Struggling readers may experience difficulties in understanding the learning material and show decreased academic performance. Teachers’ role is to expand students’ confidence and motivate them to improve. This paper addresses how multimedia activities, such as interactive videos, can support struggling readers. The report also provides current research in the field and discusses how other educators could use the selected multimedia activity to motivate this group of students.
Supporting Struggling Readers
Struggling readers may encounter significant challenges in class. Students of a young age may find it difficult to understand the plot of the story, characters’ attitude towards the events that occur, and the link between the events, and characters’ actions (Santoro, Baker, Fien, Smith, & Chard, 2016). At the same time, the Common Core Learning Standards for grade 3 in English Language Arts (ELA) state that students should be able to:
- Read: Determine the meaning of phrases and words as they are used in the text (“New York State,” n.d.);
- Write: Write opinion pieces on texts and provide reasoning (“New York State,” n.d.);
- Speak and listen: Determine the main ideas of the texts presented in visual formats (“New York State,” n.d.);
- Language (communication): Recognize differences between spoken and written Standard English (“New York State,” n.d.).
Teachers need to support struggling readers in achieving these standards, as it is evident that children may need assistance. The video addresses one of the core parts of the standards, presenting the main ideas of the story in a visual format to enhance comprehension. The interactive format of this multimedia activity can help children to analyze the plot while they are watching the video. As there are questions for each significant event of the story, the students will be able to enhance their comprehension by analyzing the parts of the plot in detail. In addition, the video invites struggling readers to learn how to determine the meaning of phrases used in the story by paying attention to the context.
It is necessary to mention that the video supports critical thinking in struggling readers. This multimedia tool can help students to develop an opinion of the story and analyze how the character’s actions contribute to its development. As the video is interactive, it guides children through the analysis of the plot helping them to make conclusions. Such a format can reduce pressure students may experience when asked to share their opinion of a story in class.
Another critical factor that ensures that the video supports struggling readers is audience engagement. Due to the low level of literacy, some students may feel less motivated to read. The video, in turn, provides the visual representation of the story and its characters, helping children to relate to them. The storyline used in the video is simple but engaging. Its purpose is to help students to understand the moral of the plot while not being distracted by a great number of characters. Thus, the content of the video is also designed to support struggling readers.
Current Research
Current research in the field of education reveals that in today’s society, the use of technologies and multimedia activities in classrooms is crucial. Such an approach can help educators to prepare students for the realities of the highly technological world and the evolving nature of texts (Borsheim, Merritt, & Reed, 2008). Many studies show that it is vital to introduce interventions for struggling readers specifically, as they can help such students to improve their skills and literacy. For instance, Scammacca, Roberts, Vaughn, and Stuebing (2015) report that interventions based on reading comprehension strategies and multiple components, such as the video, can enhance students’ reading achievements significantly.
The report by the Center on Technology and Disability (n.d.) also shows that the use of videos can help support struggling readers. The paper states that linked videos can help to enhance students’ vocabulary. In addition, children can learn through voice recognition and sound effects, which are also provided in the video. The story featured in the multimedia activity is simple to understand, which helps struggling readers enhance their fluency. The reason for it is that the video encourages students to focus their cognitive effort on comprehension rather than complex phrasing. At the same time, children will still be able to decode information, as the questions in the video allow them to analyze the plot in detail.
It is necessary to mention that the video supports the principles of the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI) developed for elementary classrooms. The TRI addresses the needs of children encountering difficulties with word identification (Vernon-Feagans, Bratsch-Hines, Varghese, Cutrer, & Garwood, 2018). Vernon-Feagans et al. (2018) report that it is vital to prevent long-term difficulties in oral language and word identification in children. The video serves the same purpose, as it allows students to hear the examples of oral language in a new setting without the pressure of responding to the conveyed messages immediately.
Using the Multimedia Activity
Other teachers could use this multimedia activity to motivate struggling learners in the following ways. First, they could use it to motivate students to analyze new information by offering them to answer all of the questions in the video. This way, learners can become interested in gaining knowledge on various topics and through various channels, such as videos and books. Second, teachers could use the videos like the presented one for guided practice.
For instance, they could establish voluntary lessons for struggling learners and offer them to use multimedia activities and identify the most challenging tasks for them. With the help of videos, educators can evaluate the level of comprehension while keeping students engaged in the learning task. Children could use such videos for independent practice, too. Teachers could ask them to access the files via PlayPosit, where they would be able to evaluate students’ answers in real-time.
Such an approach can also be a significant assessment measure. Teachers could create similar videos with questions based on the learning material. Students could use platforms like PlayPosit to watch the videos at home and submit their answers. This way, educators would have an opportunity to assess children’s level of comprehension while eliminating time pressure. This approach could motivate struggling readers to improve their performance gradually and gain interest in the learning material due to its visual representation.
Conclusion
Although struggling readers may show decreased motivation in reading, it is possible to eliminate this problem. Multimedia activities, such as interactive videos, can help teachers to preserve students’ interest in gaining knowledge and analyzing the plot of the story. In addition, videos can support readers’ critical thinking skills. Current studies in the field of education support this point of view. Other teachers could use this approach for motivation, guided practice, assessment, and individual practice.
References
Borsheim, C., Merritt, K., & Reed, D. (2008). Beyond technology for technology’s sake: Advancing multiliteracies in the twenty-first century. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues, and Ideas, 82(2), 87-90.
Center on Technology and Disability. (n.d.). Learning to read with multimedia materials. Web.
New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy. (n.d.). Web.
Santoro, L. E., Baker, S. K., Fien, H., Smith, J. L. M., & Chard, D. J. (2016). Using read-alouds to help struggling readers access and comprehend complex, informational text. Teaching Exceptional Children, 48(6), 282-292.
Scammacca, N. K., Roberts, G., Vaughn, S., & Stuebing, K. K. (2015). A meta-analysis of interventions for struggling readers in grades 4–12: 1980–2011. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(4), 369-390.
Vernon-Feagans, L., Bratsch-Hines, M., Varghese, C., Cutrer, E. A., & Garwood, J. D. (2018). Improving struggling readers’ early literacy skills through a Tier 2 professional development program for rural classroom teachers: The targeted reading intervention. The Elementary School Journal, 118(4), 525-548.