Teacher Librarians (TL) have that immeasurable task of engaging and encouraging their students to continually visit the school library. This course certainly has changed how I think about the different methods of getting students interested in reading and building a strong reading ability throughout their schooling.
Storytelling has certainly been a constant while growing up or even as part of my teaching craft. Williams (2010) encourages teachers to approach storytelling in a more flamboyant way, building interest and bridges throughout the curriculum (p. 6). This means that students can experience new ways to display knowledge either through real-world scenarios or during topics that build a literacy skill, for example, scanning for important information in a non-fiction text.
Exposing students with literary learning that encourages them to not only enhance their own literacy skills, but to also work together in small group settings is incredibly beneficial! This type of learning certainly aims to provide students with opportunities to experience new ways to use their literacy skills when interpreting new information or building knowledge about a particular topic. However, having this natural ability to use language with creativity and ease is something that needs to be learned and harnessed over a long period of time (Holbrook, 2013, p. 81).
I really enjoyed the exploration of hypertext fiction during this course and the ways that this type of literature is being used to develop numerous storylines. The opportunities are certainly endless as this type of storytelling creates different links to literature in new found perspectives that appeal to the reader.
Multimodal literacy certainly has become more prominent in our literate world too. Providing more opportunities for students to get continual exposure of this type of storytelling is excellent for engaging them with creative writing. Providing more than one meaning when reading a particular story, allows for more in depth analysis and explanations to take place during literacy discussions. Discussing multiple meanings, particularly through picture books, certainly demonstrates that students are able to comprehend new information and provide personal answers either through written text, visuals or even videos (Walsh, 2010, p. 212).
I certainly believe that my future practice as a TL will definitely need to take advantage of more online services that distribute and stream hypertext narratives. Not to mention the fact that augmented reality is becoming more prominently used to assist with teaching content across several subjects is amazing! This type of exposure to digitally formatted narratives and non-fiction work will encourage learning through many ways and allow students to be more open-ended when developing their own opinion for a new topic (Unsworth & Macken-Horarik, 2015, p. 64).
Creating more exposure to literature in multiple settings, whether it be the school library, the classroom or part of home life can certainly strengthen a young reader. Getting adults involved as reading models and interactors is an incredibly vital approach to improving reading motivation (Strum, Riddle & Fox, 2017, p. 5). Having a variety of resources available to use, either physical or digital, makes the experience of reading and literary learning even more exciting. With so much digital content becoming available to the reader, it provides a great opportunity to work collaboratively with others to gain knowledge from literature and other teachers or even their peers.
References
Holbrook, P. (2013). Tradition, authority, and innovation in literary teaching and learning. English in Australia, 48(2), 79-89. Retrieved from https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=568196381562427;res=IELAPA
Sturm, B. W., Riddle, M., & Fox, L. (2017). Storytelling’s impact on school library circulation. School Libraries Worldwide, 23(1), 1-14. DOI: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.14265.23.1.001
Walsh, M. (2010). Multimodal literacy: What does it mean for classroom practice? Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 33(3), 211–239. Retrieved from https://www.alea.edu.au/documents/item/63%20%5B27
Williams, A. (2010). Library aloud! Storytelling and reading aloud give your school library a buzz. The School Librarian, 58(1), 4-6. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/57736632?accountid=10344
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