This document discusses how electronic media and new technologies are impacting how young readers engage with reading materials. It provides examples of books and stories that incorporate multimedia elements like games, apps, and online communities. The document advocates that teachers provide opportunities for students to read, create, and participate in digital literary works and fan fiction in order to develop important new literacy skills for the 21st century.

1. Beyond Electronic Media: Dynamically Engaging Young Readers in Multimodal Environments Dr. Ruth Lowery (Discussant) (loweryr@coe.ufl.edu) Prisca M. Rodriguez (pmrodriguez@ufl.edu) Brian Trutschel (esebrian@ufl.edu) Children’s Literature Association Conference Children’s Literature and Media Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor, Michigan (June 2010)

2. Electronic media engage image, text, speech and sound Many children watch and create movies, blogs, post on social network sites, and more Online communities grow and flourish Some companies combine books and interactive environments Current panorama

3. According to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), twenty-first century readers and writers need to: create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts (2008). Current panorama

4. Newbery paired his 1744 edition of A Little Pretty Pocket-Book with toys, to reinforce children’s good moral choices Beatrix Potter, according to her publisher Frederick Warne (2008), created the first licensed character in 1903 when she patented a plush Peter Rabbit doll. She also created Peter Rabbit wallpaper and game. A New Direction?

5. Late 1960 radical change (Dresang, 1999): Challenged expectations of a predictable linear text: formatting interactions of text and graphics multiple perspectives extended boundaries More demands placed on readers to: interpret multiple storylines discern symbolic meaning between text and pictures that tell different stories become comfortable with reading in nonlinear ways. Radical Change – Radical Acclimatization

6. The notions of “image” and “word” are intertwined, where boundaries dissolve and resolve, and result in alternative imagery, which Fleckenstein calls imageword(6). Imageword

7. Eliza Dresang argues that at least three radical changes have continued to take root in children’s and young adult literature: connectivity - hypertext-like links interactivity - make decisions as they read access - topics that used to be considered inappropriate (12). Three Principles

8. Multi-media adventure series 10 books (ages 8-12) Collectible cards Online game Competitions Mobile app for iPhone and iPod Touch Upcoming movie Authors: Rick Riordan Gordon Korman Peter Lerangis Jude Watson Patrick Carman Linda Sue Park Margaret Peterson Haddix (Aug 31, 2010) The 39 Clues - Scholastic

9. Collaborative, interactive fiction series 8 books (13 & up) Readers can become part of the story by creating their own stories/characters Opportunities to have posts published Avatars Forums (Debate Club) Zine (writing and art) Teacher’s kit (teachers can also participate in the story) Upcoming high school page TAP Gear (T-shirts, buttons, etc.) Amanda’s Oracle for the iPhone Inspired by Amanda (accessories) The Amanda Project - HarperCollins

10. Reciprocal Connections

12. LiveJournal.com

13. Harry Potter/Twilight

15. Support

16. Feedback

18. Deviant Art Why does it exist? A space to expand on student interest and add to the online community and express oneself. What is fostered? Collaboration among academic and social communities. Draft, peer review, revision, and publication process is taught and practiced. How can we link to the classroom? Extension to individual and classroom readings. Self illustration of student work and peer work. Exposure with the authoring/publishing process. Where can we learn more about it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deviant_Art

19. YouTube Responses/Reactions Books, FanFiction, Videos, Video Adaptations (Dear Reader Wizard People). FanFiction Outlet Responses/Reactions Critiques Criticisms Enrichment Activities Songs Videos Minisodes: Mini Episodes Animated Music Videos (AMVs) and Clips

20. 100 Ways to Teach with Twitter, by Kelly Walsh, Director of Institutional Information & Technology at The College of Westchester in White Plains, NY. Educators on Twitter Twitter: Instant feedback Increase participation Connect to other teachers, students, etc. Create mini-stories Use #hashtags to create unique conversations (#ncte , #teachers, #literacy , #kidlit, #kidlitchat, #chla10 Communicate with authors Twitter

21. Neil’s Blog Neil Gaiman on Winning the Newbery

22. (For the complete interview transcript, go to www.onceuponabook.wordpress.com) Do you feel electronic media has affected the way children engage with reading? If so, how? Electronic media affects the way kids think and communicate. While I adore books, I’m not a purist who believes that the relationship between author and reader is somehow sullied if a book is read on Kindle at the mall vs. reading a leather bound volume beside a cozy fire. The connection between writer and reader happens in the mind of the reader… makes no difference whether you’re on your laptop, iPhone or the Rosetta Stone. The thing I’ve noticed (and I’m certainly not the only one) is that many kids seem to be less able to focus on anything for a long time… like reading “a whole book” in whatever form simply because they are so accustomed to being interrupted by IMs and texts. Maybe whole novels should be written in tweets! Interview with @Annie_Fox

23. Diary of a Wimpy Kid NCTE Inbox Twitter blogs Kidlit author list for Twitter Kidlit and YA author list for Twitter The Twitter Experiment at UT Dallas Online resources

24. Adams, D. & Hamm, M., (2001). Literacy in a multimedia age. Norwood, Massachusetts: Christopher-Gordon Publishers. Dresang, E.T. (1999). Radical change: Books for youth in a digital age. New York: H.W. Wilson Company. Carver Sekeres, D. (2009). The market child and branded fiction: A synergism of children’s literature, consumer culture, and new literacies. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(4), 399-414. Fleckenstein, K.S. (2003). Embodied literacies: Imageword and a poetics of teaching. Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. Mayer, R. (2008).Multimedia literacy. Handbook of research on new literacies. 359-374. National Council of Teachers of English. (2008). The definition of 21st century literacies. Retrieved September 5, 2008, from ttp://www.ncte.org/governance/literacies?source=gs References