3d Animation and Learning to Read – the Shrek Effect and Other Reasons to be Optimistic
Why Choose Phonics?
Although here at FruitPhonics, we do not endorse any particular product or subscribe to any specific ’school of thought’, we believe that modern phonics based literacy tuition, sometimes called synthetic phonics, has consistently been shown to be by far the most effective route to early literacy for the majority of children.
In the case of slower learners and the socially disadvantaged, these methodologies have been shown to virtually eliminate intervention teaching. This is a particularly salient point for international children, learning English as a foreign language, who do not have the advantage of an English Language based cultural experience.
Why 3D animation?
What role can 3D animation have in educating young children? Why do we consider it to be so potentially powerful? Why should parents consider it to be an attractive option?
Over the past decade, 3D animation has emerged as a powerful entertainment medium for children and adults alike because it works on multiple levels. 3D animation has remarkable powers of emotional engagement. It’s the Shrek effect, or Monsters Inc, or Toy Story or any of the hugely popular 3D franchises that have emerged in recent years; and not just among children. They suspend disbelief and immerse themselves in the richness of the 3D worlds, the emotional depth of the characters and their narrative. The range of emotional expression made possible by 3D technology is remarkable and when fused with the visual spectacle and animation anarchy so familiar from the 2D form of the art, it is not so surprising that the result is so spectacularly engaging.
Our primary objective is to educate. This requires motivation and emotional engagement to promote retention (memory) and assimilation – information committed to memory and transformed into knowledge as a platform to higher level thinking skills. To achieve these objectives, high quality animation is a powerful tool, interactive 3D animation is even better.
Animation alone is insufficient, the content requires energy and music. It must work on an entertainment level. We are creating characters that are, essentially tutors and friends with whom learners can engage and ‘escape’. Fortunately 3D animation is well proven in this regard, especially when combined with effective sound design, particularly music, and occasional visual mayhem.
The use of 3D animation to engage and educate young minds has great appeal to young children, potentially enhancing levels of motivation and so progression. The key is to devise narratives that work within the limits of teaching needs. They can be used simply as learning reinforcing entertainment narratives or integrated into effective learning activities.
Phonics learning schemes can benefit from both modes of use. A bonus of the integration approach is that it is possible to combine entertaining 3D animation with interactive activities that reinforce phonics learning in ways that are well known to the parents of the games generation. This interactive mode of control is called kinesthetic learning forms, together with visual and auditory learning, the three dominant learning styles.
High quality 3D character animation integrated into phonics activities would motivate and engage children while being naturally adaptive to their preferred learning style. It is a combination that could be very effective indeed, an effect that even make an ogre like Shrek, or Mikey and Sulley, and all of the other denizens of the 3D universe, very proud.
About the Author
www.fruitphonics.com is an online resource for synthetic phonics animations . Visit our online resource and help children learn to read with phonics videos
A Song – Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K
|
|
Baby Signing Time Volume 1 DVD $13.61 BABY SIGNING TIME VOL 1 – DVD Movie… |
|
|
Baby Einstein – Numbers Nursery $13.98 A playful and interactive introduction to numbers!– Exposes little ones to the concept of counting– Reinforces number recognition using simple patternsBetween 12 and 24 months, little ones become increasingly interested in more complex ideas and begin to explore numbers and counting. Numbers Nursery introduces little ones to numerals 1 through 5 in a captivating, interactive way that invites the… |
|
|
Baby Einstein – Baby Van Gogh – World of Colors $19.99 The Baby Einstein Company’s “video board books” were designed as music-focused developmental tools to stimulate babies’ brains (prompted by research proving that exposure to classical melodies can improve verbal ability, spatial intelligence, creativity, and memory in youngsters). Now the company is expanding into other art forms, including color and art. The idea remains the same–taking bold… |
|
|
Sesame Street – Learning About Letters [VHS] $0.10 Big Bird and Telly Monster lead young viewers through the alphabet, letter by letter, in a magical and imaginative half-hour discovery of letters and their sounds. The perfect tape for young Sesame Street fans who are just beginning to get the hang of what letters are all about, it includes short skits, songs, and other bits of business–some original, some culled from the Sesame Street show–fea… |
|
|
Blue’s Clues – All Kinds of Signs [VHS] $9.95 Guaranteed to work or your money back – PLEASE NOTE ALL MONIES FROM THIS SALE GO TO A 501 (C)3 NO KILL ANIMAL SHELTER… |
|
|
Sesame Street – Elmo’s Potty Time $7.00 Potty training can be fun! Create a positive potty time experience for your child with Elmo, Baby Bear, Grover, and other Sesame Street friends with Elmo’s Potty Time! This amusing and song-filled DVD teaches children that everyone – mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and even monsters-has to learn how to use the potty. Your child will learn that accidents are okay and that it takes time and pra… |
|
|
LeapFrog: Talking Words Factory $5.23 Have fun learning word building, rhyming, vocabulary and more! LeapFrog characters spring to life in this engaging and educational DVD. Leap, Lily and Tad journey into the Word Factory, where the Word Whammer, Sticky-Ick-O-Rama, and more amazing machines take letters and make them into words! Humorous songs and an out-of-control word machine add to the fun.Recommended Ages: 2 – 5 years… |
|
|
Baby Babble – Speech-Enhancing DVD for Babies and Toddlers $10.00 Baby Babble (TM) – Speech Enhancing DVD is a captivating experience that exposes babies and toddlers to age-specific sounds and words. Little ones will love the simple sign language, amusing facial exercises, and beginning speech sounds and words while colorful toys and carefully arranged music stimulate their imagination. Parents will learn how to encourage speech and language at home in an educ… |
|
|
Make: Electronics (Learning by Discovery) $19.41 “This is teaching at its best!” –Hans Camenzind, inventor of the 555 timer (the world’s most successful integrated circuit), and author of Much Ado About Almost Nothing: Man’s Encounter with the Electron (Booklocker.com) “A fabulous book: well written, well paced, fun, and informative. I also love the sense of humor. It’s very good at disarming the fear. And it’s gorgeous. I’ll be recommending th… |
|
|
Franklin KID-1240 Children’s Talking Dictionary and Spell Corrector $34.61 The Franklin(r) Electronics Children’s Talking Dictionary talks the talk, teaching you letters, words and phrases through sound. The dictionary has 44,000 words, phonetic spell correction and an interactive rhyme finder. You can input your personal spelling word list weekly and use learned words in fun exercises!… |
