Teaching Literature to Adolescents

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For those of you who are interested in responding to lack of media/digital literacies in the draft Common Core Standards, here’s some examples of the kinds of standards that could be included in any revision of the standards. While these aren’t perfect or cutting-edge, they represent the kinds of standards that are already in many state standards that would be ignored or removed if states (except for Texas (see their media standards below) and Alaska) adopt the Common Core Standards in lieu of their own standards:

The American Diploma Project Viewing standards:
G1. Evaluate the aural, visual and written images and other special effects used in television, radio, film and the Internet for their ability to inform, persuade and entertain (for example, anecdote, expert witness, vivid detail, tearful testimony and humor).
G2. Examine the intersections and conflicts between the visual (such as media images, painting, film and graphic arts) and the verbal.
G3. Recognize how visual and sound techniques or design (such as special effects, camera angles and music) carry or influence messages in various media.
G4. Apply and adapt the principles of written composition to create coherent media productions using effective images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects — if possible — and present a distinctive point of view on a topic (for example, PowerPoint presentations, videos).

The ADP Standards for Producing Digital Media provide useful, highly specific
benchmarks for production of digital media related to development/focus on topics, coherence of production related to purpose/audience defined in their writing standards, and technical facility, all of which depends on the ability to critically analyze media.
C.3.1 Topics, Development and Focus
GRADES 9 – 10
C.3.1.1.9-10 Present clearly identifiable messages (identifying and controlling both the explicit and implicit messages) using somewhat complex visual, audio, and graphic effects and interactive features. For example, students may design a Web site that presents visual and graphic effects on an assigned aspect of a literary work studied. (ADP G4)
C.3.1.2.9-12.a Demonstrate consistent and effective audience focus through purposeful choice of medium; compelling images, words and sounds; and focused supporting ideas. NOTE: There is no single benchmark that relates to this benchmark, but the expectation crosses types of writing and the principles are referred to in: ADP C9, ADP C10 and ADP E9.
C.3.1.2.9-12.b Demonstrate awareness of the transactional nature of digital media (Internet) and mass media productions (film, TV) by considering audience in all stages of media production development, delivery and revision. NOTE: There is no single benchmark that relates to this benchmark, but the expectation crosses types of writing and the principles are referred to in: ADP C9, ADP C10 and ADP E9.
GRADES 11 – 12
C.3.1.1.11-12 Maintain a consistent focus on and control over explicit and implicit messages, skillfully using sophisticated media tools and elements (including visual, audio and graphic effects) and interactive features. For example, students may create an interactive Web site that incorporates audio and/or video on a chosen aspect of a literary work studied. (ADP G4)
C.3.1.2.9-12.a Demonstrate consistent and effective audience focus through purposeful choice of medium; compelling images, words and sounds; and focused supporting ideas. NOTE: There is no single benchmark that relates to this benchmark, but the expectation crosses types of writing and the principles are referred to in: ADP C9, ADP C10 and ADP E9.
C.3.1.2.9-12.b Demonstrate awareness of the transactional nature of digital media (Internet) and mass media productions (film, TV) by considering audience in all stages of media production development, delivery and revision. NOTE: There is no single benchmark that relates to this benchmark, but the expectation crosses types of writing and the principles are referred to in: ADP C9, ADP C10 and ADP E9.
C.3.2 Coherence and Cohesion
Effective organization is crucial to the success of various media productions – including video presentations, audio productions, Web sites, magazine and newspaper articles, and print advertisements. The organizational structures of each vary according to the purpose, intended audience and context. For a general idea regarding organization, please see the Writing strand, specifically C.1.2 Coherence and Cohesion.
C.3.3 Technical Facility and Control
GRADES 4 – 8
C.3.3.1.4-8 Use visual images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects that relate to and support clear, explicit messages. For example, "America the Beautiful" may serve as background music to a media tour of a national park or a short slide show that informs the audience of ways to avoid heat stroke may use "You Are My Sunshine" as background music. (ADP G4)
GRADES 9 – 10
C.3.3.1.9-10 Use varied visual images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects appropriately to support explicit and implicit messages. For example, students may use images that include a mix of opposites to make an impact, such as pictures or video of street people and wealthy people, or of drought-ridden scenes with lush green hills. (ADP G4)

