Students have a multitude of options for entertainment. Asking a student to put down their iPad Apps for a book can be difficult.
Terry Heick at TeachThought shares 10 strategies to Reach 21st Century Readers.
10 Strategies To Reach The 21st Century Reader
1. Use combinations of media–classic and modern together, leveraging one against the other
2. Have students analyze diverse media forms for their strengths and weaknesses–and involve both classic and digital forms
3. Have students turn essays into videos into podcasts into letters into simply-coded games into poems into apps. (See also #7.)
4. Allow students to pick media while you pick themes and standards
5. When designing units, choose the media first, then the standards (yes, this likely goes against what you were taught–but give it a try)
6. Insist all writing “leaves the classroom” and is published–then design units accordingly
7. Have students use RAFT-Role, Audience, Format, and Topic/Tone/Theme. Then have them revise media in response to new roles, audiences, formats, or topics, tones, or themes. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream Speech” in a new format (a video?), or to a new audience (modern hip-hop artists?), or with a new tone (angry?). Students experimenting here are experimenting with media design!
8. Have them consistently reflect on the need, logistics, opportunities, and challenges of moving back and forth between physical and digital text
9. Use tools like text annotation on pdfs and Kindle for text-marking, note-sharing, and more
10. Create social media-based reading clubs
The full article which includes the importance of meshing media and written text can be found here.
