Bringing the real world into language arts.Traditionally, schools haven't valued the literacy experiences children engage in beyond the school's walls: instant messaging Exchanging text messages in real time between two or more people logged into a particular instant messaging (IM) service. Instant messaging is more interactive than e-mail because messages are sent immediately, whereas e-mail messages can be queued up in a mail server for seconds or , playing video games See video game console. , watching movies. But a new movement from the National Council of Teachers of English Mission As stated on their official website, the NCTE ( National Council of Teachers of English) is a professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education. called multimodal Two or more modes of operation. The term is used to refer to a myriad of functions and conditions in which two or more different methods, processes or forms of delivery are used. On the Web, it refers to asking for something one way and receiving the answer another; for example requesting literacy is encouraging teachers to see how these activities might fit into the curriculum. For decades, educators have taught satire through classical literature, says Sharon Roth, director of professional development at NCTE NCTE National Council of Teachers of English NCTE National Centre for Technology in Education NCTE National Center for Transgender Equality NCTE National Council for Teacher Education (India) NCTE Network Channel Terminating Equipment . "Instead, why not look at the movie Shrek or the TV show The Simpsons?" she asks. "Both examples provide numerous examples of satire." After tapping into a student's prior knowledge and completing the lessen less·en v. less·ened, less·en·ing, less·ens v.tr. 1. To make less; reduce. 2. Archaic To make little of; belittle. v.intr. To become less; decrease. , the teacher can relate it to classical literature. Another way multimodal literacy is reaching the classroom is with Comic Creator, an online tool available on the ReadWriteThink Web site. Traci Gardner, a content developer for NCTE, says there are numerous ways to use Comic Creator, such as asking students to create a new scene or an alternate ending for a book. "We focused on onomatopoeias," says Christie Cox, a teacher at William R. Teague Elementary in Wagoner, Okla. "They really got a bang out of it. It involved the students and they didn't want to stop." For other ideas, visit the group's Web site. "Above all, we encourage teachers to use Comic Creator to let students stretch their thinking. Moving images lets children get to a different level," says Gardner. www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/ |
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