I Read, I Play and I Learn is a reading teaching program aimed at teachers and children ages 5 to 9 to teach and learn to read.
“Between the months of September and October, with the start of the school year, we began reaching first grade classrooms in 310 schools across the country,” said teacher Erika Alvarez, of the balance of the program carried out by Metropolitan University, a year after its launch.
The interviewer commented that the teachers receive training, are constantly monitored, and the children are given written materials to work on in the classroom. Similarly, the teacher receives a material that is a guide and, if he follows it step by step, will help children learn to read.
In this sense, the counselor said that the program is a process of teaching reading and reading comprehension.
“It has both components, we teach the child to read with a specific method, which is the phonetic method, which is not something new, it is something that has been around for a long time, but is rarely used in the classroom. And we have scientifically proven that it is effective, especially in children from vulnerable populations”, he said.
In parallel – he said – it promotes activities that help with reading comprehension, which is the ultimate goal, not only knowing what it says, decoding what it says, but also what is written. To understand its meaning.
Great way
Alvarez indicated that in 2009, there were approximately 35–40% of children in third grade classrooms who could not read. This situation persists today, but not in all schools affiliated with the program.
The reason for this situation, according to the interviewer, is that a precise, systematic method has not been established in the classroom by the teacher for inculcating this ability in his students step by step.
One of the transversal axes of this program is formative assessment. During the process of teaching and learning, children are continuously assessed.
Diagnosed early in the program. “We implement a test called AGRA, which assesses minimal or somewhat basic reading skills. We assessed about 1,500 children nationally and found a very complex picture”, said the teacher.
Thereafter, the evaluation of the first unit of the program was implemented from September to February. The results of this evaluation will be shared soon by the university page. There, evidence of the children’s level at the beginning of the program and what they have achieved so far will be found.
“Right now the schools, which are making incremental progress, are implementing a second assessment, a little more systematically, within the program and that’s where we’re going to see how effective the program is. That’s what we’re going to see as evidence. I want to show that this method works and that it is without a doubt worthwhile to maintain it and to extend it to as many schools as possible”, declared Álvarez.
Leo, Juego y Aprendo aims to be able to reach all the public schools in the country that need the most support for children to learn to read.