GRADES 11 – 12
C.3.3.1.11-12 Effectively and purposefully employ conventional and unconventional visual images, text, graphics, music and/or sound effects (e.g., layout, pictures, typefaces in print media; camera shots, lighting, editing, dialogue, setting and sound in video productions; sound, dialogue and programming format in audio productions; layout, navigation, and dynamic and interactive features in on-line productions) to convey explicit and implicit messages and achieve the purposes in complex media presentations. For example, a video presentation on career choices may include excerpts that range from job interviews to on-the-job scenes to explanations of the kinds of preparation needed for various careers. (ADP G4)


The “21st Century Skills” project posits that the following standards:
Create Media Products
* Understand and utilize the most appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and conventions
* Understand and effectively utilize the most appropriate expressions and interpretations in diverse, multi-cultural environments
ICT (Information, Communications & Technology) Literacy
Apply Technology Effectively
* Use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate
information
* Use digital technologies (computers, PDAs, media players, GPS, etc.), communication/networking tools and social networks appropriately to access, manage, integrate, evaluate and create information to successfully function in a knowledge economy

Wisconsin’s Standard E (Media and Technology). And, one strong aspect of Wisconsin’s media literacy standards is that they emphasize both the critical analysis and production of media/technology, as well as the importance of focusing on multimodal and interactive aspects of communication.
Content Standard: Students in Wisconsin will use media and technology critically and creatively to obtain, organize, prepare and share information; to influence and persuade; and to entertain and be entertained.
By the end of grade eight, students will:
E.8.1 Use computers to acquire, organize, analyze, and communicate information.
* Demonstrate efficient word-processing skills
* Construct and use simple databases
* Use manuals and on-screen help in connection with computer applications
* Perform basic computer operations on various platforms
* Collect information from various on-line sources, such as web pages, news groups, and listservs
E.8.2 Make informed judgments about media and products.
* Recognize common structural features found in print and broadcast advertising
* Identify and explain the use of stereotypes and biases evident in various media
* Compare the effect of particular symbols and images seen in various media
* Develop criteria for selecting or avoiding specific broadcast programs and periodicals
E.8.3 Create media products appropriate to audience and purpose.
* Write informational articles that target audiences of a variety of publications
* Use desktop publishing to produce products such as brochures and newsletters designed for particular organizations and audiences
* Create video and audiotapes designed for particular audiences
E.8.4 Demonstrate a working knowledge of media production and distribution.
* Plan a promotion or campaign that involves broadcast and print media production and distribution
* Analyze how messages may be affected by financial factors such as sponsorship
* Identify advertising strategies and techniques aimed at teenagers
E.8.5 Analyze and edit media work as appropriate to audience and purpose.
* Revise media productions by adding, deleting, and adjusting the sequence and arrangement of information, images, or other content as necessary to improve focus, clarity, or effect
* Develop criteria for comprehensive feedback on the quality of media work and use it during production
By the end of grade twelve, students will:
E.12.1 Use computers to acquire, organize, analyze, and communicate information.
* Design, format, and produce attractive word-processed documents for various purposes
* Incorporate information from databases and spreadsheets into reports
* Integrate graphics appropriately into reports, newsletters, and other documents
* Retrieve and reproduce documents across various platforms
* Use on-line sources to exchange information
E.12.2 Make informed judgments about media and products.
* Develop and apply evaluative criteria of accuracy and point of view to broadcast news programs
* Recognize and explain the impact of various media on daily life
* Analyze the content and effect of subtle persuasive techniques used on-line and in broadcast and print media
* Develop and apply criteria for evaluating broadcast programming
E.12.3 Create media products appropriate to audience and purpose.
* Create multimedia presentations in connection with major projects, such as research reports or exhibitions
* Develop various media products to inform or entertain others in school or the community such as slide shows, videos, newspapers, sound recordings, literary publications, and brochures
E.12.4 Demonstrate a working knowledge of media production and distribution.
* Analyze the effect of media production techniques, such as music, camera angles, fade-outs, and lighting, on different audiences
* Evaluate the impact of various market factors on the effectiveness of media production and distribution
* Identify the impact of image and context on particular audiences receiving the same message
* Develop and apply criteria for evaluating advertising campaigns for a variety of products, past and present
E.12.5 Analyze and edit media work as appropriate to audience and purpose.
* Develop and present criteria for evaluating a variety of media products
* Evaluate audience feedback on the clarity, form, effectiveness, technical achievement and aesthetic appeal of media work

