Reaching Diverse Students:
Reading and Learning with Digital
Tools and Media
New Literacies Teacher Leader Institute
Cambridge, MA ~ June 25, 2010
Bridget Dalton
Vanderbilt University
bridget.dalton@vanderbilt.edu
“EDUCATION IS THE
CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE
OF OUR GENERATION”
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan,
2009
Acknowledgements
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CAST colleagues: Kristin Robinson, Ge Vue, Elaine Mo, Anne
Meyer, David Rose, Kate Brigham, Boris Goldowski, Joanne
Alunni, Tom Green, Matt Brambilla, Linda Butler, Peggy Coyne,
David Rose, Sheila Sethuranem, Bart Pisha, Maya Eagleton,
Susan Deysher, Mei Kennedy, Sol Concha, Lauren Poniatowski
Annemarie Palincsar, University of Michigan
Patrick Proctor, Boston College
Catherine Snow & Paolo Uccelli, Harvard University
Dana Grisham, CSU-East Bay
Dave Schlepper & Lori Lutz, Laurent Clerc Center, Gallaudet
University
Lu Zeph and Betsey Enright, University of Maine
Blaine Smith and other students at Vanderbilt University
And many K-12 teachers and their students…
More, more, more…
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BookBuilder, Strategy Tutor, and some
PPT templates supported by grants to
CAST, Inc. from private foundations, the
US Department of Education, and the
Massachusetts Department of Education
Change the course; change a life
Technology, pedagogy, content,: A
combination that can change the
course; change a life
Literacy in the middle grades and
beyond: The challenge
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8.7 million students lack the skills required to understand
high school textbooks (Kamil, 2003)
Approximately 50% of high school seniors taking the
ACT college entrance exam had the reading skills
essential to success in college (ACT, 2009)
NAEP results show 37% of students in grade 4 and 26%
of students in grade 8 are not able to read at a basic
level (NCES, 2003; results fairly stable, 2009)
4th grade slump in reading achievement, especially for
poor students (Chall, 1986)
Our focus today: Designing for
diversity in new times
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Everyone is a designer (Kress, 2003)
Technology in service of print-based
literacies
Technology-mediated new literacies
Universal design for learning perspective
to guide you in designing, selecting, and
using technology-based lessons, tools,
resources, and programs
Ron Mace: Universal design
Consider the needs
of the broadest
possible range of
users from the
beginning
Universal design for learning
(Rose & Meyer, 2002)
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Curricula, methods and materials designed to
meet the needs of the broadest possible
range of learners
Supports for diverse learners are built in from
the start
Frequently more effective for all learners
Principles of universal design
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Provide multiple means of representation
Provide multiple means of expression
Provide multiple means of engagement
UDL Theoretical Framework
Task is too difficult for learner
ZONE OF
PROXIMAL
DEVELOPMENT
Task is too easy for learner
Universal design for learning applied to
digital reading (Dalton & Proctor, 2008)
•Promising results for
students
•Benefits for teachers
Demo
Rand Reading Study Group’s (2002) reading
comprehension heuristic
reader
text
activity
comprehension
Sociocultural context
Comprehension in a new literacies
landscape: Scaffolded digital reading
(Dalton & Proctor, 2006; 2008)
reader
text
activity
comprehension
Sociocultural context
Developing strategic readers…
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viewers
listeners
interactors
integrators
communicators
LEARNERS and EXPERTS
CONSUMERS and PRODUCERS
Thinking Reader: Embedding
strategy instruction in digitized
novels (Tom Snyder Productions, Scholastic)
A Wrinkle In Time – Madeleine L’Engle
Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine
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Paterson
Bud, Not Buddy - Christopher Paul
Curtis
Dragonwings - Lawrence Yep
Esperanza Rising – Pam Ryan
My Brother Sam Is Dead – James and
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Chris Collier
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred
D. Taylor
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbitt
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Creating your own scaffolded texts:
http://bookbuilder.cast.org
UDL Book Builder Goals
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To develop students’ understanding and
engagement with fiction and non-fiction
digital books
To promote students’ use of reading
strategies and learner self efficacy
To support teachers in differentiating
instruction through customized books
Create and edit my books
The Peacock: Develop text,
images, and coaching supports
Peacock: Creating strategy coach
prompts
Peacock: Creating strategy coach
models
Internet Inquiry: Exploring 2 online
tools to support inquiry
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Ways of thinking, critiquing, expressing
(and oh yes, learning strategies)
Scaffolding for multimedia
response
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We live in a media-saturated, networked
