Reading is decoding, understanding, and acting socially (Cassany, 2019). It is a fundamental competence that not only involves processing the content of a text but also knowing how to use the text and its meaning to form one's interpretation. In other words, reading is a social action that changes according to the context and affects people's lifestyles, while reading practices are influenced by everyday life and culture (Valbuena et al., 2021).

Regarding writing, Cassany (2015) states that certain properties are required to create a text from a group of statements or chained sentences, such as adequacy, coherence, cohesion, and grammar. This author mentions the concept of orthographic awareness, which consists of the student's conviction about the existence of conventional forms of writing, the desire to know those conventions, and the ability to find how to write under them.

In this sense, literacy is defined as a set of communicative skills that favor the construction of meanings and allow the individual to function in their social environment (Arteaga-Rolando & Carrión-Barco, 2022). To do this, it is necessary to use language, primarily written language, so that it is used meaningfully, involving the skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing as ways of communicating thoughts and emotions. The development of reading and writing skills is a permanent challenge at all educational levels, which is reflected in various research ranging from early childhood to the university level, including primary and secondary education (Vergara-Pareja et al., 2022; Lancheros-Bohórquez & Vesga-Bravo, 2024; Echeverri-Sucerquia, & Quinchía-Ortiz, 2023).

Thanks to the almost omnipresent intervention of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), in the most varied areas of human activity, reading and writing are largely carried out digitally (Osorio-Pita et al., 2020). This situation is framed in what Cassany (2000) mentioned, who predicted that in this century, three modes of communication of texts would coexist: handwritten writing, printed publication, and electronic textuality, which implies a change in reading methods. And mechanical writing through the cognitive process of information analysis.

In this sense, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2020) indicates that ICT should be integrated into the classroom from initial education to promote the development of skills in students. This is especially true in Latin America, where restrictions on access to new technologies limit citizens' digital literacy, a situation evident during the Covid-19 pandemic (Uribe-Zapata et al., 2023; Villa-Guardiola et al., 2022).

Gamification, understood as the use of game elements to engage students, motivate them to action and promote learning and problem-solving, has been proposed for teaching disciplines such as administration, mathematics, social sciences and languages, mention a few (Núñez-Rueda et al., 2022; Macías-Rojas et al., 2022; Aguirre-Álvarez et al., 2024; Vera-Sagredo et al., 2024). Among the advantages of gamification that stand out in the educational process are the activation of motivation for learning, constant feedback, and more autonomous and meaningful learning by allowing more excellent retention in memory, commitment to education, and student loyalty or bonding. With the content and tasks, along with more measurable learning results (Borrás-Gené, 2015; Posada-Hernández et al., 2023).

Select a gamified tool; it is necessary to identify several elements, namely: the dynamics, which refer to the concept and implicit structure of the game; the mechanics, referring to the processes that allow the development of the game; and the specific components or implementations of the dynamics and mechanics (avatars, badges, points, collections, rankings, levels, and teams, among others) (Vanegas-Vanegas et al., 2024; Torres-Bernal et al., 2023; Caicedo et al., 2024; al., 2021). Furthermore, gamified activity is generated with the interaction of the three elements mentioned above (Ortiz-Colón et al., 2018).

In this case, the Classcraft tool was used, considering its benefits in learning, operability, satisfaction, content, efficiency, effectiveness, conception patterns of game interfaces, game design patterns and mechanisms, principles, and design heuristics, along with particular models of game design (Trejo-González, 2019). The Classcraft platform provides a playful environment from the attractive beginning, both for the teacher and for the students, due to the guidance it offers for its use. The platform strengthens learning through motivation, which has allowed its use in the development of skills as diverse as diplomacy, self-management, collaborative work, and decision-making, among others (Trejo-González, 2019; Klimenko et al., 2023; Barrera-Mesa et al., 2022; Retamozo et al., 2021).