Minnesota Educational Media Organization’s (MEMO) standards. In 2004, The Minnesota Educational Media Organization’s (MEMO) formulated a set of standards for “information and technology literacy” that included a set of media literacy standards that includes both critical analysis of and production of media:
Standard: The student will critically evaluate films, recordings, and other multimedia formats.
The student will:
• Understand how meaning is conveyed in images and sound.
• Understand the effect of media on perception and culture.
• Evaluate television, radio, film productions, newspapers, and magazines with
regard to quality of production, accuracy of information, bias, purpose, message
and audience.
• Analyze the messages and points of view employed in different media, including
advertising, news programs, web sites and documentaries.
Standard: The student will create video and multimedia productions.
Students will:
• Create multimedia presentations for an audience, demonstrating an understanding of visual design.
• Create video presentations for an audience, demonstrating an understanding of the language of images and sound.
Examples:
• Text design (for example, serif and sans serif fonts)
• Image (visual) design (color, line, texture, shape, etc.)
• Grammar of video (sequencing, camera angles and movement, scene composition, effects of lighting and sound, and sound quality.

The Texas Media Literacy standards also include useful critical analysis standards:
- identify different forms of media (e.g., advertisements, newspapers, radio programs); and
identify techniques used in media (e.g., sound, movement).
- understand how communication changes when moving from one genre of media to another;
- explain how various design techniques used in media influence the message (e.g., shape, color, sound); and compare various written conventions used for digital media (e.g., language in an informal e-mail vs. language in a web-based news article).
- explain the positive and negative impacts of advertisement techniques used in various genres of media to impact consumer behavior; explain how various design techniques used in media influence the message (e.g., pacing, close-ups, sound effects); and compare various written conventions used for digital media (e.g. language in an informal e-mail vs. language in a web-based news article).
- explain how messages conveyed in various forms of media are presented differently (e.g., documentaries, online information, televised news).
- consider the difference in techniques used in media (e.g., commercials, documentaries, news)
- identify the point of view of media presentations; and analyze various digital media venues for levels of formality and informality.
- interpret both explicit and implicit messages in various forms of media; interpret how visual and sound techniques (e.g., special effects, camera angles, lighting, music) influence the message; evaluate the role of media in focusing attention on events and informing opinion on issues; interpret how visual and sound techniques (e.g., special effects, camera angles, lighting, music) influence the message; evaluate various techniques used to create a point of view in media and the impact on audience; and assess the correct level of formality and tone for successful participation in various digital media.

The following is a response to the lack of attention to media/digital literacies in the English Common Core Standards:

Whereas in 1996, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) passed a resolution urging language arts teachers to consider the importance of bringing visual texts into the classroom. The resolution said: "Viewing and visually representing (defined in the NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts) are a part of our growing consciousness of how people gather and share information. Teachers and students need to expand their appreciation of the power of print and nonprint texts. Teachers should guide students in constructing meaning through creating and viewing nonprint texts."

Whereas in 2000, the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) defined
media literacy as: (empowering) “people to be both critical thinkers and creative producers of an increasingly wide range of messages using image, language, and sound. It is the skillful application of literacy skills to media and technology messages. As communication technologies transform society, they impact our understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our diverse cultures, making media literacy an essential life skill for the 21st century.”

Whereas the 2009 K-12 Horizon Report (http://www.nmc.org/horizon), declared the number one critical challenge for schools in the 21st century is: "a growing need for formal instruction in key new skills, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy."

Whereas the 2010 K-12 Horizon Report continues to include this critical challenge when it says:
“Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession.;

Whereas media/digital literacy has become central to life and work in society;

Whereas, today’s educators recognize that the words “text” and “literacy” are not confined to the words on page;

Whereas the Common Core Standards only refer in general terms to media as “nonprint texts in media forms old and new. The need to research and to consume and produce media is embedded into every element of today’s curriculum;”

Whereas media/digital literacy are now well articulated in much more detail in most state standards, often under the category of “viewing” or “visually representing,” resulting in a strong media literacy curriculum focus;

Whereas if media/digital literacy is not explicitly articulated “in the standards,” many teachers many not focus on media/digital instruction;

We, the undersigned urge that more specific media/digital literacy standards related to critical analysis of media/digital consumption/use, production, representations, social/cultural analysis, ownership, and influence on society be explicitly stated in the Common Core Standards.

K12 Online 2009 Conference Presentation: Use of VideoAnt for annotating students' videos

In my K12 Online 2009 Conference presentation, I'm describing the use of the free VideoAnt tool developed at the University of Minnesota for adding annotations to students' videos.

