What is Multi-Modal?
According to Kathy Mills (2010), she states through New London Group , 1996 that "multimodality refers to the combination of two or more modes in representation—linguistic (written words), visual, audio, gestural, and spatial" (p. 35)
Reference:
Mills, K. A., (2010). Shrek meets vygotsky: rethinking adolescents’ multimodal literacy practices in schools. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 54(1), 35-45.
Reference:
Mills, K. A., (2010). Shrek meets vygotsky: rethinking adolescents’ multimodal literacy practices in schools. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 54(1), 35-45.
Project Based Inquiry
Our PBI Project, is a great example of how we can use multi-modal instructional approaches to teach children literacy, even preschoolers! My collaborating partner and I worked together to make a lesson plan that integrated CCSS standards that crossed cover ELA, Technology, and Writing. We implemented a plan to use a popular story (The Three Little Pigs) since the Preschool class was in the middle of a construction themed unit. To work on this book, we use a multi-modal approach to activities with the students. We first used the book during read aloud, and read it multiple times. We then allowed the students to learn about the app "Show Me" through teacher demonstration during whole group, then during small group allowing the children to do their own story or events. The Show Me app is an app that allows students to draw a story, and then use a voice-over to tell the story as they are drawing it. They were able to use more than one "page" and at the end they were able to save the video to allow them to show their class (and the teacher could save it for data collection). We also allowed the children during center time to use props that corresponded with the story to work on their retell of the story using actual props and hands on materials. To bring it all together, we then had the classmates partnered up and they used the Show Me app to do a video and draw out and do a voice-over of their retell! This PBI Project really showed multi-modal instructional approach at the forefront. We had an ending product that we wanted the students to get to (doing a retell using technology), but to get to the end, we were able to use a variety of activities that encompassed a lot of different approaches to learning, but it also allowed them to learn in a variety of different ways as well.
One important piece to doing our PBI Project was the framework in how we would make our lesson multi-modal. We decided to use the TPACK framework. More information on TPACK can be found here: https://www.fi.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Scaffolding-TPACK-Hiller-Spires.pdf
SRE Project
Within the SRE project, the lesson plan that I used with my student shows a multi-modal approach of instruction to help my student to stay engaged and to help her feel good about her skills through activities she is able to do well, and activities that she may need help with to help her become a better student.
Common Core State Standards
For most of my projects I needed to be able to link to NC Common Core state Standards (CCSS)
Some of the Standards are listed below, but to look at all the CCSS please visit: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/
The standards I used in my SRE project were:
RI 2.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. ii.
C.1.3: Exemplify respect and appropriate social skills needed for working with diverse groups
Some of the Standards are listed below, but to look at all the CCSS please visit: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/
The standards I used in my SRE project were:
RI 2.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. ii.
C.1.3: Exemplify respect and appropriate social skills needed for working with diverse groups
Action-Based Research
Abstract
This action research paper discusses the questions, How can assessment-guided differentiated instruction help students learn sight words? Participants included an ESL itinerant teacher and her Kindergarten student who is an Arabic/English dual learner. Each session for five sessions, the collaborating teacher assessed her student at the beginning of each session to see which sight words he knows vs doesn’t know. The results showed that he learned two new sight words that he previously did not know. This action research didn’t necessarily show how assessment-guided instruction can better prepare students to learn their sight words better, but more importantly I feel is show how we as teachers can learn how to interact more with our students in a way that makes learning more conceptual for them. The research results showed that students may very well be able to learn sight words in a more constructive way through a variety of activities (worksheets, flash cards, hands on activities, games) but also be more interactive with their teacher knowing that the teacher wants them to learn and trying to find the best ways for them to learn makes them feel important and empowered.
This action research paper discusses the questions, How can assessment-guided differentiated instruction help students learn sight words? Participants included an ESL itinerant teacher and her Kindergarten student who is an Arabic/English dual learner. Each session for five sessions, the collaborating teacher assessed her student at the beginning of each session to see which sight words he knows vs doesn’t know. The results showed that he learned two new sight words that he previously did not know. This action research didn’t necessarily show how assessment-guided instruction can better prepare students to learn their sight words better, but more importantly I feel is show how we as teachers can learn how to interact more with our students in a way that makes learning more conceptual for them. The research results showed that students may very well be able to learn sight words in a more constructive way through a variety of activities (worksheets, flash cards, hands on activities, games) but also be more interactive with their teacher knowing that the teacher wants them to learn and trying to find the best ways for them to learn makes them feel important and empowered.