New Literacies In Action: Teaching And Learning In Multiple Media (Language and Literacy Series (Teachers College Pr))

175 Pages·2004·0.71 MB·English

by  William Kist

LANGUAGE AND LITERACY SERIES
Dorothy S.Strickland and Celia Genishi,SERIESEDITORS
ADVISORYBOARD:RICHARDALLINGTON, DONNAALVERMANN, KATHRYNAU,
BERNICECULLINAN, COLETTEDAIUTE, ANNEHAASDYSON, CAROLEEDELSKY,
JANETEMIG, SHIRLEYBRICEHEATH, CONNIEJUEL, SUSANLYTLE, TIMOTHYSHANAHAN
New Literacies in Action: Teaching and Learning in School’s Out! Bridging Out-of-School Literacies
Multiple Media with Classroom Practice
WILLIAM KIST GLYNDA HULL andKATHERINE SCHULTZ, Eds.
On Qualitative Inquiry: Approaches to Language Reading Lives: Working-Class Children and
and Literacy Research (An NCRLL Volume)* Literacy Learning
GEORGE KAMBERELIS and GREG DIMITRIADIS DEBORAH HICKS
Teaching English Today: Advocating Change in the Inquiry Into Meaning: An Investigation of Learning
Secondary Curriculum to Read, REVISEDEDITION
BARRIE R.C. BARRELL, ROBERTA F. HAMMETT, EDWARD CHITTENDEN andTERRY SALINGER,
JOHN S. MAYHER, andGORDON M. PRADL, Eds. withANNE M. BUSSIS
Bridging the Literacy Achievement Gap, 4–12 “Why Don’t They Learn English?” Separating Fact
from Fallacy in the U.S. Language Debate
DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND and
DONNA ALVERMANN, Eds. LUCY TSE
Crossing the Digital Divide: Race, Writing, and Conversational Borderlands: Language and Identity
Technology in the Classroom in an Alternative Urban High School
BARBARA MONROE BETSY RYMES
Out of this World: Why Literature Matters to Girls Inquiry-Based English Instruction
HOLLY VIRGINIA BLACKFORD RICHARD BEACH andJAMIE MYERS
Critical Passages: Teaching the Transition to The Best for Our Children:Critical Perspectives on
College Composition Literacy for Latino Students
KRISTIN DOMBEK andSCOTT HERNDON MARÍA DE LA LUZ REYES and
Making Race Visible: JOHN J. HALCÓN, Eds.
Literary Research for Cultural Understanding Language Crossings
STUART GREENE and DAWN ABT-PERKINS, Eds. KAREN L. OGULNICK, Ed.
The Child as Critic: Developing Literacy through What Counts as Literacy?
Literature, K–8, FOURTHEDITION MARGARET GALLEGO and
GLENNA SLOAN SANDRA HOLLINGSWORTH, Eds.
Room for Talk: Teaching and Learning in a Critical Encounters in High School English:
Multilingual Kindergarten Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents
REBEKAH FASSLER DEBORAH APPLEMAN
Give Them Poetry! A Guide for Sharing Poetry Beginning Reading and Writing
with Children K–8
DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND and
GLENNA SLOAN LESLEY M. MORROW, Eds.
The Brothers and Sisters Learn to Write: Popular Reading for Meaning
Literacies in Childhood and School Cultures
BARBARA M. TAYLOR,
ANNE HAAS DYSON MICHAEL F. GRAVES, and
“Just Playing the Part”: Engaging Adolescents in PAUL VAN DEN BROEK, Eds.
Drama and Literacy Writing in the Real World
CHRISTOPHER WORTHMAN ANNE BEAUFORT
The Testing Trap: How State Writing Assessments Young Adult Literature and the New Literary Theories
Control Learning ANNA O. SOTER
GEORGE HILLOCKS, JR. Literacy Matters
The Administration and Supervision of Reading ROBERT P. YAGELSKI
Programs, THIRDEDITION
Building Family Literacy in an Urban Community
SHELLEY B. WEPNER, DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND,
andJOAN T. FEELEY, Eds. RUTH D. HANDEL
* Volumes with an asterisk following the title are a part of the NCRLL set: Approaches to Language and Literacy
Research, edited by JoBeth Allen and Donna Alvermann.
