Teach Your Monster to Read

Charity Catunao

ED638 Fall Intercession 2017

Dr. M. Rivera

IRA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #1 

             Teach Your Monster to Read (https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/) is a free, multimedia resource specifically for children who are in the first stages of learning to read, or for older children who need a bit more practice. The website includes online literacy games that entice children to feel more motivated to learn. Through the online games, children are able to create their own character, go on a magical journey, meet other characters along the way, and collect countless rewards. While enjoying the games, children will progress in a wide range of imperative reading skills such as matching letters to sounds, blending, segmenting, complex words, and reading full sentences.

            Moreover, Teach Your Monster to Read has been funded by a wonderful foundation called the Usborne Foundation. The foundation is a charity that supports children to develop early literacy. The Usborne Foundation’s mission is to help as many children learn to read as possible, which is why the game is free. The game runs on any normal laptop or desktop computer and it can be downloaded on an iPhone, iPad, Android, or Kindle tablets through Apple Store, Google Play, and Amazon. In addition, the online game is award winning by British Academy Film Awards Nominee, 2012 Primary Teacher Awards Gold, BETT Awards 2013 Finalist, and Junior Design Awards 2013 Shortlisted. It was also featured in TES Teaching Resources, the Sunday Times, and the Guardian.

            Not to mention, the website has various pages to guide the game users to familiarize and educate themselves with the game. The pages available are home, demo, about the game, teacher’s area, review, and help. I enjoyed looking through the teacher’s area the most because it mentions other ways we can use Teach Your Monster to Read in the classroom. On the teacher’s area page, there are some videos of useful games and interactive resources for the classroom, an educated description of the Teach Your Monster to Read game, how to teach the game in school, and easy ways to share the game with parents. 

            Overall, the Teach Your Monster to Read website is a bright and captivating website perfect for children in the elementary level. The website is well organized, nicely designed, and easy to navigate. Since I am a second grade teacher, I would love to incorporate this game in my reading lessons. I believe that my students would be very engaged in the concept of personalizing their own characters and going on a magical journey while practicing various reading skills.