Getting the READ On: Teenage Literacy Strategies

Purpose & objective

Our premise is equipping passionate educators like ourselves with the ability to leverage technology and social media to encourage a culture of reading, combating declining literacy rates and literature interests. What we plan to present is effectively what we have made use of in our own classrooms and school.
Literacy is one of the areas that we consistently need to work at; as a developing nation reading and literacy are essential to success, and in a digitally distracted world that is adversely affected by socio-economic factors, as well as barriers to learning we are trying to leverage these distracting technologies to flip the narrative and make reading accessible, effective, trending and fun.

During the interactive session, participants will experience how we have empowered student advocacy and voice in our English Language lessons and extra -mural program through employment of dynamic interactive sessions and technologies to change teenage tropes and attitudes toward literature and READING. A space to read...(and) TALK! about it!
With the use of applications such as Sora and Youtube, Reading Eggs, and tasks/projects (all of which will be included as digital handouts and inspirations) we have been able to bring literature exploration and study new digital life! Using these applications seamlessly to make our lessons interactive, collaborative and engaging taking the front row right through the screen to students living rooms or home desk spaces. The digital-age-Learning-environments differ from home to home, country to country and school to school, with with the likes of Flipgrid and mood-boards facilitated though Wakelet as an assessment tool, we can track reading progress and oral discussions, giving students a voice; moreover, collaborative group work can be facilitated through PowerPoint live shared documents and Teams, assisting in navigating thematic links in novels while exploring audio and visual portrayals on Youtube. This engagement allows for learner centered, communication, role-modelling and practice.

Attendees will leave with an inspired plan to re-ignite reading in their schools and homes.

Outline

Our interactive 45min session will be facilitated by the eclectic teacher duo of an English Language Specialist and a Technological Innovator. Our presentation presents pedagogic practice with sound educational, tech-savvy ideologies, showcasing our students' journey of 'literary discovery'.

Showing how we equipped our English Department and students with the ability to leverage technology and social media to encourage a culture of reading, combating declining literacy rates and literature interests.

Break down:
• Getting the read: Welcome & who are we? (3 min)
• Where we started? (10 min)
• How it’s going…the journey thus far – and where to from here! (15 min)
• The App smash Strategies! (15 min):
Showcasing our innovative APP SMASH, lessons, tasks and student
evidence and discussion spaces of unlocked and ignited our students'
love for literature through the employment of application and more
some include:
 Webtoon
 WattPad
 Wakelet
 Sora
 Flipgrid+
 Netflix
 Tinder/Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat
 Graphic Novels/Comics
 Youtube
 and our R.E.A.D (strategies + tasks):
  Reflective discourse, Empowered, Agency combating
digital Disruption.

• Thank you - now let’s TALK! about it… (5 min Q&A Feedback and closing)
(In this part of the session the audience will be encouraged to participate
and engage with the above applications and our leveraging of ideas.)

Supporting research

1. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/04250494.2019.1672502
2. https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=aer
3.https://www.readingrockets.org/article/teacher-practices-impact-reading-motivation
4.https://futureofchildren.princeton.edu/sites/futureofchildren/files/media/literacy_challenges_for_the_twenty-first_century_22_02_fulljournal.pdf