Learning Reflections from Teaching Multimodal Composition in Middle School ELA
November 5: Leveled Questions
I showed a Powtoon video over the different levels of questions and which ones were best for research. We discussed the different characteristics of each level of question and how to identify them. Then, students were grouped based on their seating charts and given one piece of paper with an ancient civilization already written on it. They came up with as many level 1,2, and 3 questions as possible during the timed activity.
While students were working I went around each group and observed their writing and discussions. They all seemed to be on-topic and engaged throughout the activity. I heard lots of “that would be a level ____ question” or “what if we asked this instead to make it a higher level?”. My initial plans were to have them create a poster; however, they seemed engaged with the piece of paper I gave and having one scribe instead of all touching the same materials and working on a poster. This decision was mainly made due to health precautions and limiting the number of shared resources. In the future, I will definitely have them make a poster when I feel it is safer to do so and hang them up in the room as anchor charts. For the most part, the groups’ papers seemed to show they could create their own leveled questions, even after one mini-lesson. Figure 1 shows an example of one group's leveled questions about Ancient Egypt.
November 6: Keyword Searching
I had originally planned to integrate keyword searching into the unit after students began creating their focus research questions. However, I felt it was important to at least introduce it before having them begin researching, so they could have guided practice. For this lesson, we watched a video over choosing keywords for research to help find the best, most relevant sources. Students then completed an activity on Canvas with science fun fact questions and chose the keywords to search to find the best answers. They wrote their keywords, answers, and the website they found their information.
While they all completed the assignment and were engaged in that aspect, I felt I could have made this much more engaging. Next time, I think I want to make it more of a keyword scavenger hunt activity. I would also use keyword handouts/resources I had available. Students did a great job choosing keywords from each question. This helped me see they were ready to move on to creating their own research focus questions and searching sources using keywords.
November 9: Exploring Topics and Forming Questions
Before asking students to create their focus questions, we explored different ancient civilizations so they could know what civilization they wanted to research. They also had to choose a topic, such as education, sports, military, government, etc. so they could add their civilization and topic together in question formatting. Usually, I would build this activity day around stations with bustling conversations and exploration; however, this year students explored using videos and links they had through the Canvas module. While I know it was not my traditional idea of engagement and exploration, students stayed on task and were asking questions and sharing comments about what they found interesting.
Instead of post-it notes, I had students complete a Google Form for their inquiry question.. I think it would have been neat to have the post-its as visuals around the room to show the different types of questions being asked. However, the Google Form allowed me to ask some more questions to get a better understanding of their thinking process in choosing their specific question. It also helped me see the connections they were making in their learning by asking them to identify which level their own question was and why they believed that. Most correctly identified their question as level 2 or 3 and explained they would have to find multiple sources to fully answer the question and it could not be answered in one simple sentence.
November 10-11: Finding and Recording Relevant Information
For two days students searched the credible sources given through links I posted and my district’s middle school library Symbaloo (Figure 2). They recorded the information on a Google Drawing graphic organizer I created and made an individual copy for each student. It was my first time using a Google Drawing for a graphic organizer, but it seemed to work well! One thing I forgot to do from my initial plans was to include keyword searches on the graphic organizer. Students listed the website they found their information and summarized the most important/relevant information for each source.
One major change I made in my plans was allowing students to work in socially distanced groups for this project and forming a research question together. Each group had to find the three sources for each student, so the group projects actually deepened their knowledge of their research question. They were all very engaged with finding their three sources and sharing what they found with their group members. Each group rose to my expectations and had at least three or more sources per group member.
November 12-13, 16: Project Creation and Works Cited
This part of the project began with students exploring the different tools embedded into a Symbaloo I created. My initial plans had two to three tools for each mode, and while most modes had at least two options, I decided to limit the number of tools I introduced to students. I wanted to make sure I could at least somewhat help them produce with each tool. I have learned with digital and multimodal literacies it is okay to start small and even small risks or out-of-the-box plans can have big results.
Project creation was by far the most engaging part of the unit. Students were collaborating with each other via their digital tools in safe, distanced ways. They taught me how to not only produce really amazing multimodal composition aspects with their tools but also how to make them as collaborative as possible. Students worked so hard on their projects and worked very well together by adding their own perspectives and strengths to the project. I had groups create iMovies, an infographic about ancient Olympics’ influence on the modern world with replica tickets from Ancient Greece, an interactive menu comparing and contrasting Ancient Chinese and Korean cuisine with samples of each, an interactive website showing graphs predicting how much of certain countries the Vikings explored, and so much more!
Then there was the works cited lesson we added; definitely not as engaging as project creations, but they worked well together on citations and made them fit well into their presentations!
November 20: Presentation/Gallery Walk Day!!
The day before students walked around and listened to the other subteam give their great presentations and completed a peer review form with 3 things they learned, 2 questions, 1 positive suggestion. Then on Friday, they presented their hard work! My kids were very proud and confident in their research and project. They engaged with their audiences and answered questions. When we returned to the classroom, they all wanted to share their projects so they could see each others’. I thought this was a great way to end the unit by allowing students to see all the different ways multimodal composition looks in the classroom!
Overall:
While there are so many aspects I need to improve upon when reflecting on these lessons, my students worked incredibly hard and produced amazing multimodal composition. All I had to do was put the resources and guidelines in front of them, and then they took over and let their creativity, communication, and collaboration shine through!
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