Multimodal Literacy And The Classroom

Children have different characteristics and different interests that attract them. A well-designed literacy environment should engage and attract children on at least two different modalities (Edwards & Willis, 2000). This is so because, as the authors note, "it is natural for young children to seek to master and use many alternative 'literacies,' or avenues of symbolic representation offered by

As a future teacher of a fast-changing generation that searches restlessly for new interests, I believe that old and new must meet to keep the basic values of a balanced literacy. Focusing on prior knowledge, collaborating with colleagues, peers, families, and community, creating connections with our surrounding, and empowering students’ learning style throughout the process of gaining knowledge of reading and writing. Foremost, my personal philosophy of teaching literacy is based on constructivism and sociolinguistic, where hands on experience and guidance are priority in an informational world. To facilitate a child’s acquisition of literacy skills , as I plan for literacy instruction for my future classroom, I will take into consideration

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

Content area teachers can implement strategies and scaffold learning when planning and designing instruction so that students will actively engage in literacy. According to Dobbs, content area reading instruction includes: the information present in the text, and the instructional plan teachers use to help students understand the content (2003, p.3). Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz explain that in order to plan instruction effectively, teachers must be aware of the explicit and functional dimensions of content literacy. The explicit aspect of content literacy involves the development of skills and strategies that enable students to comprehend what they are reading. Functional instruction focuses more on the application of strategies needed to derive knowledge from a variety of sources of information.” (2014, p. 134). Forget defined literacy as “listening, thinking, reading, and speaking in such a way that information and ideas are processed and communicated to the benefit of self and society” (2003, p. 5). Content area teachers need to plan and design lessons so that students will actively engage in literacy. Forget goes on to discuss that poor performance in schools can be do to a lack of basic literacy skills. Therefore, teachers need to implement the skills and strategies found to be successful in literacy to ensure

EDEE  400  –  Assignment  1   Literacy  in  schools  today  not  only  involves  teaching  students  to  read  and  write,   but  is  also  heavily  focused  on  giving  students  the  necessary  vocabulary  and  skills   to  understand  different  text  types  according  to  the  key  learning  areas  (KLAs)   they  are  undertaking.  While  traditional  ideas  of  literacy  often  ignored  the  diverse   needs  of  students,  contemporary  notions  of  literacy  are  constantly  evolving  in   response  to  changes  in  situational

Literacy is being able to read and write; having said this it would be safe to say literacy means learning from books. However, think about the evolution of literacy and the different ways in which children and people learn and retrieve information; this definition could also include interaction with the digital text. There is a wide range as to what counts as literacy such as blogging, social networking, emailing, digital storytelling, online chatting and even shopping online just to name a few. Not everyone will agree with what is now counted as literacy, but if students are not enlightened on the many aspects of what could make them valuable assets in the future; that would be negligent. In Rich’s article digital literacy is being discussed which is the topic this response will focus on. Learning is not restricted only to the classroom. Digital literacy can be beneficial with

Some students may be a combination of these sensory modalities making them a multimodal learner. Over 60% percent of learners fall into the multimodal learner category (Fleming & Mills, 2011). Learners in this category may switch from each of their learning strengths to fit the situation or presentation of

Literacy, literacies and multiliteracies bears various meanings to different people. Some believe that literacy is developed by cultures, while others believe that literacy and cultures developed an individual. There are single and multiple definitions of literacy, literacies and multi-literacies. Based on research, literacy is very important and continues to be developed through our rapidly changing world. Throughout this essay, we will focus on views of literacy, literacies, and multiliteracies and how their different meanings affect our approach to teaching literacy.

This course has provided a window into the resources and strategies available to create rich instruction for diverse needs of all literacy learners. The media segments and virtual field experiences provided models of the strategies and activities being conducted in the classroom. This was very helpful in implementing my own versions of those lessons with my literacy learner and completing the literacy development study. I believe this course has prepared me to be a more efficient educator when teaching students of diverse reading abilities. I plan to continue using my newfound knowledge and skills to create an enriching learning environment for all students in my classroom.

For many decades now there has been a scope of definition for what “literacy” incorporates and those are the basics skills like reading, writing, and a variety of social and intellectual practices which involve basic communication skills, and hand and eye coordination. However, with the world of technology continually growing, and the level of diversity in the student population becoming vaster it has become necessary to also include speaking, listening, viewing, and visually aspects to the curriculum. One of the best ways to address a wide range of literacy is to pair the categories with each other based upon their connections in the real world. The categories include written language (reading & writing), spoken communication (listening & speaking), and visual language (viewing & visually representing). (Standards for the English Language Arts p. 6) Many of these can be done with a range of creative activities such as students being able to choose what they write about, share their own personal experiences in their writings, and then read them together; this helps the students stay engaged in the work they’re doing, and also increases their level of retention of the material. The importance of a student being engaged is best explained in the article “Adolescent Literacy: A Policy Brief” with, “The number of students who are not engaged with or motivated by school learning grows at

Ryan, W. (2012). Visual literacy: Learning to see. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

My response from my checklist for an effective literacy program revealed that I am a very animated teacher. I encourage my students to laugh with me building a positive relationship. I found that my students enjoy my lessons when I bring in prior experiences. Modeling the lesson with humor capture the student’s attention and they are eager to participate and collaborate with the peers and teachers. My strength demonstrates that I model all my lessons and make them student friendly. I plan and model my lessons by incorporated and adapted the skills to students’ individual needs. I also teach cross curriculum allowing students to build from each core subject.

Creating a literacy-rich environment is one of the key elements of supporting children’s literacy development. Literacy-rich classrooms tend to look quite different than the traditional classroom, covered in pre-made posters and arranged with individual desks in rows, and instead, allow for teachers to design their classrooms with their students’ needs in mind. According to an article on the Sadlier School’s blog, all elements in a classroom must be meaningful, intentional, purposeful, and engaging when creating a literacy-rich classroom. This means that classroom design is created in a way that it provides frequent opportunities to be exposed to text via environmental print, instruction, and hands-on learning as well as encouraging communication and collaboration (Sadlier School, 2017).

Critical pedagogy, influenced by Paulo Freire and Michael Apple, sees students become participants in their learning, where topics are relatable and relevant to their lives. Critical literacy refers to the use of text and other communication to challenge the rules governing the societal norms of everyday life (Luke, 2012, p.5). Asking students to interrogate a text and question the use of language, allows them to form a critical observation about what the author wants the readers to know, for example, when studying Australian First Contact, allowing students to draw conclusions about the treatment of Indigenous people from a text which glosses over the details, ensures students look at the topic from multiple angles and apply their sociocultural knowledge to the discussion. The introduction of multimodal tools into literacy teaching, acknowledges that a

Literacy is the cornerstone to all learning; it is imperative to future academic success. (Tracey and Morrow, 2012). Due to the significance of literacy instruction, there are a myriad of ways to teach literacy. Literacy is a complex subject, honing in on balancing reading, writing, speaking, and listening. As a result of the complexity of literacy instruction, we arrive at the age-old debate of what is the best literacy instruction. My philosophy of literacy instruction centralizes around the Whole Language Theory and Balanced Literacy; however, I also blend in additional theories/approaches to teach effective literacy.