My 20 minute presentation includes a description of the purpose for using VideoAnt as an annotation tool.  For longer versions of this material, here's a tutorial on using VideoAnt and my compete annotations to the entire student video about a student who enters into an alternative world of different music video productions, not knowing how to break out of that world.

Teachers can also use VideoAnt to provide feedback to videos of students discussions.  Here's my annotation feedback to a group of preservice teachers' discussing a poem: Part 1 of my feedback and then Part 2 of my feedback.

In addition to using VideoAnt, teachers can also use VoiceThread or Viddler for providing annotations to students videos.

Who's creating the Common Core Standards to be used by 49 states

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) are in working in partnership with Achieve, Inc, ACT and the College Board.to develop college preparation Common Core standards in literacy and math to be used by 49 states and territories as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

This initiative raises a lot of questions relative to how these standards are being formulated:

1. Why is it that The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) are leading this effort? 

2. Why is it that the Standards Development Work Group writing the current college preparation standards consist primarily of “content experts from Achieve, Inc., ACT, and the College Board”—corporate/testing organizations, while nationally-known members of the “English-language Arts Feedback Group” are positioned primary to give feedback, as opposed to writing the standards?

3. Why are the IRA, NCTE, NRC, ASCD, etc., as well as other professional groups such as the NEA not assuming a central role as subject-matter/content experts in framing these standards?  While “states and national education organizations will have an opportunity to review and provide evidence-based feedback on the draft documents throughout the process,” as Kyleen Beers’s letter asks, when and how will that process occur? 

4. How are groups be framing the organizational structure of the Common Core Standards?

            The draft standards continues to draw on a traditional framework that divides literacy instruction into “reading,” “writing,” and “speaking/listening,” with some references to digital text processing and production.  This framework assumes that literacy learning consists of separate sets of strategies or skills associated with these different categories, failing to foster the integration of literacy practices.  As an NCTE (2007) statement on writing instruction noted:

Writing and reading are related. People who read a lot have a much easier time getting better at writing. In order to write a particular kind of text, it helps if the writer has read that kind of text. In order to take on a particular style of language, the writer needs to have read that language, to have heard it in her mind, so that she can hear it again in order to compose it…From its beginnings in early childhood through the most complex setting imaginable, writing exists in a nest of talk. Conversely, speakers usually write notes and, regularly, scripts, and they often prepare visual materials that include texts and images. Writers often talk in order to rehearse the language and content that will go into what they write, and conversation often provides an impetus or occasion for writing.

And, one of the “guidelines” for the South Carolina language arts standards document (South Carolina Department of Education (2007) notes:

Reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and researching are not discrete skills: each literacy strand intertwines with and supports the others, creating a tapestry of language.

            My own belief is that what is needed is a framework with categories in which the primary unit of analysis are the activities or purposes involved in using reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing as literacy tools designed to achieve certain purposes involved in the processes of creating, performing, and responding, for example 1) engaging with/inquiring/searching, 2) comprehending/interpreting/connecting/critiquing, 3) organizing/producing/performing/sharing

5.  To what degree will groups be including digital literacy standards? 

            While the proposed college preparation standards and the benchmark examples of the American Diploma Standards certainly include standards related to digital literacies, to what degree with these standards recognize the equal importance of both print and digital literacies.  A recent survey of 900 language arts teachers conducted by the National Council of Teachers of English (2009) found that the top three abilities for student success in their classes were that students be able to:

- seek information and make critical judgments about the veracity of sources.

- read and interpret many different kinds of texts, both in print and online.

- innovate and apply knowledge creatively.

            Almost two-thirds indicated that given new notions of literacy, that their teaching has undergone marked changes.  62% rejected the notion that basic language, reading, and writing skills must be mastered before critical 21^st century literacy abilities can be cultivated.  They perceived the methods associated with 21^st century literacies as involving “(1) learning through

cross-disciplinary projects/project-based learning; (2) inquiry-based learning; and (3) incorporating student choices as a significant part of instruction.” The approaches least likely to be related to 21^st century literacies involve “(1) preparing students for success on high-stakes tests; (2) helping students retain information so that they can deliver it on demand; and (3) direct instruction methods.”  More than half believed that these literacies are more likely to be acquired outside of school than in school, in which there is a predominate focus on “reading nonfiction, conducting research using print texts, writing expository or narrative texts, and writing a letter, journal, or diary (on paper).”

