book and participate in an engaging storytelling session. The times and dates are listed on our website, and all public locations are open to everyone.
 
New this year, we are adding two evening locations, one outside the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester and one at the Pond in Jamaica Plain. We also have an exciting week of special Storymobile events planned for the week of August 15, including sessions at Fenway Park and the Boston Harbor Islands, so please check out our website, and visit our Fan Page on Face Book.
 
Much of our focus at ReadBoston is on strengthening the capacity and skills of people that interact with children, including parents, but also childcare staff, teachers, after-school staff and para-professionals. Strong literacy practices include creating a print-rich environment, reading-aloud, lots of engaging verbal interaction, extending the book themes through drama, singing, and art and, of course, access to lots of great books!

Tell us about the new summer initiative that you are partnering on with WGBH this summer.
ReadBoston is thrilled to join forces with WGBH to help put the breaks on the “summer slide.” Together, we plan to implement a variety of activities designed to provide young Bostonians with ready access to new children’s books that they will be excited to read and share with their families, as well as access to engaging, skill-building activities, both online and in the community. We’re working with several elementary schools to recruit rising first graders and their families to participate in a summer books-by-mail program. Participating children will receive six new books, plus fun giveaways such as pencils, word magnets, stickers, etc. Families that register will receive a series of text messages with literacy tips, links to educational games online, and invitations to free community events. ReadBoston, Mayor Menino, and WGBH will also collaborate on a large-scale event for children and families featuring read-alouds and book distributions.

You estimate that ReadBoston will distribute a staggering 50,000 new books to Boston’s children this summer. Is there a title or two that young Bostonians are most excited about?
Yes, we’re extremely proud to be able to offer so many books to Boston’s children, many of whom would not otherwise have books to call their own. In terms of titles, we’re hearing a lot of buzz about Swim! Swim!by Lerch, which tells the story of Lerch the goldfish who is lonely and  goes in search of a friend. When the family cat offers his friendship, Lerch is understandably concerned since the cat refers to his new friend as “Lunch.” Another popular title is Brontorina by James Howe and Randy Cecil, which is a story about acceptance and pursing one’s dream. Brontorina Apatosaurus wants to attend Madame Lucille’s dance academy, but there’s a problem: Is it that Brontorina is too big, or is it that the dance studio is too small? Clever Jack Takes the Cakeby Candace Fleming and G. Brian Karas is a funny tale about a boy whose story about what happened to the cake he baked for the princess is as “delicious” as the cake itself. Book series such as Arthur, Curious George, and Martha Speaks, all three of which have been turned into successful PBS Kids television series, are perennial favorites.

During your tenure, you’ve distributed hundreds of thousands of books to Boston’s children. Is there a particularly memorable story you’d like to share?
In the course of my work, I meet tons of parents who tell me how much they like the Storymobile program. They tell me the location they went to and the ages of their children. When I visit classrooms, I often ask the students if they have ever heard of the Storymobile program. Generally, there are several children who have experienced the Storymobile program, and can recall which books they received. Being able to choose their own book is meaningful to them.
 
Recently, I met a young boy named Jackson at a Family Night in a Dorchester school. Jackson was there with his mother who was getting information about language-building activities to try at home. His mother told me how much Jackson likes to read and that he reads all the time. She also told me that she really didn’t like to read herself and didn’t do so very often. But Jackson was always bugging her to read him books and to get more books in the house. When she found out that I was from ReadBoston, she was very excited and told us that Jackson had been part of our Reading Trail program at his preschool, then our Family Literacy Project at his elementary school, and received books at home during the summer as part of our Summer Time is Reading Time program. And he also attended a few Storymobile sessions each summer. I was gratified to see how our multiple programs touched Jackson and his mom, and helped them both develop a love of books and reading.
 
For more information on ReadBoston, or to find out when the Storymobile will be in your Boston neighborhood, please visit:

http://www.readboston.org/
http://www.facebook.com/ReadBoston

Three independent studies report that the highly rated WGBH and PBS KIDS series Martha Speaks is an effective tool across platforms (broadcast and mobile devices) in increasing young children’s vocabulary. The studies noted increases comparable to traditional classroom vocabulary instruction (such as reading out loud) for kids who viewed multiple episodes of the show, as well as gains of up to 31 percent in the vocabulary tested among low-income children who played with the Martha Speaks Dog Party iPhone app.

