Reading Workshop

Serafini, Frank. (2015). Multimodal Literacy: From Theories to Practices. Language Arts. 92(6), p. 412-423. Using the above mentioned tripartite framework as a lens for investigating the nature of the multimodal ensembles that our students are exposed to in contemporary classrooms, multimodal ensembles are conceptualized as: 1) visual objects, 2) semiotic events, and 3) cultural artifacts (see Figure 1). This reconceptualization of the nature of multimodal texts from three different perspectives provides a foundation for the instructional approaches used to expand students’ interpretive repertoires. It is through these various lenses that we can begin to move beyond the literal or denotative aspects of written text and visual images to consider the semiotic and ideological dimensions of the multimodal ensembles encountered in today’s classrooms. Three Perspectives on Multimodal Ensembles Theoretical Perspective Multimodal Ensembles Instructional Approa

At the beginning of every school year, I open one or two boxes of books each day during the first few weeks of school. It takes about that long to open all of the boxes of books I now have available. Each day brings a new adventure as we open up a new box to find out what books are inside, what literary treasures await us. This opening of the library boxes is a yearly ritual in my classroom and is designed to help students get a sense of the variety of books that are available. I also do this to help students understand that the books are there for them to read and are not there merely for display purposes. The books in the classroom are there to be looked at, thumbed through and read. Every book is available to everyone.             As we open each new box, the contents are placed on tables around the room to allow students in small groups to spend time investigating each title. We stop periodically to share favorite books we know and love as a whole class, and introduce each other to