You know when you introduce a concept that you thought students knew, and they look at you like you’re speaking a foreign language? That’s how it can feel at the beginning of the year.
Maybe they knew it, last year. Perhaps summer has dug a hole between last year and now. Time to build a bridge that allows students easier access from the other side.
One way to transport students across that gap is through a medium they know and love. Video.
The “reading” students do when viewing a well-crafted ad or video clip can bring valuable literary practices and abstract concepts to life.
Practices, such as re-reading with a lens, are accessed quickly. Things that are unseen while reading can’t be missed in video. Highlighting one element while viewing can remind or trigger the “oh yeah” or “aha” moment for students.
“Students as you watch this, I want you to look for …”
By combining powerful images with practices for reading text, students can internalize what it means to visualize, take on a lens for a closer look, put all the pieces together and even consider craft moves.
Compare the visual to the book and inquire, how is the experience different and how can it be the same.
Be brave. Sometimes it takes more than the printed word to ignite learning.
Happy DigiLit Sunday! Find more digital inspiration at Margaret Simon’s DigiLIt Sunday link up here.
To Read To Write To Be 