This article explores learning through modes of signification in literacy activity books for early childhood learners in Kenya. These modes of signification are important for the cognitive and social development of children. Early childhood education in Kenya aims to prepare children for primary school by building foundational skills in a…

The 'multimodal turn' has led many education systems around the world to incorporate aspects of multimodality into their language curriculum as a response to the contemporary communication environment and new literacy practices of students. In this article, we present and examine findings from a study of the enactment of multimodal pedagogies by…

This article discusses the implementation of interactive literacy approaches that maximize learning for students. Instructional implications are shared along with prospective benefits offered to students when practices are applied. It also provides educators with feasible, generative actions to adapt or incorporate as appropriate to their learning…

Being literate in today's world involves more than reading and writing traditional works in print. Students need experiences with a range of multimodal narratives, including animation. Multimodal narratives offer many entry points for engagement, and design plays an important role as readers/viewers navigate their way through these works and make…

Social studies education provides education researchers with a less common opportunity to discover multimodal instructional methods for disciplinary literacy. During a 12-week period in 2021, four social studies teachers with at least one history course in a large suburban Mercer County, New Jersey school district participated in a case study to…

This paper invites readers to reconsider the role of Art in the learning of social sciences in higher education based on the ability of the arts to promote understanding among students about their world of life. The new pathways opened up by multimodality offer access to vast repositories of images such as Flickr (Davies, 2007; Castañeda, 2009),…

This article provides primary teachers with assessment tools and curricular examples to expand writers' workshop by adding a multimodal storytelling unit on drama and filmmaking, allowing students to create engaging off-the-page stories through films and play performances that enrich writing. Too often, children's literacy abilities are assessed…

After 10 years of interviews with professionals who work across creative and business sectors, the author has drawn together findings in this article to encourage a collapsing of silos between schools and workplaces so that educators can build on untapped expertise from professionals who work and think multimodally. This call for change involves…

As political agendas change, the teaching of writing continues to evolve, encompassing different writing practices in an attempt to address the perceived needs for literacy in our society. This article presents the Write Here project, which aims to boost children's social development and literacy attainment through engagement with visual art,…

This dissertation articulates a writing pedagogy based on a theory of "intermodality" to help writing instructors navigate the affordances and challenges of multimodal composition. Drawing from recent discoveries in neuroscience about how the brain makes meaning, I situate this pedagogy of intermodality--literally, "between the…

In the Budding Science and Literacy project, we explored how working with an integrated inquiry-based science and literacy approach may challenge and support the teaching and learning of science at the classroom level. By studying the inter-relationship between multiple learning modalities and phases of inquiry, we wished to illuminate possible…

More than half of adults in the USA have quantitative literacy ratings at or below a basic level. This lack of literacy often becomes a barrier to employability. To overcome this barrier, adults are returning to college to improve their quantitative skills and complete an undergraduate education, often through an accelerated degree program. A…

This article documents what happened when a teacher in an urban school shifted classroom practice through changing participation structures to incorporate digital technology and multiple modalities into a fifth grade literacy curriculum. This shift in teacher practice provided opportunities for immigrant students to become more visible in the…

The principles of Hungarian music educator Zoltan Kodaly can be particularly useful not only in teaching children how to read music notation but also in creating curiosity and enjoyment for reading music. Many of Kodaly's ideas pertaining to music literacy have been echoed by educators such as Jerome Bruner and Edwin Gordon, as well as current…

In light of emerging technologies prompting new avenues for teaching and learning, students are positioned to "create" to learn, with video production being an important process for literacy development. There is a growing need for innovative instructional practices in reading and writing that are aligned with student interests and the activities…