6. What are the assumptions about assessment methods underlying standards development?  Does the criteria of “measurable” as shaping standards construction imply a continued reliance on standardized testing focused primarily on print-based literacies?  A recently crafted report issued by Joint Task Force on Assessment of the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English (2009) chaired by Peter Johnston noted the following problems with standards formulation driven by limited assessments:

         Two major problems beset efforts to inquire into curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The first is that reading and writing standards guiding curricula in various states and districts often fragment literacy rather than represent its complexity. They also frequently omit important aspects of literacy such as self-initiated learning, questioning author’s bias, perspective taking, multiple literacies, social interactions around literacy, metacognitive strategies, and literacy dispositions.  Furthermore, even when the standards come closer to representing these features of complex literacy, most high-stakes assessments rarely include the “difficult to measure” standards, opting instead to assess content that is easier and more expedient to assess using inexpensive test formats.  For example, teachers who emphasize clarity of writing, attention to audience, vibrant language, revision, and sound support of assertions advocated in many content standards rarely find such qualities fully reflected in high-stakes tests, or find them assessed through items that focus on mechanics or conventions. Similarly, students who are urged to form opinions and back them up need to be assessed accordingly, instead of with tests that do not allow for creative or divergent thinking…

            Policy makers and administrators, no less than teachers and students, must understand the complexities and importance of a full and critical literacy and the nature of instruction that will foster it. They must recognize that tests, although sometimes necessary, are often not the best assessment procedures for capturing the subtleties of teaching and learning. They must recognize test results for what they obscure or fail to assess as well as for what they reveal.  In the public interest, they must not endow test scores with the power to tell more than they are able. Hundreds of studies have shown that nonschool factors, such as parent education level or socioeconomic status, have a greater effect on student achievement than school factors. Tests that do not adequately reflect a complex model of literacy send a misleading message to teachers and students about the kinds of reading and writing that are valued by society.  In sum, without critical inquiry into the link between specific assessments and curricula, it is difficult to know whether an assessment provides a full representation of literacy or even represents a valid measure of the standards it is intended to represent.

 

Only some aspects of reading and writing will be captured in any given assessment situation. Formal tests need to be considerably more complex than is generally true today. Tests that accommodate multiple responses, different types of texts and tasks, and indicators of attitude and motivation are all essential to a comprehensive view of literacy achievement. Wherever possible, assessments must specify the types of texts, tasks, and situations used for assessment purposes and note whether and when students’ performance was improved by variations in text quality, type of task, or situation.

In order to meet this standard, we must depend less on one-shot assessment practices and place more value on ongoing classroom performance, assuming that classroom curricula develop the full complexity of literate learning. Finally, when assessment information is interpreted and reported, descriptive information about the assessment tasks and texts and the instructional situation should be included. Given the complexity of the tasks involved, reducing reading and writing performance to a letter or number grade is unacceptable.

 

            The Task Force noted the limitations of an instructional/assessment focus only on print literacies, particularly in terms of differences involved in writing and/or comprehending print versus online texts, as well as the need to develop more sophisticated assessment tools:

Reading and writing online change what it means to read, write, and comprehend. Literacy practices now involve both the creation and use of multimodal “texts” (broadly defined). Creating multimodal texts requires knowing the properties and limitations of different digital tools so that decisions can be made about how best to serve one’s intentions.  Participating in social networking sites requires new literacy practices; new literacy practices shape how users are perceived and how they construct identities.  This leads to new areas needing to be assessed, including how youth create and enhance multiple identities using digital tools and virtual spaces.  We will now need to be concerned with teaching and assessing how students take an idea in print and re-represent it, for example, with video clips for other audiences.   Similarly, we will be concerned about the stances and practices involved in being able to take an idea presented in one modality (e.g., print) and transcribing (transmediating) it into another; what possibilities and limitations does a particular mode offer and how does that relate to its desirability over other modes for particular purposes and situations?   Children use different comprehension strategies online and offline, and assessments of the two show different pictures of their literacy development.  Online readers, by choosing hypertext and intertext links actually construct the texts that they read as well as the meanings they make. These new literacies also require new critical media literacies, linked to classical critical literacy notions of how “media culture” is created, appropriated, and subsequently colonizes the broader notions of culture—e.g., how youth culture is defined by and used to define what youth do, buy, and with whom they hang out.

                        The definitions of literacy that have dominated schooling, and are insisted on by most current testing systems, are inadequate for a new highly networked information age. New technologies such as search engines, social networking sites and video technologies, require new literacies to engage their potential, and failure to help all students acquire these literacies will not serve them or the society well.  Not to teach the necessary skills, strategies, dispositions and social practices is to deny children full access to economic, social and political participation in the new global society

 

 

 

Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy : March 2009

Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy : March 2009.