In Colombia, the Ministry of National Education (MEN, 2009) established the Spanish Language Curricular Guidelines, in which reading competence is determined from the literal, inferential, and critical levels as the references to characterize the ways of reading. Likewise, the ministry established the Basic Language Competence Standards (EBCL), which emphasize the approach to the characteristic features of different forms of literary production (MEN, 2006). Despite this, Colombia has been occupying the last positions in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests for skills related to critical reading and text comprehension (Pérez-Benítez & Ricardo-Barreto, 2022). This situation is worrying since a low level of reading and writing skills limits students' academic future, even more so when the deficiencies occur at the first educational levels (Triana-Pérez et al., 2024).

The research objective was to determine the impact of a gamified didactic sequence on the development of reading and writing competence of fourth-grade students in a Colombian school. The shortcomings detected in the students at the level of reading comprehension, writing competence, and use of office tools were addressed through a didactic sequence based on the proposal of Díaz-Barriga (2013).

The qualitative approach was considered since it allows us to determine the students' attitudes, experiences, realities, and sociocultural aspects (Mesa-Aguirre et al., 2024). We worked from the paradigm of Educational Action Research (IAE) since the vision of Mckernan (2001, cited in Zapata-Ancajima 2018) makes it possible to understand the problems of the curriculum. Reflection is sought while doing pedagogical so that constructive criticism improves processes and enriches practice by contributing methodological resources. In addition, IAE also enables an intervention that involves the educational interests of the community and adaptation to situations that must be addressed in the short term (Zhang & Liu, 2023).

The research was conducted in the urban men's headquarters of the Francisco José de Caldas Technical Educational Institution (IETFJDC) in Socotá, Colombia.

Intentional or judgmental non-probabilistic sampling was used, characterized by selecting samples based solely on the researcher's knowledge and credibility. That is, the researcher chooses the sample that he considers appropriate (Hernández-González, 2021). We worked with 26 fourth-grade students who voluntarily participated in the research and were authorized by their parents through informed consent.

The research was carried out in four phases, namely: planning, in which the problem or situation to be improved is identified and the needs are prioritized; action, where the action plan is established, and the proposal is implemented; observation, in which information is collected for analysis, ending with the reflection phase in light of the theoretical reference.

In this case, a priori categories were used, which arise before information collection (deductive process) and are derived from theoretical and conceptual frameworks (Vives-Varela & Hamui-Sutton, 2021).

The first category corresponds to reading competence related to understanding texts: the levels of reading comprehension by the Basic Learning Rights (DBA) established by the MEN.

The second category is writing competence, which is related to spelling, coherence, and cohesion.

The third category of analysis is technological competence, related to the ICT tools used in the classroom, such as office programs and platforms to develop gamified exercises.

The techniques used to collect information were observation and diagnosis through field diaries and knowledge tests (Eslava-Zapata et al., 2023). These tools made it possible to identify problem points at the beginning, constantly evaluate the process in the action plan's development phase, and verify compliance with the objectives, making adjustments to the didactic sequence if necessary.

The analysis of the information was carried out through triangulation and categorization. It is a method that, based on a priori categories, allows for the organized collection of field information for subsequent analysis and interpretation (Vives-Varela & Hamui-Sutton, 2021). The information was analyzed with the Atlas. Ti v9.0 application is a popular software used in qualitative research (Rojano-Alvarado et al., 2021).

Regarding the development of exercises in office programs, it was evident in the first sessions that the students had yet to use the word processor to write. Although they claimed to know MS Word in Word, they did not know how to execute the basic functions, such as opening and creating documents, formatting the text, and recognizing the spelling and grammatical errors that MS Word writes. However, the constant exercise in practical and closing activities in all MS Word and PowerPoint workshops allowed students to improve their ability to use commands (ctrl + x, ctrl + v, ctrl + z). as well as in managing the essential functions of the word processor. In addition to the presentations in which the topic was explained, PowerPoint was used to prepare cards and presentations in which they had to search and insert images. In this sense, it was observed that the students gradually gained autonomy in the use of these tools, starting by downloading the files once, opening them, enabling editing, and placing punctuation marks in those exercises that required it. The above agrees with Cassany (2000) on the coexistence of three modes of inscription and communication of texts for this century: handwritten writing, printed publication, and electronic textuality.

