I have made zines in one of my high school English classes in the past as well as comics. One of the things I loved to do was making comics because you not only got to do an English assignment, but you also got to bring some creativity into the piece. Same goes for a zine. Being able to use art as a form of expression encourages students to be creative and make their assignment their own.
One of the things that really stands out to me are PSAs. They are something that many people have seen in their lives, and have been circling around for years. Having students explore using PSAs for their assignments can once again help them with the creativity piece. One of the ways they can use this is when reading a book with the class. One of their assignments can entail using a PSA to discuss one of the specific difficulties that one of the characters faced. It can also be used to discuss a topic we are talking about in class. This pushes the boundaries of just writing an essay or discussing a topic really pushes students to step out of their comfort zone and make something they are proud of. If working with groups, it can also promote collaboration. I found a video that was very interesting on students who decided to make a PSA. These students got many resources to film a PSA for something that was impacting their communities and others alike.
Another on of the genres that stood out to me was make a book trailer. This is also something students can create alone or with other students. This can help students think about what is important in a story and what to leave out. Also, they will have to decide how to discuss something of this manner without spoiling the end for everyone else. I think a great way to do this would be with choice reads. Having groups of students read the smae books then presenting the one they read with a book trailer can encourage other students to read the book that they previously did.
One of the texts that we read in class about Place-Based Digital Storytelling discusses how digital storytelling can encourage students to learn about narrative composition and traditional literacy skills. Using different approaches, such as the ones listed above and more, can help students break barriers and really push the boundaries of their normal, every day school work.
What do you think about multimodal composition? How can these skills and types of learning/creating be brought into the classroom?
Hi Brianna! I think you did a great job pointing out some different multimodal ways we can have students demonstrate understanding. I also loved making comics or PSAs for class over having to write yet another long essay. These types of assignments can also give our students a break from the more rigid academic writing they are expected to do on a day-to-day basis. I think allowing our students to use multimodality to demonstrate their learning allows them more expression and agency in how they interact with course materials.
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