Toward a More Visual Literacy

Technology and multimodal texts must be included as part of the literacies we teach in 21st century schools. Implementing multiple modes of literacy requires that teachers shift their focus toward multiple genres and modes of text. This shift to the visual requires that teachers consider how students read images in the classroom, address visual literacy, and engage students in constructing visual texts. Students already live and communicate in a virtual world connected by expansive networks, and many also read young adult literature. Given this, researchers and practitioners in the field examine ways texts written for students can be combined with digital tools to craft more critical conversations around literary response and digital media consumption and production. This book explores ways adolescents read, engage, and construct meaning within the world around them and examines how teachers can leverage the use of young adult literature with digital practices within their classrooms.

Jennifer S. Dail, Ph.D., is an associate professor of English Education at Kennesaw State University where she works with graduate students in secondary English Education and directs the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project. Her primary focus is on digital media and technology in English language arts classrooms, and she has a deep love of young adult literature. Shelbie Witte, Ph.D., is the Chuck and Kim Watson Chair in Education and Associate Professor of Adolescent Literacy and English Education at Oklahoma State University, where she works with preservice English Language Arts teachers. She is the director of the Initiative for 21st Century Literacies Research and the Oklahoma State University Writing Project. Steven T. Bickmore is an Associate professor of English Education at UNLV and maintains a weekly academic blog on YA literature (http://www.yawednesday.com/). He is a past editor of The ALAN Review and a current editor of Study and Scrutiny: Research in Young Adult Literature.

Foreword Lisa Scherff Introduction: Positioning Students as Creators in the Classroom Jennifer S. Dail and Shelbie Witte Part I: Classroom Contexts: Helping Students Visualize Digitally Chapter 1- "It's about more than words:" Reading All American Boys in a Social Digital Reading Environment Sara Kajder Chapter 2- Flipping the Teaching of Young Adult Literature Amy Piotrowski Chapter 3- Learning Conversations: Ancient Practice Meets New Technology Jenny Cameron Paulsen and Matt Copeland Part II: Social Engagement: Connecting Youth Beyond School Chapter 4- Responding to Young Adult Literature through Civic Engagement Kristen Hawley Turner and Dawn Reed Chapter 5- Social Media, Gaming, and Jay Gatsby: Integrating Youth Motifs with Youth Literacies in High School English Alison Heron Hruby, Lindsay Ellis Johnson, Dakoda Trenary, and Dallas Cox Chapter 6- Infusing Young Adult Literature into the Virtual Classroom Brooke Eisenbach, Paula Greathouse, and Jennifer Farnham III: Critical Inquiry: Digging Deeper with Young Adult Literature Chapter 7- Emerging Media, Evolving Engagement: Expanding Teachers' Repertoires of Literary Study and Response Anna Smith and Robyn Seglem Chapter 8- Seeing the World Differently: Remixing Young Adult Literature through Critical Lenses Jennifer S. Dail and Aneté Vasquez Chapter 9- Song of Myself: A Digital Unit of Study Remixed Fawn Canady, Kymberly Martin, and Chyllis Scott About the Editors About the Contributors