Commentary Learning Argument Practices Through Online Role-Play: Toward a Rhetoric of Significance and Transformation Richard Beach Candance Doerr-Stevens

One important literacy practice is the ability to formulate effective arguments to convince others of the validity of one's position. In this commentary, we discuss the literacy practices involved in formulating arguments as well as the challenges involved in helping students acquire these practices.

In contrast to more traditional approaches to teaching argument, we propose that students can learn these practices through participation in online role-play activities. We also argue that students will be more motivated to engage in online role-play if they are debating an issue or problem that affects their everyday lives and that will lead to change, an approach driven by what we describe as a rhetoric of significance and transformation.

 We believe that it is important that students learn how to engage in these collaborative arguments with others to address and solve problems in their everyday lives. In this commentary, we propose some activities designed to foster use of collaborative arguments in the classroom through the use of online role-play.

Learning to Engage in Written Arguments

Students typically engage in arguments in schools through writing persuasive essays in which they voice opinions on an issue, but they generally provide little support for those opinions (Felton & Herko, 2004). These formalized approaches to teaching arguments are often divorced from students' uses of arguing in everyday conversations in which they are more likely to employ counter-claims, rebuttals, and qualifications than in formal persuasive essays (Felton & Herko, 2004). Their persuasive essay tasks also occur in a rhetorical vacuum.

 One possible explanation for students' poor performance on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) persuasive writing assessments (Greenwald, Persky, Campbell, & Mazzeo, 1999) has to do with the authenticity of test-taking rhetorical context in which students are writing for no authentic purpose and audience, a limitation that the new NAEP composition assessments are addressing. When students have a specific purpose and audience for their written arguments, they are more likely to consider counter-arguments and rebuttals (Midgette, Haria, & MacArthur, 2008). Moreover, in writing persuasive essays, students may have little ownership of or conviction about the position they are adopting, resulting in writing as no more than an exercise in “knowledge telling” (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1984).

 Instruction in argument is further limited by a focus on adopting a competitive, confrontational stance, particularly in oral debates in which the goal is to win over audiences and defeat opponents. This competitive approach differs from a more collaborative perspective in which people collectively posit, test out, and revise alternative positions within a larger context of engaging in community rhetorical action leading to change (Flower, 2008).

 Students' notions of argument are also shaped by their experience with portrayals of argument in the media designed to influence audience beliefs. Unfortunately, students often find that the media appeals to the beliefs of certain niche audiences who gravitate to those outlets reporting news consistent with their beliefs. While U.S. audiences largely acquired their news from the same outlets up until the 1970s—CBS, NBC, ABC, the AP, and major newspapers—since the 1980s, the news has increasingly been channeled and filtered by outlets such as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CNN, or the Huffington Post, targeted to certain niche audiences who then adopt the beliefs espoused by these outlets (Manjoo, 2008).

Audiences therefore construct their beliefs about information on issues according to their identification with their particular values groups—“conservative Republicans,” “environmentalists,” “libertarians,” “liberal Democrats,” and the like—associated with and constructed by specific media outlets. An analysis of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the Wall Street Journal characterized these outlets as “echo chambers” in that these outlets restrict access to alternative, competing news sources and negatively portray political opponents (Jamieson & Cappella, 2008).

Click on above link for rest of article

Get Lit Players bring poetry's emotions to other L.A. teenagers - Los Angeles Times

Get Lit Players bring poetry's emotions to other L.A. teenagers - Los Angeles Times.

Scott Gold -- For as long as he can remember, Dario Serrano's life was all screeching tires and echoing gunshots, babies' cries and barking dogs, a symphony, as he puts it, of "hood rats and gangsters," of "vatos vatos and payasos" -- dudes and numskulls, loosely translated. By high school, he'd pretty much given up on himself. He bounced around between three schools. He started selling pot, though he always seemed to smoke more than he sold. His GPA fell to 0.67, which is about as bad as you can get and still be showing up. * Audio slide show: Poetry emotions Audio slide show: Poetry emotions Literature, it is fair to say, was not resonating. "I mean, 'The Great Gatsby'?" he says incredulously, and when he puts it like that, Lincoln Heights does feel pretty far from Long Island. When a friend suggested that poetry might be his thing, Serrano scoffed. Grudgingly, he started tagging along to a poetry club, and one day last year he took his lunch break in a classroom where a teen troupe called Get Lit was holding auditions. Get Lit's artistic director, an African American artist named Azure Antoinette, performed an original composition called "Box," a denunciation of anyone who would define her by the color of her skin, who would lump together, thoughtlessly, faces of color:

