Motivating Students to Read!

Motivating Boys and Girls to Read!

     In an age of hyper-invasive media, smartphones, and endless digital diversions. How do you engage and motivate your kids to read?

 
     Harry Potter, The Golden Compass, Choose Your Own Adventure and The Dangerous Book For Boys will get many kids inspired and hooked on books but others need a stronger inducement. Boys are sometimes the hardest to get excited about reading, yet all my students are intrigued when I bring out my vast collection of RPG books starting with my DnD books from my childhood. 

     Tabletop role-playing games are the best forge for creating critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, and questioning. The games are literally played in the imagination of the child's mind. The games encompass a vast range of literary interests, science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, and my favorite Dungeons & Dragons reminiscent of Lord of the Rings. The RPG game books scream to be read, explored, researched and savored as precious objects that may seem on the surface to be a distraction.

     Students that have taken no interest in reading will transform into arcane erudite scholars that want to glean the complex mathematical mechanics that govern the interaction of a Red Dragon and a band of warriors. They will make meaning from the pages of these RPG libraries to create a long-form narrative that can rival the best movie plots.

     Unpacking RPG games and books, "A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional narrative setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within an immersive narrative, either through literal acting (role-playing) or through a process of structured decision-making or character development (characterization). Actions are taken within the game succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.

     There are several forms of RPG. The original form, sometimes called the pen-and-paper RPG, is conducted through discussion, whereas in live-action role-playing games (LARP) players physically perform their characters' actions. In both of these forms, an arranger called a game master (GM) usually decides on the rules and setting to be used and acts as referee, while each of the other players plays the role of a single character." Wiki

Games are a fun way to reach and motivate struggling readers.
Links to game rules I use with my students

Magic the Gathering Rules Fantasy
Axis & Allies: D-Day (8.6 MB) History
Axis & Allies: Pacific (3.2 MB) History
Diplomacy Rulebook -- 2008 Edition (4.1 MB) Social Studies
Battle Cry (3.8 MB) Civil War History
Risk 2210 A.D. (4.1 MB) Science Fiction 
Cosmic Encounter (1.5 MB) Science Fiction
Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition Rules 


More games  to come!