What happens when children encounter reading? What can we do to make reading fun? Let Ajia, founder of Red Mud, explain.
——Editor: Ding Ling
Reading is a game
Author: Ajia
(OriginalPublished in Guangming Daily
(Edition 15, April 28, 2015)
According to general dictionary definitions, reading is the activity of extracting meaning from specific objects, such as books and newspapers. While its profound significance for individuals and groups is self-evident, the notion that reading is a game is not universally accepted, especially among adult readers. However, when reading encounters children, its playful nature often reveals itself.
Return to the game reading
In the promotion of children’s reading, which has become increasingly popular in recent years, one phenomenon that is quite striking is that picture books are increasingly entering families, kindergartens and schools, which has also led to the prosperity of this relatively new form of children’s books. What surprised many adults (including some experts) is that picture books, which in their concept should be classified as children’s books, are actually very popular in some primary and secondary schools. They have not only become popular extracurricular reading materials, but are also increasingly integrated into classroom teaching. Is it because these children’s reading ability is too low? In fact, it is quite the opposite.Those primary and secondary school students who enjoy reading picture books are not only capable, but also often show a stronger enthusiasm for reading, and maintain a considerable amount of reading overall.They are naturally on the path to becoming lifelong readers.
Temporarily put aside the urge to rigidly categorize picture books, and observe closely how they are shared and how children accept them, and you will be pleasantly surprised to find thatThe following characteristics are often shown in the process of sharing and accepting:
(1)Initiative: All participants showed a very positive attitude;
(2)creativity: Reading forms and responses often show rich creativity;
(3)Independence: Every reader may have a different understanding and reaction;
(4)social: The participation of multiple people often stimulates more fun, and the participants can also enhance their understanding and mutual goodwill.
If we use these characteristics to look back at various games, we will find thatAll games have this feature.
Once you discover this secret, it’s easy to understand why picture book reading is so popular with children. Rather than accepting an activity of “deriving meaning from books,” it’s more accurate to say they’ve embraced a game, and play is inherent in children’s nature. In fact, many teachers also find joy in picture book reading, fortunately, because they still retain their playful nature.
Based on this discovery, when I’m invited to participate in reading activities in schools, I prepare two sets of reasons for reading picture books: for adults and for children. For adults, I offer the following: It helps cultivate the temperament of artists, poets, and philosophers; for children, I offer the following: First, it’s fun. Second, it’s very fun. Third, it’s very, very fun! The latter reasons are sufficient for young readers. Treating reading as a game in no way diminishes the spiritual wealth it can bring. On the contrary, I believe the impact will be even greater.
but,The most interesting way to read picture books is to share them with multiple peopleThe basic form is: let the children look at the pictures, and the adults read the text in the book aloud.Therefore, we need to convince adults to bring their children to play. This is usually not easy at the beginning, because many adults are still unable to experience the beauty of it, and some enthusiastic tryers, despite their efforts, do not know how to play with their children.Games can also be used to learn.
How to Play with Picture Books
About seven or eight years ago, Inspector Carrot and I sorted out“Ten Tips for Playing Picture Books“The book aims to provide some reference examples for adults who want to read picture books with their children. The ten rules are: sing, recite, speak, do, draw, act, eat, break, chat, and think, and each word represents a type of play.
A brief introduction is as follows:
1 sing
This involves incorporating chanting and singing into the sharing of picture books. For example, Chinese and foreign picture books such as “Mulan,” “Su Wu Herding Sheep,” and “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Are You Looking At?” are all very singable.
2 Read
Having the listener look at the pictures while the reader aloud follows the book—“reading the words when there are words, and quietly turning the pages when there are no words”—is the most basic and simple form, but also the most difficult and advanced form to master. Since the end of 2007, the Capital Library and the Red Mud Book Club have collaborated to train storytelling volunteers. This public welfare training program, called “Sowing the Seeds of Happiness,” has completed six sessions to date, and its core skill training is the “reading” technique.
3 said
PassIt often refers to inserting explanations during the reading process, and also includes storytelling activities derived from books.
4 Do
It generally refers to various activities that can be done with hands, such as playing games, doing sports, doing handicrafts, etc. Anything that requires hands-on work rather than “drawing”, “acting” or “eating” falls into this category.
5 paintings
Each excellent picture book is an art gallery on paper. It not only allows readers to appreciate masterpieces of various styles and cultural backgrounds, but also naturally produces a certain stimulation, tempting some readers to pick up their brushes and express themselves.
6 performances
Invite readers to participate in playing the roles in the book, from simple “role-based reading” to complex “classroom drama” and “picture book fairy tale drama” choreography and performance.
7 Eat
Perhaps the most popular way for children to play is to eat. Many interesting picture books are about eating. If you can experience the “eating” in the book while reading, its appeal will increase exponentially. The most suitable book for “eating” is “Stone Soup”.
