Article Summary 1

Article Summary 1
Love That Book: Multimodal Response to Literature

In “Love That Book: Multimodal Response to Literature,” authors Bridget Dalton and Dana L. Grisham present five strategies for developing and expressing students’ understanding of literary and informational texts (p. 221). These five multimodal response-to-text activities include multimodal character retellings, collaborative VoiceThreads, digital book talks, illustrated letters, and multimedia posters. The strategies outlined can be scaffolded according to student needs: based on familiarity with the literacy task (e.g. Is a character retelling a new or familiar task?) and experience with designated technology tools (e.g. Are students comfortable with PowerPoint operations?) (p. 225). The flexibility in task design offers students “multiple ways to understand, analyze, critique and respond emotionally” (p. 221). In the end, all students are actively creating—the highest thinking level on Bloom’s Taxonomy—while involved in other cognitive tasks that respect their learning style and ability.

The authors list many reasons for teachers to include multimodal response in their curriculum. First, most students have technical facility, which is “largely untapped in literacy classrooms” (p. 221). Multimodal activities capitalize on student interest in digital environments and can promote digital literacy development. Next, multimodal response aligns with national and state learning standards for both reading and writing. Because writing is not the only medium of expression valued in academic learning, multimodal compositions have become an expectation for students to be successful in the 21^st century (p. 221). In addition, research has demonstrated the positive effect of multimedia on learning. Composing with different modes—as opposed to traditional writing—engages students in content and develops literary analysis skills in transformative ways (p. 221). Finally, multimodal response supports struggling and reluctant readers’ literacy achievement by offering opportunities for differentiated learning instruction. Teachers can choose how to personalize learning experiences for individual needs by scaffolding tasks accordingly.

Dalton and Grisham discuss how to incorporate the first strategy, which is a multimodal retelling from a character’s perspective. Students can use GarbageBand or another audio-recording tool to record their responses to a story read and discussed in class. Recordings involve a partial or full retelling from a character’s perspective of the student’s choice and may focus on how the student responded personally. After the audio recording is embedded into a PowerPoint featuring a character illustration and other images, the presentation may be posted to the school’s website. Students can seek teacher or peer support for tasks such as scanning images or embedding sound files.

The second multimodal activity utilizes VoiceThread as a collaborative response tool. Although “students’ understanding of text develops through quality conversation,” it can be challenging to find class time for in-depth exploration of ideas where every student is an active participant (p. 221-22). VoiceThread provides an alternative, out-of-class opportunity for teachers and students to engage in meaningful dialogue while respecting individuals’ preferred mode of communication. First, a teacher posts an image, text, audio, or video for students to respond to. Then, students analyze or respond to the work through similar modes and then read, listen to, or watch their classmates’ responses.

As the third activity, student-created video book trailers persuade classmates to read new books by using the conventions of movie trailers. As text-supported arguments—a form of persuasion—book trailers support writing standards by reflecting understanding of literary and informational texts (p. 222). They communicate themes and character relationships in enticing ways that introduce students to unfamiliar books. Creating video book trailers requires a lot of planning. Storyboarding or writing a script is essential as well as considering actors, props, scene locations, and time for practice. A student may also choose to talk directly to the camera—reading a passage from the book or using the book as a prop—for a more traditional book talk. Free editing software such as iMovie or MovieMaker can support students as they produce their final cut, adding music, sound effects, and video effects depending on skill level or interest. Teachers need to determine what is developmentally appropriate for the age group and skill level of the students he or she is working with; help them understand characteristics of the genre; and model strategies for designing a successful digital book trailer (p. 222-23).

Using digital media, illustrated letters can enrich learning from informational text. This multimodal activity “involves reading and researching text and images to create an illustrated fictional letter that is embedded in a particular historical context” (p. 224). For example, the authors describe a project where students create a multi-side PowerPoint letter told from a soldier’s perspective during the Civil War using historical pictures in the public domain. However, illustrated letters could be enhanced with music, sound effects, and the student recording audio as a young man reading the letter to his mother (p. 224). To increase their emotional link to events in history even more, students could publish their letters to the class or school website, expanding their role as text generators or content creators (p. 224). Teachers need to support an open-ended search for historical images, which “requires students to draw on text-based information and prior knowledge” as well as give students flexibility in choosing a fictional character to situate their letter in a historical context (p. 224).

The fifth and final multimodal activity discussed is creating a literature-based digital poster, or multimedia poster. Students can use Glogster or other digital authoring and publishing tools to demonstrate alternative ways of communicating knowledge using image, text, sound, music, video, and Internet hyperlinked resources (p. 223). Learning goals can be enhanced by creating posters where “design and content work together in creative and thoughtful ways” (p. 223). For example, after reading and analyzing a text for theme, character, plot, and reflections of text-to-self, students can brainstorm ways to express these elements in the visual design of their project.

Students are already interested in multimodal expression and the research shows composing in multiple modes improves student learning. Specifically, Dalton and Grisham emphasize how multimodal activities enhance students’ personal response and critical analysis of literature as well as their literacy skills by including more choices for developing and expressing their thoughts and emotions (p. 220). The authors recommend teachers become familiar with multimedia response before introducing these strategies in the classroom. I agree. Multimodal texts are an important way of reading, writing, and communicating. This level of technology integration practice requires teachers to become informed and skilled participants in new, transformative ways of learning.

Reference:

Dalton, B., & Grisham, D. L. (2013). Love that book: Multimodal response to literature. The Reading Teacher, 67(3), 220-225.

The article source can be found at the UMKC Library.