“We’re thrilled with the impressive impact the project is having on increasing young children’s vocabulary,” says Carol Greenwald, WGBH senior executive producer. “Vocabulary is critical to reading comprehension and a key predictor of reading success. By the time children enter kindergarten, however, a great chasm in vocabulary knowledge exists between disadvantaged kids and their peers—and the former never catch up. Across multiple platforms, Martha Speaks has been able to enhance kids’ knowledge of words through the context of a talking dog and great stories.”

Both fans of the series and education experts agree, saying:
 

• “I could not agree any more. My daughter is three and tests at a higher level and I thank PBS daily for that.” - My Springfield Mommy
• “My experience is a bit different from other parents, because my oldest son is autistic. At the age of 4-years-old, he was hardly talking and strangers couldn’t understand him at all. That’s why we get very giddy when he likes shows like Martha Speaks that actually make a big effort to help his development.” - Mommy Q
• “Kids like Martha, and a host of studies now show she’s improving their vocabularies in a big way. At a time when many members of Congress want to kill federal funding for public broadcasting...it’s important to acknowledge the benefit that shows like Martha Speaks bring to some of its youngest, and most disadvantaged, viewers.” - American School Board Journal
• “Yay Martha Speaks! "Martha Speaks" Shows Impressive Impact in Helping Children Learn New Vocabulary http://t.co/bOWyTEw @pbskids - Alice Wilder, Educational Psychologist and co-creator of Super Why

Dr. Ilan Stavans is founding academic host professor at Amherst College, and co-founder of the Great Books Summer Program.

Related Putting The Breaks On The Summer Slide What's So Super About Super Why Reading Camps

Download the 2011 Great Books brochure.

A conversation with Great Books Summer Program co-founder, Dr. Ilan Stavans

Dr. Ilan Stavans is Founding Academic Host Professor at Amherst College, and co-founder of the Great Books Summer Program. Dr. Stavans holds an endowed chair as Lewis-Sebring Professor of Latino Studies at Amherst College. Dr. Stavans is a prolific author and editor and is well known for his books, such as Spanglish, as well as his definitive collection of Pablo Neruda’s poetry. In 2010, he created the Great Films movie based on a session at Great Books.

Dr. Stavans, please give us some background on the Great Books Summer Program.

The GBSP is a terrific way to spend the summer immersed in ideas and with people who love them. Designed for middle- and high-school students, Great Books Summer Program invites young people to engage with the literary classics (Plato, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Whitman, Tolstoy, Kafka, et al): to open them up, to debate them, to re-imagine them, to apply their message to our time. During the session, campers may enact plays, write stories, recite poetry, and perhaps even make movies, with the guidance of thought-provoking adults who themselves are teachers, writers, and actors.

I co-founded the program a decade ago. My dream was to open a space where teenagers would thrive in, through, and around ideas, to inspire them to have the passion I feel toward books. I combined that vision with Peter Temes who was then the President of the Great Books Foundation and we created the program to employ the love of ideas with the “Shared Inquiry” method, always looking to foster the camper’s critical thinking skills. That’s what we need in this complex universe: critical thinking.

What type of young person would enjoy and benefit from the Great Books program the most?
 
An engaged, intellectually curious young person interested in the various aspects of culture.

What’s a typical day like at Great Books? What are some of the books that are read and discussed? Who are some of the guest authors?
 
A typical day starts with breakfast, followed by a morning meeting which features a poetry slam. Then comes a lecture with a distinguished thinker about Homer’s The Odysseyand after a short break there is yet another lecture about Pablo Neruda’s Spain in the Heart. Afterward is a discussion section, in which small groups of campers reflect and share ideas on the content of the lecture. Then comes lunch. A free hour allows campers to take hikes, swim, or stage a play. The afternoon might features electives which include creative writing, visual art, music, theater, and various literature related topics. Each evening features an event—there may be a movie showing (Duck Soup, O Brother Where Art Thou, Citizen Kane) or a guest speaker (Debbie Applegate, Joseph Ellis, John Sayles). In the late evening, campers might read the poetry of Emily Dickinson under the starry sky.