8 Broken
The word “po” (破) means to crack or decipher a mystery. Many picture books contain hidden secrets within the images. Finding these secrets and discovering the connections between them, combined with the intricate relationships between the text and the images, can often construct a whole new world completely different from the surface story.
9 Chat
Talk to your children about books before, during, and after reading. This seemingly easy activity can easily lead to unproductive and often boring quizzes. Talking to children about books is a skill in itself; consider Chambers’s book, “Let’s Hear It.”(Editor: Please refer to our previous related articles)
10 thoughts
Association, imagination, and unbridled daydreaming… this is the most personal way to play. In the realm of thought and imagination, if adults are not the standard answer, adults do not have much advantage over children. In fact, in the realm of imagination related to picture books, children are the teachers of adults.
Reading has always been a game
Some might say that the picture book play methods listed above seem quite far from “real” reading, seemingly catering to children’s gaming preferences and providing limited support for their meaningful learning. I fully understand such doubts. In fact, the strongest doubts of this kind initially came from myself. However, as I gradually grow up with my own children, come across more and more growth examples in reading promotion activities, and constantly review and reflect on my own growth trajectory, I am increasingly convinced that at leastFor children, play and learning are one and the same.Perhaps this is also true for adults.
When it comes to reading in the traditional sense, it is hard not to mention Confucius as a recognized master of reading. Confucius loved poetry, read poetry, compiled poetry, and used poetry as the starting point of education. “The three hundred poems can be summed up in one word: pure thoughts.” If the relevant records in “Records of the Grand Historian” are credible, Confucius is at least one of the most important compilers of the version of “Book of Songs” that has been passed down to this day. However, perhaps not many people have noticed it.Confucius was also able to sing the Book of Songs, and he often played and sang it in front of his disciples.Playing the qin while reciting poetry, just think about it, how fun it is! Integrating the rhythm of language and words into music, before the listener understands its meaning, he will be moved by the beauty of the sound. The so-called “pure thoughts” and the power of music cannot be underestimated. In a broader sense,Is Confucius a master of reading?existAfter him, the chanting tradition of Chinese scholars has been passed down for thousands of years. Chanting itself can perhaps be seen as a musical game of poetry reading.
From the perspective of game characteristics, reading and writing, both ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, can probably be seen as games based on language and text.This kind of game is mainly used to convey information and pass on knowledge. It can be used to amuse oneself and cultivate one’s character in leisure time, and can also become a weapon when necessary. With the participation of visual artists, reading in a broad sense has long gone beyond the scope of text. The folk, royal, aristocratic and literati’s self-entertainment arts have also become part of the picture books in the hands of children. Those textual and pictorial reading materials that transcend time and space and are presented in printed or electronic media are allGames that extend thought and life.
Read books, read people, read the world
I remember once on a train trip, reading a French writer’s words. She said: “What a wonderful experience that was!” Imagine your words being read by a traveler on a train somewhere far away. His heart beats, he looks out the window, and smiles knowingly — yes, I did that at the time.Isn’t this some kind of lovely mystery game?
2014In the summer of 2008, I and several good friends who love children’s literature took our children on a trip to the northeastern United States. We all wanted to visit a small fishing village called Brooklyn on the Atlantic coast of Maine, because the American essayist E.B. White settled here with his family in the second half of his life and completed three classic fairy tales: “Stuart Little”, “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Trumpet of the Swan”. The barn of the spider Charlotte and the piglet Wilbur is on White’s saltwater farm.
http://mmbiz.qpic.cn/mmbiz/Dib6al8DXJQv6dZTdI8rNt6o3uq1Bd2MqU6XibrEWnSDtA90tVtEsGNjSNdferiaClvOicN9XOd0DYsOcBw6l43ghg/640?wx_fmt=jpeg&tp=webp&wxfrom=5
(Diagram of the farm drawn by White himself)
On the way from New York to Maine, we stopped by to visit Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond, which was also a holy place in the mind of E.B. White. It is almost certain that his decision to settle in a Maine fishing village was greatly influenced by Thoreau.
One early morning that summer, I arrived at Walden Pond before sunrise. As Thoreau wrote, “One must not only observe the sunrise and the daybreak, but, if possible, also the contemplation of Nature herself… Indeed, though I have not personally aided the sunrise, there is no doubt that being there before it is the most important thing.” I walked along the same forest path that Emerson and Thoreau had used to walk through the woods, arriving at the remains of the cabin. Following White’s instructions, I also followed the tradition of offering stones, then quietly walked around Walden Pond, reflecting on it. As the rising sun cast its golden light and warmth across the lakeshore, I suddenly remembered Thoreau’s words: “Could it not be possible to make observing the cycle of the seasons one’s occupation?”
(Walden Pond)
Reading books, reading people, reading the world, this is what I understand and indulge in. Is there any game more fun than this?
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/mp/qrcode?scene=10000005&size=102&__biz=MzAxMDM4OTYwOA==
Red Mud Micro School:hongnibaweixuetang