world where text is:
multimodal
 interactive
 socially distributed
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(Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear, & Leu, 2008; Kress, 2003; New
London Group, 1996)
Our students are
digital natives
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Students use media and the Internet to
 respond to literature
 create compositions and fanfiction
 connect with others in interest-driven
communities, both outside of school and
in classrooms
(Jenkins, 2008; Grisham & Wolsey, 2006;
Unsworth,Thomas, Simpson & Asha, 2005)
Multimedia supports literacy,
learning, & engagement
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For ALL learners, including students who are
not faring well in schools:
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Disengaged
Struggling with academic reading and writing
English language learners
(Mayer, 2001; Dalton & Proctor, 2006; O’Brien,
2001)
Multimedia composing with
Power Point
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The power of templates to scaffold
students’ multimedia composition and
learning
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Retelling
Vocabulary
Phoetry
Create a Folktale Retelling Show
Title page
1
2
6
3
7
4
Author’s Note
5
Your PPT retelling will have 9 slides:
• A title page
• Scenes 1- 7
• Your Author’s Note
Try to use your power words in your retelling: avoid, delighted, hospitality,
speechless, and trudge
Be creative – use words, images, sound, and color to tell a great tale!
Example
– The next 3 slides show part of a student
retelling and author’s note from last year
Turtle washes up.
Turtle went to wash up
for dinner. He trudged
to the river. When he
came back he was
dirty still! He had to
wash up all over
again.
Turtle trudged down to the river.
Option: Add audio recording
2
Author’s Note
By: Mariana
I retold each of the scenes in ‘Hungry Spider and Turtle,’
and then used sound and color to bring my story alive.
I picked my background music and design at the bottom
because they reminded me of African art, and this is a
folktale from the Ashanti people, who live in Africa.
I picked the background color on each slide to help make
the setting. The background of the first scene was sandy
brown because it was dry and dirty in this part of the story.
In the second slide, Turtle was hot and tired so I chose the
red-pink color to remind people of how hot he was.
I really liked the music I picked for the second slide,
because it sounded like African music, but it also made it
sound like Turtle was on a mission!
Add sound to your slide show
3 ways to use sound:
• record your retelling
• add sound effect
• add music
To get started, go to INSERT and
• select Movies and Sounds
• choose your option
• ask someone for help if this is a new skill!
Use color to dramatize your story
The opening scene in the folktale, “How Coyote Stole Fire” is
sad and the weather is cold, so I changed the background
gold color to grey.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Go to Format
Background
Choose color
Click Apply
(be sure to be in normal view, or it will change all your
slides!)
I also changed the font color to black
1. Highlight your text
2. Click on font color
3. Choose color
Ready to Begin?
• Save your slide show onto your desk top or CD
– Go to ‘File’
• Save As
• Save into your folder
– File name to use:
» Your name + your teacher’s name + Hungry Spider
retell
» E.g., Bridget D-Camelo-Hungry Spider retell
• TIP – save each slide as you go along!
• If you want ideas for how to do your retelling, check out Al,
Star, or Genie’s ideas in the ‘Notes’ section below!
Al’s Thoughts
Star’s Thoughts
Genie’s Thoughts
Type Your
Name Here
Caption:
Option: Add audio recording
4
And the moral of this story is…
Click to add text
The End
Option: Add graphics and color
Option: Add audio recording
7
Author’s Note
By: Type Your Name Here
• Write your author’s note here. Explain
how you used words, color, graphics, and
sound to create an interesting and
entertaining retelling.
• You may want to use media on this slide
to reinforce your message.
Retelling Slide Show Self-check
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Congratulations! You have a draft and now are ready to review and polish
your show
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Make sure you have saved your show onto the desktop or CD-ROM
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Delete the slides with the directions and save again.
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To view your slide show:
– Go to view
• Slide show
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What do you think? Did you tell a whale of a tale? (see your teacher for a
more detailed retelling check list).
– Review your tale. Do you need to make changes to the content, color, or sound?
– Check the mechanics. Do you need to edit spelling, punctuation, or
capitalization?
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Review TIP: Show your slide show to a friend and get their feedback and
help.
Spider Can’t Swim.
Spider couldn’t swim
One day Spider was walking,
he saw Turtle in his house.
Turtle saw him too. Turtle
asked spider to dinner.
