Pokemon Literacy Connections

Another burgeoning area of interest for that daughter of mine is Pokemon. Last July, My brother-in-law got a bunch of Pokemon cards for Solana and her cousin to trade on a hot summer evening in Chicago. They spread out the cards and got involved in some very intense trading. Then I kind of forgot about it. But recently, Solana has been scrutinizing her cards, giving us cards to trade with her, reading and requesting Pokemon books, and watching the television series.

I remember the whole Pokemon thing when I was working in what was then district six in Washington Heights. Even sixth graders were completely obsessed with it. I thought of Pokemon as some cute marketing ploy to get kids to buy the cards. Now I’m thinking I missed out on a teaching opportunity: I didn’t realize the literacy potential for this interest. As I read the Pokemon books or watch the show with my daughter, I’m seeing parallels to reading non-fiction, especially the idea of classification in science. For example, the Pokemon Junior Handbook series has stats on each page, with a pronunciation guide and the Pokemon’s type, weight and height as well as a sidebar “fun fact," much like the structure of early science readers. The more advanced Sinnoh Hall of Fame has quite a bit of text, with topics and subtopics such as “Who’s Who in Sinnoh.” The whole idea of “Sinnoh,” this alternate imaginary world, could also be a precursor to fantasy books when Pokemon fans get older.

I have always felt reluctant to promote books that are written for commercial content because they’re so poorly written and are basically the company's marketing extensions. I remember last year a teacher was reluctant to buy Bakugan books for the Bakugan-crazy boys in her classroom for the same reason. Of course, I’ll always prefer well written children’s literature and nonfiction to a commercial series. But if a young reluctant reader is obsessed with Bakugan and that’s going to get him into reading, shouldn’t that be an important part of the equation? And shouldn’t we be looking into the potential of student interests to expand them as readers of both fiction and nonfiction?

Setting reading goals

Last summer I was preparing to work with a small group of teachers to discuss and plan for guided and independent reading in their classrooms in the fall. I found Franki Sibberson’s Bringing Reading to Life DVD and the video resources on the Daily Café web site (which I have access to as a member ) invaluable resources.

As a common thread in these best practice videos, I saw teachers working with students to set reading goals. It made perfect sense that we should help students set reading goals for themselves and monitor their own progress as readers. So why we don’t do it more often?

Recently, Solana has taken an interest in some of the parenting books I’ve taken out from our local library or older books that I have on the bookshelves. She especially liked Kid Cooperation. (Not my absolute favorite, but I think she responded to the definitiveness of the tone.) After reading a section on using step-by-step charts for bedtime routines, she asked me to make a chart on her wall of her own routine for us to refer to at bedtime. She started giving me tips on how I could get her to clean her room and go to bed on time. (And most cringeworthy, easily recognized when our commands to her were not the ideal ones recommended in the book!)

I’ve noticed how different it is when Solana is in on setting the rules with me rather than me racking my brains trying to think of ways to motivate her or losing my patience. The same thing happens to us as teachers. So I’m hoping to learn more about goal setting with students and practice what I preach in the classroom as well as at home.

My First Prezi!

Made my first prezi for "Creating Passionate Readers" talk! Obviously still a novice at Prezi, but see enormous potential for student presentations. Click on the link below to get the full view.

Creating a Passion for Reading on Prezi