Why do you feel it’s so important for young people to continue learning during the summer?

First, learning shouldn’t be a task. It should be fun and Great Books helps to remind campers that the pursuit of knowledge can be a lively and engaging affair. Second, we all know the importance of maintaining academic progress over the summer, to avoid summer slide. Bright young people should engage in academic pursuits to help enhance what they have learned in the previous school year and to prepare themselves for greater academic challenges in the year to come.

How does Great Books Summer Program help prepare kids for college?

It makes kids intellectually curious, inviting them to reflect in engaging fashion about the political, social, cultural, and moral issues that define us. In addition, campers that attend the Great Books Summer Program are participating in college-level reading and thinking under the tutelage of our experienced staff who make tacking the great philosophical questions of our time both accessible and interesting. The skills that the campers gain in close reading and in expressing their ideas will prove invaluable in their college experience.

Do you offer scholarships or financial aid to cover the Great Books tuition fee?

We do indeed. Limited financial aid is available to help offset the cost of tuition.

For more information on the Great Books Summer Program, visit:

http://www.greatbookssummer.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Great-Books-Summer-Program

What is the “Summer Slide”

We all look forward to the rest and relaxation of summer. It’s good to take a break, but hot, lazy summer days with nothing to do may not be the best thing for our children. To succeed in school—and life—children and young adults need ongoing opportunities to learn and practice essential skills such as reading and math. This is especially true during the summer months, when many children who do not participate in educational enrichment activities experience learning losses.

Called the “summer slide,” this phenomenon has long been of interest to educators and researchers. In 1996, researchers conducted a synthesis of 39 studies that indicated that summer learning loss equaled at least one month of instruction as measured by grade level equivalents on standardized test scores (view this research). In other words on average, children’s tests scores were at least one month lower when they returned to school in fall than scores were when students left in spring. 

Clearly, children will benefit from a high-quality summer program that helps them maintain and improve important skills. But how do you find one that really works? Kids Media Matters went looking for some answers, and found many examples of great summer reading models!

Throughout the summer we’ll be posting profiles of programs and organizations actively involved in promoting summer reading and improving skills. “Summer slide” can affect children at any age in their academic development, so each of the profiles feature a summer program that has demonstrated success with a particular age group.

Read More

What's So Super About Super Why Reading Camps?
Taking place for the third consecutive summer, Super Why Reading Camps are interactive learning adventures for ages 4-5-years-old.

There Are Good Books, And Then There Are Great Books
Designed for middle and high school students, the Great Books Summer Program invites young people to engage with the literary classics.

Boston Is A City Of Readers
A conversation with ReadBoston executive director Theresa Lynn.


Summer Surfing (Online, That Is!)
An interview with Christine Zanchi, WGBH web producer for Martha Speaks and Arthur.

Angela Santomero is a Founding Partner and Chief Creative Officer of Out of the Blue Enterprises LLC.

Related Putting The Breaks On The Summer Slide There Are Good Books, And Then There Are Great Books

A conversation with Angela Santomero, co-creator of the highly popular PBS Kids series Super Why.

Angela Santomero is a Founding Partner and Chief Creative Officer of Out of the Blue Enterprises LLC, overseeing the research and creative development of all of the company’s groundbreaking children’s media projects, with a mission to bring educational entertainment to a whole new level. She is Co-Creator, Executive Producer, and Head Writer of the award-winning PBS KIDS series Super Why, the first preschool property to help build literacy skills through classic fairytales with an original twist and empowering young heroes. Ms. Santomero was also the Co-Creator, Executive Producer and Head Writer for Nick Jr.’s landmark series, Blue’s Clues.

Ms. Santomero, please give us some background on the Super Why Reading Camps.