Spider was really hungry so
he said yes. Turtle’s home
was in the water but spider
couldn’t swim. He wondered
what he would do.
Option: Add audio recording
4
REVENGE
“Come back and help me in
the water!!!”said Spider.
After that,Turtle asked
Spider if he wanted to
come to his house for
dinner.Spider eagerly
said yes,just like Turtle
had planned.Turtle had
cooked a delicious
meal,but when Spider
got there,he couldn’t get
to Turtle’s house,which
was underwater.
4
Spider decided to stop by
for a visit the was great
but he coud’nt get it
under water spider
jumped in but didn’t
weigh enough to sink
but he had a plan
Caption:
Option: Add audio recording
4
Our Class Glossary
A collection of words that are
important to know
By Ms. D’s Students
April 2005
Word: Definition
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Personal
association:
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Importance:
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Source:
Camouflage: to hide by disguise
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Personal association: I
love to snorkel. So many
fish are able to blend into
their surroundings so that
you don’t see them until
they move.
Importance: Camouflage
is an important survival
technique. Prey can hide
from their predators. It’s
also a hunting technique.
Source: I found this word
in a National Geographic
article on coral reef fish.
BD
Camouflage: to disguise so that
you cannot be seen easily
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Personal association: I have
Army fatigue pants that are
camouflage.
Importance: Soldiers need
to be able to hide their
position from the enemy, so
they wear camouflage
uniforms.
Source: Blog on the Iraqi
war.
Author: Mike M.
Scaffolding design
The power of multimodal
response
Focus on learning how to
learn
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Teach students to be strategic in using
tools and resources: What can I use to
help me?
A case in point: vocabulary and language
tools
Words are important
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It’s how we communicate with one
another – orally and in writing
We learn with, through, and about words
Highly correlated with comprehension (.6
to .8 correlation)
Academic language key to achievement
The vocabulary gap begins early…
Hart & Risley, 1995
The good news is…
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Instruction makes a difference
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Teach!
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Multiple exposures in different contexts make a
difference
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Read a LOT!
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Words, word strategies, morphology, origins
widely, deeply
Interest and affect make a difference
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Personalize learning; develop love of words
Technology is an important part of
the solution
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To teach words and word learning strategies
To increase volume of reading
To develop an interest in words
New Tools for New Times
Just in time vocabulary reference
support
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Access online dictionaries, thesauruses,
encyclopedias (wikipedia)
http://thesaurus.reference
com/
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Language translators (Babelfish)
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Tools vary by age level
Not great, but good place to start
Personalize!
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Kids explore and become strategic in use of tools
Dictionary.com
Visual Thesaurus’ ‘Behind the
Dictionary’ and ‘Teachers at Work’
http://www.visualthesaurus.com
Wordsift: Martin Luther King’s “I
have a Dream”
http://www.wordsift.com/)
Wordsift extensions
Regardless of subject…
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Students need to read, view, interact with
text MORE
Increase volume by reading on the
Internet
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Expand text options to include reading on the
Internet and reading digital texts
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Example 1: Encourage academic reading on the web
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~90% of students use it for homework
Extend learning and exploration
Digital current events
Example 2: Connect print and digital reading
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The Giver and Lois Lowry (insert link)
Increase volume by
listening with TTS
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Allow students to use a text-to-speech tool
to ensure all students have access to
 age-appropriate content
 grade level curriculum
More able readers may use TTS to stay
focused and/or access occasional
unfamiliar words
TTS tools
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Use a range of tools
 Free TTS tools (Firefox clickspeak)
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Commercial TTS tools offer additional services
(Kurzweil, Aeques, ReadWriteGold, etc.)
Audio and ebook resources
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Resources
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Digital books – Project Guttenberg, Google BookSearch, Bookshare,
book clubs
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic website on Learning to Listen
(www.rfbd.org)
Denise Johnson’s ROL article on audio books:
http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=webwa
tch/audiobooks/index.html
Rose and Dalton, 2007 available at Learningthroughlistening.org
Learning Through Listening
Next steps
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Jump in! Choose one idea, one tool, and
experiment
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Experience it yourself before teaching (but don’t
worry about being the expert)
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Take an existing project and ramp it up by
scaffolding for diversity
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Share your work; participate in an online
community
Changing the course
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Assume that technology is part of the solution
Apply a universal design for learning perspective
Make it happen NOW
bridget.dalton@vanderbilt.edu