Using Emerging
Technologies to Promote
the Authenticity of
Composition
Angela Gunter, NBCT
Daviess County High School
Engaged Readers
wide and frequent readers who often
explore new territory through text and
who are intrinsically motivated to read
for the knowledge and enjoyment it
provides (Guthrie & Cox, 2001)
Authentic Writers
“a sense of audience—the knowledge that
someone will read what is written—is
crucial to young writers” (Atwell, 1998)
The Goals:
Engagement and Authenticity
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Students are not recognized for bringing valuable,
multiple-literacy practices to school, potentially
creating students who are resistant to
school-based literacy. (Lenters, 2006)
The proliferation of high-stakes tests can
complicate the literacy learning of adolescents,
particularly if test preparation takes priority over
content-specific literacy instruction across the
disciplines. Teachers can devalue, ignore, or
censor adolescents’ extracurricular literacies,
assuming that these literacies are morally
suspect, raise controversial issues, or distract
adolescents from more “important” work. This
means some adolescents’ literacy abilities remain
largely invisible in the classroom.(Kim and Monique,
2004)
Obstacles
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Adolescents need bridges between
everyday literacy practices and classroom
communities, including online, nonbook-based communities. (Moje,2007)
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Effective teachers understand the
importance of adolescents finding
enjoyable texts and do not always try
to shift students to “better” books.
Literacy has come to include, but not be
restricted to academic learning.
(Alvermann, 2001)
Research Demonstrates:
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To address this issue, instructors should
depend less on text-bound modes of
teaching that place adolescents in
passive roles and more on inquirybased instruction that allows students
to be active learners. (Bean et al. 1999)
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Teach for understanding, define learning
as an inquiry-based process, and
collaborative learning which builds on
constructivist principles of learning as a
social activity that is embedded in sociocultural systems. (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998)
Research-Based Solutions
“Young learners currently are
members of a participatory learning
culture who can and should be
contributing to the knowledgebuilding process rather than merely
passively consuming prepackaged
information.”
The World is Open: How Web
Technology is Revolutionizing
Education
Curtis J. Bonk (2009)
Forums
Chats
Blogs
Attachment of Documents
Link to Webpages
Post Photos
Post Videos
Individual/Personal Pages
Events
Activities
Groups
Music
Birthdays
Notes
Widgets
RSS
American Library Association Young Adult
Library Services 2009 Outstanding Books
for the College Bound and Lifelong
Learners
 Advanced Placement Summer Institutes
 College Summer Reading Lists
 Former Students (in college)
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The List
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Autobiography/Memoir
Biography
Nature/Adventure/Science
Sports
History/Politics/War
True Crime
Travelogue
Categories

What types of podcasts have you listened to?
Dave Ramsey show, Mugglecast, Behind the Music,
Books on Tape, The Onion, Car Talk (NPR), Pardon the
Interruption (ESPN), Advanced Spanish, Oprah’s Book
Club, Bungie (video games)
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What blogs do you read? Iamboycrazy.com,
espn.com, himynameismark.com (bass player
for Blink182), church youth group blog, My Live
is Average, Rick Reilly (ESPN), Perez Hilton
Hollywood 411, Katie Davis (young missionary)
Authentic Consumers of
Information
The
Students’
Project
Angela’s Ashes (1)
 Bridge to Terabithia
(1)
 Catch-22 (1)
 Catcher in the Rye
(1)
 Devil in the White
City (1)
 Fahrenheit 451 (2)
 Flowers for Algernon
(1)
 In Cold Blood (1)
 Lone Survivor (1)
 Scar Tissue (1)
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Slaughterhouse-five (3)
The Bluest Eye (2)
The Color Purple (1)
The Da Vinci Code (1)
The Handmaid’s Tale (1)
The Last Lecture (1)
The Outsiders (1)
The Poisonwood Bible
(2)
The Time Traveler’s Wife
(1)
Tuesdays With Morrie
(2)
Titles on the Podbean
Podcast Stats
(Last 30 days)
 Episode hits 311
 Subscribers 24
 Site visitors 551
 Comments 146
Latest Activity
Constructive
Comments
I thought your voice pacing was fine. I
remember teaching this book in class
when I was a student teacher, and the
issue of “loss” was pretty dramatic and
touching, and emotional for a lot of
students.
Did you know that Katherine Patterson is
the new Ambassador to Children’s
Literature? Just a fact.
Thanks for your podcast. Mr. Hodgson,
Sixth grade teacher
Comment by Mr. Hodgson — January 18,
2010 @ 6:05 am
Hi! I was particularly interested in listening to your
podcast because I read Angela’s Ashes and loved
the book, despite its sadness. Also, I had Frank
McCourt as a teacher years ago. Thank you for
capturing your thoughts about the book hearing you speak about the book made me
think about the parts I enjoyed most. I think I
liked best Frank McCourt’s ability to find humor
in what seemed like the bleakest of
circumstances. It made him, as a character,
seem resilient and not sad. Did you have a
favorite moment or moments? Thanks again for
your work on this and making it public to the
world for all of us to enjoy!
Paul Oh, National Writing Project (former teacher)
Comment by Paul Oh — January 19, 2010 @ 12:15
pm
Last year, I re-read Catch-22 several times for
a class, and realized that the recurring motif
of the tail-gunner episode turns the plot-line
into something like a spiral, with each
successive loop giving more information
about the episode. Otherwise, the “novel”
seems to be impressionistic, giving a series
of character sketches loosely arranged
around Yossarian’s military career, as you
mentioned. I like your comparison of Catch22 to The Office–clever!
Comment by Larry Barton — January 17, 2010
@ 8:54 pm
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Allow more time
Eliminate background noise
More reaction/recommendation
than summary
Add a common rating (out of 5 stars)
Speak clearly
Add rich details, adjectives
Add quotes from the novel
Attach them to card catalog in media center
Add a brief music clip or appropriate
background music
Interview format
Suggestions for Revision