On Multi Literacy and Making Tab-Its

Tab-It's

an entirely fun way to present a whole bunch of new terminology

I had the best fun yesterday afternoon.  Something I never thought I would say during my second year of Uni, doing a unit on multi literacy.  I nearly dropped that unit to do at a later time.  I decided it wouldn't get any easier the next time around so I persisted and endured.  I nearly pulled my hair out in frustration, but I did it and even got a reasonable mark.  Even though I thought I had no idea what I was doing!

A few weeks ago I began putting together my term planner for English and realised I would have about 4-5 weeks where any work we did would not be included in our reports.  So I pulled out the multi literacy unit I was required to construct during Uni and had another look.  Four years on that unit makes perfect sense now!!!  And I am so excited to be able to include it in my term plan, and finish the term with some hard work that will be so much fun.  We will be comparing the book and the movie of "Horton Hears a Who".

I can hear you asking....what is multi literacy?  Its' basically looking at all the different elements in a text (book, movie, iPad app, website, newspaper, magazine etc) and examining how texts, images (still and moving) and sound are used together to enhance and influence meaning for the viewer.

What I know is that lots of the the technical terminology in this unit will be mind-blowing without some hands-on, fun, engaging ways to help it make sense.

Enter tab-it's.

The world of interactive notebooks and foldables has not really settled in here, yet.  But the few times I've used them in my classroom my students have loved them, so I went in search of freebie templates to put together what I needed.  I couldn't find what I was really after, but I did find enough that I figured I could make my own.  These are the things that make geeky teachers, like me, very excited....and feeling very smart!

Each booklet is printed on one sheet  of paper, and the kids cut out the pieces and glue them together along the marked-out spine.   Then they'll glue the back page into their workbooks and - voila! - we have a glossary with examples at our fingertips.  I've put in the information and the kids will draw an example in the space provided.

Without wanting to wish the term away I am super excited about getting into this unit.  It is quite hands-on, but it will fuse together my grammar and writing for the second half of the term.  And, I will have completed all of the requirements for addressing everything in the English curriculum documents.  Win!!

Once I've taught my way through this unit I may even venture into the world of selling on Teachers Pay Teachers.  I'm very good at gathering what I need from there, but have yet to dip my toe into selling.  Hmmmmm.