 "The general population has come to a consensus that we don't have a prayer," she said, her voice filling the room. "All we have is prayer. . . . We are not victims." This, Serrano thought, was something he could get behind. Today the nonprofit Get Lit Players are barnstorming Los Angeles, kids performing for kids, thousands of them over the course of a dozen school performances this winter and spring. Some of their readings are of the classic variety -- Ezra Pound; Langston Hughes; "The Boy Died in My Alley" by the great Gwendolyn Brooks, written in the voice of a girl who confesses that she heard the gunshot but didn't think much of it because she'd also heard "the thousand shots before."

But much of their material consists of in-your-face original compositions -- about teenage mothers and mixed-race children, about gang violence and immigrant pride -- that are performed in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Bengali, like a soundtrack to a modern, messy L.A. Serrano, now 18, has become a troupe leader. Poetry, he says, saved his life. He graduated last year from Marshall High School, earning straight A's in the homestretch, he said, and now attends East Los Angeles College, where he is considering a career in education. One of his compositions, "Home Is," is an anchor of the Get Lit shows. Like many poets before him, Serrano has discovered that unvarnished autobiography often makes for the strongest material: You can say it to my face; I ain't afraid to admit I was other stereotypes: A joker, a drug broker, a known toker, a first day of school loner A drug abuser, a street cruiser But I guess you can say I'm a geek, incognito

 It is a rainy afternoon in West Hollywood, and Diane Luby Lane is insisting that she is not a crier, though this is the third time she has cried before finishing a bowl of soup. They are not tears of sadness, nor joy, but rather a passion for the written word that feels disarming in a busy, digital world. "Listen to this," Lane says, and from her purse, she produces a copy of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" that has very nearly been loved to death. She reads from Whitman's "Song of Myself": "I will not have a single person slighted or left away." "He's saying: 'I'm for you,' " Lane says; literature, in other words, is for everyone.

NCTE Inbox Blog: What Does It Mean to be Literate?

NCTE Inbox Blog: What Does It Mean to be Literate?.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 What Does It Mean to be Literate?

This week the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) reported the first rise in the number of adults reading literature since they began their survey in 1982. In fact, 16.6 million more adults reported reading literature (novels and short stories, plays, or poems) in 2008. And, the most rapid increase was in literature reading by young adults aged 18-24.

This same week the National Center for Educational Statistics finally released its 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, reporting that roughly 32 million U.S. adults (nearly one in seven) lack Basic Prose Literacy Skills and aren’t able to read at all or can read only the simplest of messages. What does this mean? How can more people be reading literature while so many other people are “functionally illiterate”?

 It seems to me—and it’s spelled out in the NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts and in NCTE’s Definition of 21st Century Literacies —that reading is just one part of literacy. In fact, to be literate today one must read and write; speak, listen, and view; think critically, act creatively and collaboratively; and manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information.

 When I look at the criteria for the National Endowment for the Arts study, I’m delighted that adults are reading “literature,” but I can’t help but wonder how many more adults might be reading nonfiction, reading webpages, reading images, doing important reading that doesn’t fit under the NEA definition of literature.

Then I think about those many adults who can’t read in English or who can only “locate easily identifiable information in short, commonplace prose text.” What will become of them? How will they function in a fast-moving world that relies on printed and graphic texts?/p> And adults aren’t our only concern. In "Training Focuses on Improving Literacy,” NCTE president Kylene Beers says, “Our kids just aren't as literate as they need to be." I have to agree.

 With all they see and hear around them, many kids still have difficulty digging below the surface—deeply “reading” what the world has to offer them. One way we can help is by gearing what and how we teach in class toward helping our students develop high level literacy skills that will serve them now and in the future.

NCTE’s 21st NCTE Framework for 21st Century Curriculum and Assessment serves as a good guideline for how we might do this.

NEA: Reading is on the rise

More American Adults Read Literature According to New
NEA Study

		Contact: Sally Gifford 202.682.5606 [email protected]

Literary reading on the rise for first time in history of Arts Endowment survey

January 12, 2009

Washington, D.C. -- For the first time in more than 25 years, American adults are reading more literature, according to a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts. Reading on the Rise documents a definitive increase in rates and numbers of American adults who read literature, with the biggest increases among young adults, ages 18-24. This new growth reverses two decades of downward trends cited previously in NEA reports such as Reading at Risk and To Read or Not To Read.

