Reaching Struggling Primary Readers with Digital & Multimodal Text

           Using digital tools and multi-modal text takes planning as well as thought to student needs  (Coiro et al., 2019). It is also important to consider district expectation and guidelines. However, long  before mastering formal writing skills young children interpret meaning from multiple modes (Mills,  2011). For student who are considered readers using digital text is somewhat easier, but for those readers that are developing reading skills it can be a bit more challenging as they are in the early stages of reading and just beginning to understand the rules of print (Bates et al., 1016). To help with integration of digital  text in primary classrooms, educators should consider behaviors and strategies of early readers,  have a complete understanding of supportive text characteristics, and be aware of digital text features that may or may not help young students with literacy processing as well as help develop...

      Students should feel empowered and confident each day as they enter the classroom. The door to the classroom should be an invitation to exploration and growth so that every individual learner can experience daily successes that lead to reaching goals evident through academic growth. Teachers should have high standards for all learners and give each child equal opportunity to demonstrate personal growth. As I discussed in my last post, text used for learning in classrooms has evolved over time to include multi-modal and digital text. This includes web reading and with that the digital skill necessary to use the always changing available tools to navigate and interact with these texts (Colwell et al., 2020). It is important to begin utilizing these available tools to help ensure our young learners are ready for what lies ahead in their educational years. Barbara Moss and Diana Lapp found that primary grade teachers show great interest in new literacies and ...

Literacy in Primary Classrooms                The first steps toward learning to read happen long before a child enters a classroom. Basic literacy function is evident when children use symbols, language, pictures, and even play to communicate. However, reading and writing ability is not a natural development. It requires thought , planning, and instruction (2016, A Developmental Approach to Educating Young Children,  91-114). Literacy skills develop over time moving from phonological awareness to phonemic awareness and then to phonics and decoding. Next, students become fluent readers that make meaning from multiple forms of text to comprehend what they have read. Literacy now includes multi-modal and digital text that includes video, pictures/photographs, and digital text encompassing many genres including web reading. The evolution of text has made it necessary for our classrooms to include instruction so that students can effect...