The article I chose to write about is the Multimodal article. The article explains multimodal literacy instruction as “combining the modes available in a text with the modes available through sociocognitive reading processes.” The article explains how there is more to a text than simply the words. When reading to students the words alone may not be the most important thing. Other things that need to be considered are the messages that the book may send. These messages may be sent through illustrations or even colors. An example from the article was when one of the students said a bird was angry because its words were in red. The article went on to say that there were no textual cues saying that the bird was actually angry, it was just the child’s interpretation. As others have mentioned TE348 and TE448 discussed the importance of looking over texts before giving them to students because of the messages it may send. I know in my class a lot of time was spent looking at the illustrations in different children’s books and examining the different things students could interpret from the text such as racism and social roles.
I liked that the article mentioned that the way a teacher presents a text can affect the way students respond to it. This made me think about how when reading to younger children teachers often change their voice for the different characters and act out the different sounds. From what I have noticed students generally respond better when literacy is introduced in this way. I think this is important to keep in mind when introducing any subject. A teacher needs to make the subject interesting and try to get the students involved.
I had an experience with this in my placement not only this year but the last as well. Previously I was in a 1st grade classroom and this year I am in a 5th grade classroom. Both grades share a common connection that deals with literacy and it being more that just words. I have noticed that in both grades one area as the article touches on is words together being more that just words. Many students when reading would read words with out an emotion, I guess you could say, behind it. For example while reading aloud they would might say "The girl became excited" in the same tone as "The girl became sad." Meaning they were not fully understanding the emotion behind and the development of the charters that make the story. Just as the article and Nicole said children also need to understand the message and emotion behind words in order to make that connection while reading.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this article! I enjoy children's literature, especially picture books, so it was interesting to read about all the modes that go into teaching these books in the most effective way possible. I, too, remember a lot of what we learned in TE348 and 448 and connected it to this article. What I found helpful about all the different modes was that is presented an ideal learning situation. Also, all students learn differently. By teaching use the many modes in the article, as a teacher you are more likely to reach more of your students in the way that they learn. For my TE301 placement I was in a 3rd grade class. Every time I went in I would read to the class. I noticed some students needed more visual cues and some could just listen to the words. I story means so much more when the text and illustrations work together to tell the story and that is why I think picture books are so amazing. This article definitely highlights the importance of these elements in students' development of skills such as observations and discussion.
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