"At a time of immense cultural pessimism, the NEA is pleased to announce some important good news. Literary reading has risen in the U.S. for the first time in a quarter century," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "This dramatic turnaround shows that the many programs now focused on reading, including our own Big Read, are working. Cultural decline is not inevitable."

Among the key findings:

Literary reading increases

• For the first time in the history of the survey - conducted five times since 1982 - the overall rate at which adults read literature (novels and short stories, plays, or poems) rose by seven percent.
• The absolute number of literary readers has grown significantly. There were 16.6 million more adult readers of literature in 2008. The growth in new readers reflects higher adult reading rates combined with overall population growth.
• The 2008 increases followed significant declines in reading rates for the two most recent ten-year survey periods (1982-1992 and 1992-2002).

Demographics of literature readers

• Young adults show the most rapid increases in literary reading. Since 2002, 18-24 year olds have seen the biggest increase (nine percent) in literary reading, and the most rapid rate of increase (21 percent). This jump reversed a 20 percent rate of decline in the 2002 survey, the steepest rate of decline since the NEA survey began.
• Since 2002, reading has increased at the sharpest rate (+20 percent) among Hispanic Americans, Reading rates have increased among African Americans by 15 percent, and among Whites at an eight percent rate of increase.
• For the first time in the survey's history, literary reading has increased among both men and women. Literary reading rates have grown or held steady for adults of all education levels.

Trends in media and literary preferences

• Fiction (novels and short stories) accounts for the new growth in adult literary readers.
• Reading poetry and drama continues to decline, especially poetry-reading among women.
• Online readers also report reading books. Eighty-four percent of adults who read literature (fiction, poetry, or drama) on or downloaded from the Internet also read books, whether print or online.
• Nearly 15 percent of all U.S. adults read literature online in 2008.

A tale of two Americas

• The U.S. population now breaks into two almost equally sized groups – readers and non-readers.
• A slight majority of American adults now read literature (113 million) or books (119 million) in any format.
• Reading is an important indicator of positive individual and social behavior patterns. Previous NEA research has shown that literary readers volunteer, attend arts and sports events, do outdoor activities, and exercise at higher rates than non-readers.

The NEA research brochure Reading on the Rise is based on early results from the 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). SPPA is a periodic survey that has been conducted five times since 1982 using data obtained in partnership with the United States Census Bureau. Detailed results from the 2008 survey will be available in 2009. The 2008 SPPA survey has a sample size of more than 18,000 adults. The 2008 survey's literary reading questions - which form the focus of Reading on the Rise - were the same as in previous years: "During the last 12 months, did you read any a) novels or short stories; b) poetry; or c) plays?" Since 1992, the survey also has asked about book-reading. In 2008, the survey introduced new questions about reading preferences and reading on the Internet.

NEA literature initiatives

The issue of declining reading rates has been addressed by a number of public and private initiatives. The Arts Endowment has embraced the challenge with a range of programs to promote reading among young audiences. In 2003, the NEA launched Shakespeare in American Communities, the largest tour of Shakespeare in American history, reaching more than 21 million students through performances and educational resources. The Big Read, a partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, encourages communities to read, discuss, and celebrate selections from American and world literature. Poetry Out Loud: National Poetry Recitation Contest has introduced thousands of high school students nationwide to classic and contemporary poetry through this dynamic recitation competition.

NEA research resources

Since 1976, the NEA Office of Research & Analysis has issued periodic research reports, brochures, and notes on topics affecting arts and cultural policy and matters of vital interest to artists and arts organizations. Most recently, the NEA has produced reports on nonprofit theater, artist employment trends, and the arts and civic engagement. Reading on the Rise, along with other NEA research, is available for download at www.nea.gov/research.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest annual national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.

ReadWriteThink: Student Materials: Literary Graffiti

ReadWriteThink: Student Materials: Literary Graffiti.

Literary Graffiti

Teaching high school students to visualize what they are reading and to create graphic symbols helps them develop as readers.

 The Literary Graffiti interactive combines the process of drawing with analytical thinking about a text by pairing an online drawing space with writing prompts (shown at left) that encourage students to make connections between their visual designs and the text. The tool can be used for whole-class discussion of a text, small-group work, or individually, where students use "graffiti," symbols, drawings, shapes, and colors to construct a graphic of the text they are reading. After completing their individual or group images, students have the ability to print out their final versions for feedback and assessment.