Many Texts, Many Voices

I received this book for Christmas and just started reading it now.  It's not as good as I had hoped as far as practical advice, but I did take away this quote.

"The term multiliteracies was new to all of us.  As we explored all that it represented, we came to understand it as an expanded view of literacy that includes visual and digital literacies in addition to print.  We knew that there are many ways, or modes, of making and understanding meaning.  But rather than only thinking of literacy as reading and writing print, we needed to widen our definition of of literacy to include a range of modalities such as music, drama, art, and technology.  A deeper realization was that these modalities often overlap to convey meaning and build comprehension.  Once we began to think about multiliteracies as a way of exploring the complex process of learning, we began to notice so much more in Mary's classroom.  Children are always reading, singing, drawing, dancing, dramatizing, talking, and writing their way to understanding.  These various literacies - or multiliteracies - validate what teachers intuitively understand:  that learning to read, write, and comprehend our world involves more than scripted programs, drill and practice, and taking tests.  Recognizing what students already know and do, capturing it, challenging it, and directly teaching through these different literacies becomes an authentic way to engage, enrich, and challenge today's young learners.  It also provides opportunities to expand the curriculum and design meaningful ways to differentiate instruction."

I am spending this week at Plymouth working on school things.  Making my lists, planning the year all the way down to the books to read each week for each subject.  I love the organized feeling at the beginning of the year.  I have some new things I'm doing that I am excited about.  I'll have to make a school post in a few weeks.