(Continued)
LANGUAGEANDLITERACYSERIES(continued)
Children’s Inquiry:Using Language to Make Sense Envisioning Literature: Literary Understanding and
of the World Literature Instruction
JUDITH WELLS LINDFORS JUDITH A. LANGER
So Much to Say:Adolescents, Bilingualism, and Teaching Writing as Reflective Practice
ESL in the Secondary School
GEORGE HILLOCKS, JR.
CHRISTIAN J. FALTIS andPAULA WOLFE, Eds.
Talking Their Way into Science
Close to Home: Oral and Literate Practices in a
Transnational Mexicano Community KAREN GALLAS
JUAN C. GUERRA Whole Language Across the Curriculum: Grades 1,
2, 3
Authorizing Readers: Resistance and Respect in the
Teaching of Literature SHIRLEY C. RAINES, Ed.
PETER J. RABINOWITZ andMICHAEL W. SMITH No Quick Fix: Rethinking Literacy Programs in
America’s Elementary Schools
On the Brink: Negotiating Literature and Life with
Adolescents RICHARD L. ALLINGTON and
SEAN A. WALMSLEY, Editors
SUSAN HYNDS
Nonfiction for the Classroom by Milton Meltzer
Life at the Margins: Literacy, Language, and
Technology in Everyday Life E. WENDY SAUL, Ed.
JULIET MERRIFIELD, et al. When Children Write
One Child, Many Worlds: Early Learning in TIMOTHY LENSMIRE
Multicultural Communities
Dramatizing Literature in Whole Language
EVE GREGORY, Ed. Classrooms, SECONDEDITION
Literacy for Life:Adult Learners, New Practices JOHN WARREN STEWIG andCAROL BUEGE
HANNA ARLENE FINGERET and The Languages of Learning
CASSANDRA DRENNON
KAREN GALLAS
The Book Club Connection
Partners in Learning: Teachers and Children in
SUSAN I. MCMAHON andTAFFY E. RAPHAEL, Eds.,
Reading Recovery
withVIRGINIA J. GOATLEY andLAURA S. PARDO
CAROL A. LYONS, GAY SU PINNELL, and
Until We Are Strong Together: Women Writers in
DIANE E. DEFORD
the Tenderloin
Social Worlds of Children Learning to Write in an
CAROLINE E. HELLER
Urban Primary School
Restructuring Schools for Linguistic Diversity
ANNE HAAS DYSON
OFELIA B. MIRAMONTES, ADEL NADEAU, and
NANCY L. COMMINS The Politics of Workplace Literacy
Writing Superheroes: Contemporary Childhood, SHERYL GREENWOOD GOWEN
Popular Culture, and Classroom Literacy Inside/Outside: Teacher Research and Knowledge
ANNE HAAS DYSON MARILYN COCHRAN-SMITH andSUSAN L. LYTLE
Opening Dialogue: Understanding the Dynamics of Literacy Events in a Community of Young Writers
Language and Learning in the English Classroom
YETTA M. GOODMAN andSANDRA WILDE, Eds.
MARTIN NYSTRAND, et al.
Whole Language Plus: Essays on Literacy
Reading Across Cultures
COURTNEY B. CAZDEN
THERESA ROGERS andANNA O. SOTER, Eds.
Process Reading and Writing
“You Gotta Be the Book”: Teaching Engaged and
Reflective Reading with Adolescents JOAN T. FEELEY, DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND, and
SHELLEY B. WEPNER, Eds.
JEFFREY D. WILHELM
Literacy for a Diverse Society
Just Girls: Hidden Literacies and Life in
Junior High ELFRIEDA H. HIEBERT, Ed.
MARGARET J. FINDERS Learning to Read:Beyond Phonics and Whole
Language
The First R: Every Child’s Right to Read
G. BRIAN THOMPSON andTOM NICHOLSON, Eds.
MICHAEL F. GRAVES,
PAUL VAN DEN BROEK, and Engaged Reading: Processes, Practices, and Policy
BARBARA M. TAYLOR, Eds. Implications
Exploring Blue Highways: Literacy Reform, School JOHN T. GUTHRIE and DONNA E. ALVERMANN
Change, and the Creation of Learning Communities
JOBETH ALLEN, MARILYNN CARY, and
LISA DELGADO
N L
EW ITERACIES
A
IN CTION
Teaching and Learning in
Multiple Media
William Kist
Foreword by David Bloome
Teachers College,Columbia University
New York and London
Published by Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027
Copyright © 2005 by Teachers College, Columbia University
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kist, William
New literacies in action: teaching and learning in multiple media / William Kist;
foreword by David Bloome.
p. cm. — (Language and literacy series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8077-4541-3 (cloth)—ISBN 0-8077-4540-5 (pbk.)
