Other Non-Fiction for Children: Interactive

Martha Speaks

I wasn't just attracted to the "Martha Speaks" website because of the name. Martha's True Stories introduces children to interactive books and aims to get children more interesting non-fiction, to question how things work and why.

The online format is colourful and engaging for a young audience.

Seen on their website:

Martha's True Stories are divided into four "STEM" (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) categories. Within each category, you'll find two nonfiction stories about the topic, plus another kind of nonfiction "text" (instructions, recipe, a made-up website, and so on). You can also watch the four related Martha Speaks videos (one for each STEM topic). After you read the stories, you can review the words using the Word Bones interactive glossary. There is also a short but fun Quizmo (vocabulary quiz) for each story or text, that will help reinforce the new vocabulary and concepts that your child is learning.

Interactive features are also present. You can tap and move objects and click on highlighted words for their definitions.  There is also a "tip" for parents, which involves suggestions on how to explore a topic.

 

 Colourful, friendly imagry to engage children.

Rounded visual language to appear non-threatening and friendly.

Ways to interest children in non-fiction, seen on their website:

Here are some ways to get your child enthusiastic about nonfiction:

• Your child probably has a passion for something—jokes, animals, cars, ballet, and so on. Look for nonfiction on your child's favorite subject.
• Make connections with what's happening in your child's life. Are you about to take a vacation? Find books, maps, or websites about where you are going. Is there a national election in the news? Get books about presidents, pets in the White House, or famous leaders from long ago.
• Consider the fiction your child likes and find books of nonfiction to match. Is your child a Martha Speaks fan? Find books about helper dogs, or how to care for puppies, or the Iditarod sled dog race.
• Reading about one thing can lead to another aspect of the same topic. Does your child love to read sports stories? Find biographies of athletes, how the Olympics started, or look through the sports section of the newspaper.
• If your child is really passionate about something, he or she may enjoy looking through or even reading a more advanced book on the subject, especially if there are lots of great photographs and/or illustrations.

Title page. Bright illustration. Rounded typeface.

 Colourful illustrations.
Easy language to understand.
Simple layout

 Video - more interaction.

 Arrow changes colour - from red to yellow - when mouse hovers over it.
Option to do quiz after you've learned the information.

Shows various scenarios to educate children.

TopMarks

Educating children of science. This shows the teaching of if a material is waterproof or not.

 Interactive clips. You can drag the material to the machine and water will pour over it. It even stays or breaks due to the water. This is a fun way of getting children to understand the information.
Bright imagery.

 Click through options using arrows.

Boowakwala

- A voice reads out the text. This is fun, especially since the voice is very high and unusual. Dsylexic children could also benefit from this. However, you can't do any of the actions until the voice has finished, which is frustrating to impatient people (such as me!)

- This recipe also teaches children about different cultures - it is a meal they might not have made before themselves. 

- Sounds are made when you click on an object.

- Once you've put the ingredients in the bowl in the right order, there will be an action sequence of the meal being cooked and the other characters either disliking it - if you've done it wrong - or preparing to eat it - if you've done it right.

As you grab the ingredients to put it in the bowl, they do a different action.

After you've done this though  there is very little else to do. I think more information could have been included, perhaps to explain what some of the foreign ingredients were.

This research has taught me that children respond well to interactivity. There are fun, engaging ways to educate children - this is certainly true. All children will have an ideal way to learn and some will respond will to interactive elements.

References:

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?b=english/non_fiction

http://pbskids.org/martha/