LM_NET: Library Media Networking
From owner-lm_net@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU Tue Feb 16 19:35
22 1999
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 16:36:43 -0800
PART TWO OF WALDO/LOW READER CONNECTION.
(Be sure you have read Part One first - see prior post).
************************************************************************
I don't have any supported evidence, but I have some of the same
misgivings you do. My kids love the Eyewitness, I Spy and DK books.
They pour over the pictures--then ask _me_ what they are! When I
suggest they read the caption, I see them "turn off." Usually, I point
out the caption and read it aloud, then suggest they do the same for the
other pictures. I have the feeling they don't. I liken this to
TV--lots of pictures, not much work involved. I also notice that if
they can't find the answer or the picture (I Spy books) they just
quickly move on, rather than really doing the search. If it's not easy,
they lose interest. I don't know what the answer is, but I'm very
concerned. I'd be interested to know what others have observed!
***
This is definitely true in my library (1100 children). Where's Waldo,
Draw 50 and Magic Eye (to a lesser degree) are the favorites of poor
readers, also those okay readers, boys usually, who just don't like to
read. When these aren't in they select non-fiction because of the
pictures. They prefer these over the easy readers that are so popular
with beginning readers...Henry and Mudge etc. This is a shame, they get
and seem to desire, no practice with reading. I don't like to censore,
but these books sometimes disappear from the shelves and land in my
storage closet, then they check out Sports Illustrated for Kids!
I was interested in your hypothesis about low reading and I Spy/Where's Waldo
books. My son is 7 and loves these books. He appears to be an average/low
reader for second grade and has had difficulty learning to read. He recieves
additional instruction to improve decoding skills with a push-in program. As
stated before, his favorite books are in the I Spy/Where's Waldo genre. I
attributed this interest not to a lack of reading skills but to his above
average ability in math (he comes by it naturally, his dad is an engineer).
Sure would be interested in what comments you get from your question.
***
My son (5th grade) is similar to the child you describe. His reading
level despite 3 times a week reading support(and plenty of encouragement
and reading to at home) is still almost two grades lower. He struggles
with deciphering words and spelling.Not only does he love the I SPY and
WALDO such books BUT he is DAMN GOOD AT THEM. He always find the objects
before anyone else. This is true for all artwork. He is always pointing
out things before anyone else in picture books, paintings, clouds,
buildings etc.
SO as you tally up the results, I would be interested to see if anyone
else noticies this third element of these students:
being more visually astute to shapes etc.
***
This is an interesting question that I have thought about recently in regard
to my own son who has an attention deficit as well as memory issues and
dyslexia. He is also very bright (and I am not just daying that because I am
his mother, his test scores are high) He has loved Waldo books and spent
hours pouring over them. On the other hand he has also spent hours with other
books with interesting illustrations such as Looking for Atlanta and anything
by Grahame Base. He sees things in these illustrations that I have missed as
well as other children I have shared these books with. I have wondered if this
is because his brain works in a different way than others who dwell in a more
verbal/literary world. He is also a child who can find shapes and pattern in
everything he sees and experiences and understand concepts despite the fact
that he can't remember the basic facts that help him put it all together.
***
I have also noticed this and wondered at the connection. The better
readers always look for a little bit, but then go on to books with words.
The lower readers pore over these books and check them out over and over.
***
Yes, I have noticed a correlation between students with either a language
or reading lag asking for books which are largely pictorial. Nothing
mystical about it, I guess; they want the "book experience", want to
participate,
be like other kids, but know that they can't read. Kind of poignant,
actually.
***
We see our low achieving students clamoring for the "How-to-Draw 50..."
series books as well as the I Spy series books, sports biographies, cars,
trucks, and any other picture laden vehicle book. They can enjoy these books
without having to read.
***
(and now, a different viewpoint! - this letter was unsigned):
Waldo's fun! Sure, kids who have trouble reading but who still have to pick
out a book may choose a game-style book like Waldo, perhaps in much the same
way most folks look for the beginner's slope when learning to ski. Waldo books
have some sections with words, and I Spy books have riddles to read in order
to figure out what to find. Wouldn't it be an overgeneralization to say that
kids who choose Waldo books = poor readers. I mean, I have an English degree
but I don't check Chaucer out every library trip.
***************************************************************************
THIS CONCLUDES PART TWO - SEE PART THREE FOR MORE INFO.
Joanne Ladewig
Information Center Director
Fairgrove Academy
(a K-8 public school focusing on the Visual and Performing Arts, and
Technology)
La Puente, CA
jladewig@ns700-1.enet.hlpusd.k12.ca.us (all lower case)
home email: shatz@lightside.com
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From: "Joanne E. Ladewig" <shatz@LIGHTSIDE.COM>
Subject: HIT: WALDO/LOW READER CONNECTION PART 3
PART THREE OF "WALDO/LOW READER CONNECTION
Note: The letter below was originally posted on the listserve but I wanted
to re-post it in case you missed it. It was posted in response to my
original inquiry. My original post follows after it and completes the "HIT."
***
I have noticed a couple of related things during the time I have been a
teacher, and I've been wondering if anyone else has noticed it, or if I'm just
nuts. I've looked for research on it, but have not been able to locate
anything.
#1. I've noticed that many students who are learning disabled seem to read
more easily off of a computer screen than they do from a printed page.
#2. These same students also seem to be better able to spot errors from a
screen than from a printed page.
When I was a regular classroom teacher, I did a little informal experiment. I
asked two of my inclusion students (both LD and low readers) to read a printed
paragraph that contained several errors (homonym, letters reversed in a word,
& words reversed in sentences). Each were unable to spot more than a few of
the errors. Then, I asked them to read another paragraph from a computer
screen. Both boys spotted nearly every error.
Has anyone else noticed this? Does anyone know of any research studies done
on this topic?
******************************************************************************
(Original letter):
Fellow Netters:
I have noticed an interesting connection between "Where's Waldo" and other
similar books in which there are a multitude of pictured objects (like the
"I Spy" series) but little, if any, reading involved.
From my observations over the past 10 years or so,* there is a definite and
persistant "audience" who clamor for this type of book - the students who
have reading problems, and to a lesser degree, some "English as a 2nd
Language" students.
Of course, from time to time, good readers also show interest in "Waldo"
etc., but invariably, it is the ones I've come to recognize as poor or
below grade level readers that CONSISTANTLY ask specifically for "Waldo"
time after time.
There is one young student who has asked repeatedly for me to set aside (I
have only one copy of Waldo) for him - and he is the one who, despite
volunteer tutoring several times a week - is making very little progress in
reading - he's at the bottom of his 1st grade class. (The volunteer, by the
way, is a very competant and caring retired teacher, who tutors several of
the low readers, and the other two students ARE making progress).
MY QUESTION/COMMENT IS THIS:
Has anyone else noticed this "trend" or "connection" between
low-reader/Where's Waldo-type books? Are there any reading specialists out
there who have documented connections between this and possibly a specific
(or several) type(s) of reading disabilities? Or ADD/ADHD? Or, is it simply
a matterof low readers gravitating to something they can enjoy/feel a sense of
achievement over?
I mentioned my observations to our RSP teacher (who works with
low-performing students who need special assistance) and she was interested
in a possible connection.
Joanne Ladewig
Information Center Director
Fairgrove Academy
(a K-8 public school focusing on the Visual and Performing Arts, and
Technology)
La Puente, CA
jladewig@ns700-1.enet.hlpusd.k12.ca.us (all lower case)
home email: shatz@lightside.com
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