Taking place for the third consecutive summer, Super Why Reading Camps are interactive learning adventures that show children the power of reading and guide them as they play with letters, sounds, and words. Featuring a comprehensive curriculum developed by noted literacy experts, this year the program has been expanded from one to three weeks.  Each day the 4 to 5 year-old campers participate in a range of fun literacy lessons, games, crafts, exercise and music that will help them practice key strategies for reading success. The first week is all about “ Super Why and The Three Little Pigs” and some of the reading-powered activities include a “Lickety Letters Craft Activity,” where participants find the letters of their name and make a colorful sign; “Letter ID Bingo;” and the entertaining and educational “Freeze Dance Rhyming Game.”  On the last day of the week, campers invite their caregivers to come join in the literacy fun! Watch the short video above, which illustrates the power and appeal of the Super Why Reading Camps in action.
 
Why you did you decide to develop the Super Why Reading Camps?

We created the Super Why Reading Camps to bring the mission of the show one step further by working directly with preschoolers at a grassroots level to help them learn to read—and develop a lifelong love of books. As educators at heart, we were excited to find a way to bring our proven Super Why curriculum from the show and into classrooms. The amazing improvement in literacy skills we see from kids starting the program to when they leave is inspiring and uplifting for us. Kids get motivated, want to read, and truly learn!

What advice would you give to parents to ease the critical transition between preschool and kindergarten? 

Parents, caregivers, and preschool teachers can foster kindergarten readiness skills every day in many easy and engaging ways at home and in the classroom. The key is to keep it simple and fun with games or activities in early reading, math, and thinking skills. For example, play “ABC I Spy” together and ask kids to identify the first letter of something that you see such as “F for flower!” or “S for sun!”  Or you can count signs while in the car and count cups and silverware as you set the table. And of course, I always advise parents to read with their children to boost their expressive vocabulary and talk through problem solving strategies with preschoolers. Shows on PBS KIDS like Super Why, Martha Speaks, and Sid the Science kid can also help to ease the transition from preschool to kindergarten as young viewers watch the characters practicing essential skills, sometimes in a school setting. 

What are the most compelling results from the research studies on Super Why Reading Camps?
 
Recent research conducted by the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Pennsylvania illustrated that Super Why boosts young viewers’ early literacy skills. In addition to learning the reading skills written into each and every episode of the show, the kids who tuned-in to Super Why in the study outperformed non-viewers on 5 out of 7 standardized early literacy measures including letter recognition, letter sounds, reading simple words, and rhyming. And when researchers from San Diego State University analyzed data from Super Why Reading Camps that took place around the country in 2008 and 2009, they found that the groundbreaking program significantly improved campers’ scores on a number of standardized literacy assessments by an average of nearly 12 percent. So both studies clearly show that Super Why viewers and  Super Why Reading Camps participants are absorbing and applying the key concepts that we introduce.

Daily viewing of a Super Why episode is part of the Reading Camp curriculum. How can television viewing help young children develop reading skills?

We developed Super Why to bridge the gap between television and reading. The show’s mission is to turn reading into a fun, interactive adventure and the medium of television is the perfect way to do this. In every episode, we show how words have power—visually and clearly so when we change one word in a sentence it can result in a whole new meaning!  Sometimes it’s through something silly like transforming the Big Bad Wolf into a "small bad wolf"—he can still huff and puff but only blows down a flower!  Television shows with a solid curriculum proven to help improve reading skills, like Super Why, can go a long way towards inspiring kids to read.
 
Several Super Why Reading Camps will be established here in Massachusetts beginning this summer. Where else can we find Super Why Reading Camps?

That’s right. Here in Massachusetts, WGBH is partnering with Little Sprouts, an award-winning early education provider with sites throughout the eastern portion of the state, to establish 33 camps serving approximately 600 children. We are also working with public television stations and their local educators across the country to establish camps during the summer, as well as during school vacation breaks.

Is there a camp story that’s had a particular impact on you?

We’ve had so much positive feedback from stations around the country saying that the children who attend the Super Why Reading Camps display a new focus and enthusiasm toward literacy—which is really great!  A number of us from Out of the Blue have visited different camps and it’s truly inspiring to see how excited the kids get about the alphabet, words, and reading. Watching the young campers laugh and learn totally underscores for me that what we strive to do every day with Super Why is working!
 
For more information on Super Why Reading Camps, please visit: 
 
http://pbskids.org/superwhy/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Super-Why-Reading-Camps