“Making meaning has always involved more than just words” (Jones & Hafner).
To view/listen to my multimodal reading of Walt Whitman’s “I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” click HERE.
During my student teaching assignment this past year, we had a (fairly intense) poetry unit that overwhelmed a lot of our students. Students spent each class reading and analyzing complex poems, and many of them grew frustrated because they couldn’t understand what the poems were trying to express. About halfway through the unit, students read a poem about a conch shell; problematically, many of the students didn’t know what a conch shell was or what it looked like, and it was impeding their analysis of the text. I decided to show them an image of a conch shell and re-read the poem to them. All of a sudden, I saw the lightbulbs going off. It made so much more sense now!
Although I didn’t know the terminology quite yet, I had just discovered the beauty of multimodality, or “texts that are made up of a combination of modes” (Jones & Hafner). The image, combined with an auditory reading, had helped students to make meaning of the text.
With this in mind, I decided to put these elements together using Google Slides for Walt Whitman’s “I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” This was also a poem that was tough for our students, and looking back, I think that a multimodal reading like the one above would have helped them to make sense of it. On the slide, I included a recording of me reading the poem, a Calvin & Hobbes comic that encompasses the same theme as Whitman’s poem, and the poem itself. Students are able to read the poem, listen to the poem, and view a picture that helps them to uncover the theme, and having multiple modes through which they can understand the poem makes it easier for them to make sense out of it.
In the future, I would love to introduce my students to multimodality by having them create a similar multimodal text. I love having students write “Where I’m From” poems at the beginning of the school year to help me get to know them. I think it’d be interesting to ask them to submit a multimodal version of their poem. They could include recordings of themselves, images, videos, or whatever else they think might enhance a reader’s understanding. They would then present their multimodal poem to the class, and students could complete a reflection on how the various modes used by their peers influenced their analysis and reading of the poem.
In creating this multimodal text, I used two different technologies: Google Slides and Speakpipe. For an assignment like the one I just described, I like the idea of using Google Slides because it makes collaboration and sharing so easy. Google Slides is essentially Google’s version of PowerPoint, and the sharing settings make it so that students can easily view and comment on one another’s work. Google Slides is super user-friendly and includes templates that students can use in creating their products. It’s also easy to embed videos or links within Google Slides, which makes it great for the creation of multimodal texts. If I do create an assignment like the one outlined above, I would create a shared folder where students can house their presentations. They would all have access to this folder so they could access each other’s presentations at any time. Students do need a Google account to be able to fully use and collaborate using Google Slides, so that’s something teachers should keep in mind. Once they have done this, however, the platform is free to use, and they’ll be ready to go.
The other tool I used to create my multimodal text is Speakpipe. I needed a website where I could quickly record myself reading the poem, then create a link so that I could embed it within my Google Slides presentation. Speakpipe fit the bill perfectly. I went to their website, hit record, recorded the poem, and then the link was ready to go. It really was that easy! You don’t even have to create an account for it to work. I love the idea of using Speakpipe in my classroom because I have often found that when reading poems, students often struggle to figure out how to read it. Instead of reading it using punctuation, they often read it line to line and this impedes their understanding. Allowing the students to listen to the poem could help to enhance their understanding of the poem because the poem is read the way it should be. Speakpipe could also be used by students to record their own reactions to texts, to respond to other’s posts, and more.
Suggestions for Google Slides & Speakpipe:
- It’ll be helpful to walk your students through the process of creating a presentation and a Speakpipe. Neither of these platforms have a very helpful tutorial, so they might have questions.
- Make sure the sharing comments are set to “can comment” so that students cannot edit each other’s presentations on Google Slides
- Make sure they have access to the links even when they’re not on the school WiFi
- You may want to talk about the etiquette and protocols of commenting on each other’s work
Cautions for Google Slides & Speakpipe:
- Speakpipe links are only live for three months
- You will have to give Speakpipe access to your microphone and camera, so if this is an issue for students, you may need an alternate way to have them record
I’d love to hear how you take this up in your classrooms, so comment below if you do!
The High-Tech Teacher 