Regarding the use of Word Wall, Educaplay, Learning apps, and live worksheets, their interactivity stands out. This made it possible to program various exercise and evaluation activities. These tools facilitate feedback and error correction, which allows students to strengthen their learning of the topic covered.

After comparing the diagnostic data and the progress made in the intervention, it is observed that gamified tools influence the strengthening of literacy. In this sense, as Cassany (2019) mentions: "We believe that reading is easy and that everyone knows how to do it. What is learned in primary school? However, it is false [...] Because reading and understanding is difficult." In this sense, it is essential that the reading-writing process is strengthened and occurs in diverse, virtual, and natural spaces, allowing the student to better prepare for their insertion into an increasingly changing world.

Electronic textuality occurs within the framework of new teaching forms. An interesting strategy is the pedagogy of co-association by Mark Prensky, a theory based on constructivism to teach digital generations. This pedagogy suggests ways of working with any technology, available or not, in school and the classroom and is considered the opposite way of theoretical teaching (Solano-Carrillo, 2021).

In this case, the role of the teacher is that of counselor and guide, goal setter and questioner, design learning, suggests controlled activities, provides context and rigor, and guarantees quality. In this way, students take responsibility for searching, making hypotheses, finding answers, and creating presentations that the teacher and the class then evaluate and examine for their context, rigor, and quality, and learn by themselves, alone or in a group, answering the questions.

Questions and actively solving the problems posed to them with the help and guidance of the teacher.

Regarding ICT as educational mediation, gamified learning generates motivation (Borrás-Gené, 2015), as observed in the voluntary attendance at extra-class sessions scheduled to work on the Classcraft platform. Evidently, if the tools are organized and properly during the class sessions, they become valuable support in the teacher's pedagogical work (Quevedo-Benítez et al., 2024; Niño-Vega et al., 2021). In other words, a didactic sequence organized based on the needs of the students, supported by ICT, and that uses novel strategies such as gamification enables students to achieve the expected reading-writing skills.

Finally, it is observed that there are two factors necessary to improve students' reading and writing performance: i) the explicit teaching of reading comprehension and text-writing strategies and ii) the integration of ICT for learning. It is recommended that these two factors be worked on as a priority in the primary education classroom and in teacher training plans so that they are trained in the use of the new tools.

The didactic sequence through gamified tools is a pertinent proposal to support the reading and writing of fourth-grade students. For reading competence, various interactive activities are presented that attract the students' attention so that they are having fun while exercising their reading levels.

At the literal level, the two variants mentioned in the Colombian curricular guidelines were reinforced: literality in the mode of transcription or paraphrasing. So, taking into account that apart from recognizing words and phrases, it was easier for the students to find an initial meaning of the message.

At the inferential level, progress was observed in some operations of building relationships of implication, causation, inclusion, and exclusion. However, more exercises are necessary to get students to handle other operations to establish relationships and associations between meanings. At the critical-intertextual level, work was carried out regarding the restoration of the text's global coherence. However, there must be improvement in identifying the superstructure and recognizing the points of view of those who intervene in the text.

Regarding writing competence, the exercises contribute to constructing the orthographic awareness that Cassany (2015) discusses if they involve punctuation marks and spelling rules. For sentence syntax, it was observed that integrating digital, manual, and oral exercises, along with the dynamics of remembering what was worked on in the previous session, provides students with more tools for appropriate knowledge. That is, the combination of manual and digital writing is convenient for a greater understanding of sentence, paragraph, and text structures.

In summary, the activities of a didactic sequence through gamified tools must be attractive and diverse. Its design must be based on previous knowledge and experiences, considering questions from reality and with information about a specific object of knowledge. Furthermore, the evaluation must motivate and promote meaningful learning, which can be achieved using interactive tools that facilitate problem-solving and error correction.