Via: Educator Studio

How do you get students excited about reading?

Audra Cervi of Audubon Park Elementary School in Orlando, FL has been using a revolutionary new product called Letters alive. here is her story, written by the good folks at Educator Studio.

Technology developer, Logical Choice Technologies, describes Augmented Reality as “3-D without glasses,” which sounds pretty cool, but we wanted to find out for ourselves. So Educator Studio visited Mrs. Audra Cervi’s reading class at Audubon Park Elementary School in Orlando, Fla., to see how she uses the technology to bring words and letters to life! We’d like to tell you all about it; but when it comes to Augmented Reality showing is WAY better than telling, so watch the video below to catch a glimpse of what it’s all about!

Audra started using Augmented Reality about a year ago when Logical Choice Technologies donated their Letters alive® 2.0 to her school so that they could try it out as part of a beta test program. The company provided a 20-minute tutorial with the program, but Audra learned everything she needed to know in just 10 minutes. These are some of the questions we asked her.

ES: So what exactly do you use Augmented Reality for?

Audra: I am a K-3 reading resource teacher, which means I work with students that are below grade level in reading. These students are selected based on several different types of data that we collect throughout the year on all of our students. Basically, I provide additional reading support to students that are in need. Most schools do not have reading resources, so we are very lucky!

ES: How much time can students spend in your class?
Audra: I teach eight reading groups a day for students, four days a week, and monitor my students’ progress on the fifth day. Sessions usually last about 25 minutes per group.

ES: How does Augmented Reality help your students to read?

Audra: The animal card reinforces the letter and sound it makes, giving students an example by using the sound in the animal’s name. For example, Gerty Giraffe for the letter G (which uses the hard and soft sound for the letter /g/). Students are eager to read the sentences I put up on the board and see what the animals do.  For example, when I put up the sentence “The lion can jump,” and the lion will shake its head yes or no.  When I put the words, “The elephant can eat,” the elephant will eat what it would eat in nature. I can also make the animals change color when reviewing color words. Augmented Reality allows me to reinforce the letters, sounds, and sight words through statements and questions in a way that makes my students excited about learning to read. They can’t wait to come back the next day!

ES: What do your students like most about it?

Audra: The letters actually come alive! Each letter of the alphabet has an animal that starts with that letter. The animals look like they are coming alive with sound and movement. They also love the video clip of each animal in their natural habitats.

ES: What do you like most about it?

Audra: My students are 100 percent engaged, watching every movement on the board. They are so excited to learn about the letters and the sounds … to see the letter cards come alive. It’s so amazing; you really need to see it to believe it!