1. Literacy—Social aspects—United States. 2. Media literacy—Study and teaching—
United States. 3. Mass media and education—United States. I. Title. II. Language and
literacy series (New York, N.Y.)
LC151.K58 2004
302.2’244—dc22 2004055309
ISBN 0-8077-4540-5 (paper)
ISBN 0-8077-4541-3 (cloth)
Printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my parents,
Richard Clark Kist and Dorothy Levering Kist,
who filled my growing-up years with many literacies

C
ONTENTS
Foreword, by David Bloome ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 From Polytychs to Instant Messages and Back Again 1
New Literacies and Adolescent Uses of Media 2
New Literacy Studies and New Literacies 4
Terminology 11
Researching New Literacies Classrooms 13
What’s New in New Literacies? 19
2 Translation and Fluency in an Urban High School
Interdisciplinary Classroom 22
A Nontraditional Class 23
The Setting 24
Elements of Arts Seminar 26
The Monument Project 33
What the Students Say 38
Pioneering Steps of Arts Seminar 41
3 Designing Space in a Rural Classroom 44
The Setting 45
An Award-Winning School and Classroom 46
The Advertising Project 51
Students at Work 54
4 “A Dot-Com with Salsa” 61
The School and the Teachers 62
The Creation of the Education Technology Team 64
Elements of SFETT 66
Showtime:The iCan Film Festival 73
5 New Literacies and the School Librarian 77
The Setting 78
Library in Action 80
vii
viii Contents
What the Students Say 86
Role of Librarian 89
Postscript 90
6 New Literacies and At-Risk Students 92
The Setting and the Program 93
What the Students Say 102
Postscript 104
7 New Literacies and High School English 106
The School and the Curriculum 108
Structure:First Looks,Seminars,and Second Looks 112
Using New Literacies 114
What the Students Say 119
8 Final Thoughts: “My Grandchildren’s Time Zone” 126
Trends of the Data 127
Can New Literacies Be Taught in the Current
K-12 School Structure? 139
Appendix: New Literacy Classroom Characteristic Scale 143
References 145
Index 155
About the Author 161
F
OREWORD
At the beginning of Call Me Ishmael, poet Charles Olson writes:
“I take SPACE to be the central fact to man born in America, from
Folsom cave to now. I spell it large because it comes large here. Large,
and without mercy” (p. 11). Call Me Ishmael is Olson’s study of
Herman Melville’s writing of Moby Dick, perhaps the essential cap-
turing of America’s obsession with seeking and conquering space. I
also take space to be the central fact of American life but where
Melville and Olson saw space in oceans, plains, and mountains, I see
space in our daily lives, in our interactions with each other, and in
our classrooms.
For the time being, the New Literacies—as William Kist calls
them, sophisticated uses of technology and multimodal, multigenre
composition—have provided a way for some teachers and students to
create new spaces for accomplishing their daily lives: for exploring the
worlds in which they live, for constructing caring relationships with
each other, for creating meaning, and for voicing their lives. Traveling
across the United States and Canada, Kist visited teachers and students
in a broad range of classrooms and localities to see how they use the
New Literacies to create spaces for themselves. Describing one of his
observations, Kist writes, “The child looks up . . . sets aside his work-
sheet, and takes out a fresh, clean piece of paper. “ Exactly so.
There is no one way to fill up the space on that blank sheet of
paper, no one way to do the New Literacies. In each of the classrooms
described by Kist, teachers and students sat aside the worksheets and
the worksheet mentality and created their own spaces, taking
account of their own particular local circumstances.
Yet, despite the celebration we might have in what these teach-
ers and students have accomplished, there is a sense of fragility in
Kist’s description of these classrooms. He writes, “Can a teacher real-
ly do ‘new literacies’ at school without its becoming a ‘dominant lit-
eracy’. . . . Will ‘new literacies’ in a school environment become just
another dominant literacy practice?” Possibly. In some of the class-
rooms, the students failed to move beyond the excitement of having
a space for their own voices; they failed to understand the impact of
ix