Module #4- Week #1- Supplemental Readings Response

When I started Rebecca Black’s chapter on “cartoons” I knew I was going to read about something about that I knew nothing about.  The world of anime is totally something I know nothing about.  As I read through the article I continued to try understanding that world that is foreign to me but then I found something that I was anxious to read.  Black brought up a case study by Gee to show how Pokémon was a motivating factor for a young boy’s motivation to read.  Finally, something that I understood, motivation to children to learn to read, my everyday job!  Black went on to explain that the boy gained new knowledge about literacy and numeracy through success in the Pokémon community.  As a Kindergarten teacher I see this often.  Many students successfully learn through gaming and giving them something they are interested in.

Black thinks that teachers shouldn’t create a curriculum based solely on pop-culture but should integrate it to make it more meaningful for students.  I see that everyday in my classroom.  While students are in the classroom library my Frozen books, Spiderman books, and Doc McStuffins are always the ones that kids fight over.  I have beginning reader books with SpongeBob (not a show that I personally like) characters that even my most struggling readers are eager to try.  Maybe I didn’t know as little as I once thought, anime and Japanese cartoons are foreign to me but Disney characters and PBS Kids characters I know!

Kurt Squire’s chapter on Video Game Literacy is also another “foreign” land to me.  I wasn’t allowed to have video games growing up and finally got a Wii when I was 28.  I’m awful at traditional video games but my Wii Bowling skills are pretty amazing, if I do say so myself. J  Squire shares that video games are ideological spaces, that allow players to inhabit certain characters (Squire, in press).  I think important for students to be themselves or maybe the person they want to be.  The world of gaming can be a dangerous at times, people like the Sandy Hook shooter spent years playing games that allowed him to kill people and unfortunately tried it out in real life.  Instead video games can be analyzed not only to be played but also to be designed in programs such as Shared Spaces.  I’m sure there are many high school students who are currently building or designing video games in their spare time at home who would love to work with classmates to build even better games!

Video games and anime are two areas that I really know nothing about but after seeing how they can be used in literacy and numeracy really makes me think twice.  Maybe I could really have some Mario Kart skills after all!

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