Video: Literacy Begins with a Love of Reading
Aug 22nd, 2011 by BK
Today I was referred to a video on literacy uploaded by the BC Government on YouTube.
Before you might think “oh no, another boring government video” (I admit I did), I found myself actually liking the video:
- It contains a single, yet clear, message – to build literacy, start kids on something they love to read, even if it is a comic book. From a social marketing perspective, a simple and clear message is better than multiple, complex messages.
- The plot is simple. The kid in the video tries to read something (War and Peace) and is frustrated by it. Kids chucks War and Peace to the side. Enter the comic book. Kid lights up.
- The video uses a simple creative strategy to emphasize its message. While the kid tries to read War and Peace, the video is in black and white, but as soon as the comic book is introduced, the video changes to colour.
The message communicated by the video made me think about my childhood and how true the video’s message really is. In primary school, I did not particularly enjoy the story books that the teacher read to the class and found myself daydreaming instead. Because of this, I only borrowed books for silent reading in class (because I had to, not because I wanted to). Of course, I only borrowed story books because that’s all I thought existed. Until I discovered non-fiction books for learning science, etc. That’s when I started borrowing books like crazy, thinking that in one summer I could learn everything there was to learn in the world! (I don’t think this anymore!)
As an adult, I still prefer non-fiction over fiction but I’ve also discovered the kinds of fiction and authors that I do like. It is about discovering what you love to read rather than following a formula (read this, not that).
I have sometimes wondered how many adults have actually read War and Peace when they weren’t required to do so for an English class. The length of the book is daunting, but I’d like to give it a try someday…
What books did you enjoy as a kid? What about now?
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