How did our Multigenre Multimodal Textual Lineages relate to the following articles?
Writing Outside of School- Instead of using paper and pencil to create our stories, we used digital writing. I used Photo Story, and combined pictures with my text, to tell my story.
Literacy Learning in the 21st Century- We live in a technology driven environment. Technology is how most of us now communicate. In order for students to be successful in the 21st century, they have to be able to convey information in a new way; just like we did with our textual lineage stories.
Reading and Writing Differently- Sometimes people don't have the time to read long passages of text. We need to be able to present our ideas in a condensed version, but in a way that the audience still gets what we are trying to tell them. We told a story, but in a quick, summarized way.
Writing Now- We write for many purposes and for many different audiences. Students need to learn to identify their audience and why they are writing to them. We did that in our stories; our audience was our classmates, and we were writing to tell them about three texts that have influenced us.
Adolescent Literacy- In order to motivate students to write, we need to give them a choice in their writing tasks. If they are writing about something they care about, they will be invested in it. For this assignment we were given choices. We could choose the texts we wrote about, as well as how we would present it.
What are 3 ways the readings reinforced your thinking about the role of digital technology in teaching students to read and write?
(1) Writing Outside of School- I have seen the positive impact writing outside of school has on two of my students. When we have any assignment that involves writing, they always complain, but they are always eager to show me the comic books that they write together (which have a lot of dialogue). They don't realize that what they are doing IS writing, to them, it is just something they enjoy.
(2) Literacy Learning in the 21st Century- I like the idea of letting students present what they have learned in a way of their choosing. When we do research, my students always present their findings with the class, and I let them choose how to do it. Some like to make a poster, make it into a script, or present a PowerPoint.
(3) Writing Now- I believe, like the article says, motivation is key in student writing. If you give them a topic they have to write about, where is the motivation in that? It may be something they have no interest in. On the other hand, if you give them a choice, they are engaged and motivated because it is something they like.
This Webquest is one that I used with my 4th graders this year to learn about landforms. They were each given a specific landform and then researched it through linked websites. They filled in a graphic organizer as they went along. Afterwards, they wrote a brochure highlighting what they had learned. This was a great project combining social studies, reading, and writing. I also integrated art by having the students construct and paint their landform out of modeling clay. They loved it and learned so much!!
Sources
National Council of Teachers of English. (2009). Writing Outside of School.
National Council of Teachers of English. (2009). Literacy Learning in the 21st Century.
National Council of Teachers of English. (2008). Reading and Writing Differently.
National Council of Teachers of English. (2008). Writing Now.
National Council of Teachers of English (2007). Adolescent Literacy.
Mrs. Modena. (n.d.) Creating Landform Travel Brochures. Retrieved from http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/newman/learningmaps/webquests/landform_brochures/landform_main.htm#rubric
I agree that letting students have the freedom to choose what they write and how they might want to present their information is a good way to motivate students to learn. I also really like the webquest you posted to the blog. It seems like a neat activity for kids.
ReplyDeleteAbby, I agree that we communicate through technology more than communicating through anything else. Also, I feel that you are right when you say that before we write anything, we think about our audience. If I am writing on my facebook or instagram - I know that my audience is not expecting me to be grammatically correct.
ReplyDeleteThere really is power in choice. It is such a difference in seeing what students do when you give them the power to decide what they want to do when it comes to an assignment. I think this gives students a sense of responsibility for their learning and pride in their work when we let them choose.
ReplyDeleteThe Webquest is great! When I created one in the past it didn't work out so well with the first grade students I was working with but I'm sure the 4th graders loved it.
I find it interesting that you have seen the impact of writing outside of school with two of your students. That's pretty cool that they create comic books and want to show them to you! I also like the WebQuest. I don't have much experience with that sort of thing, but it looks like something that could be adaptable for all ages. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYour example of the two students who create comic books in there free time is a wonderful example of the high levels of engagement children have for writing in out-of-school contexts!
ReplyDeleteThe challenge for teachers is to learn about all the different writing practices students use outside of school and then connect them to school-based writing.
The other challenge is assessment. What if you let students create a comic strip to demonstrate their understanding of a social studies concept? How would you assess that?