Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes (Contains 782 words.)
Primary Audience: Upper Elementary Teachers + Literacy Coaches
The Big Picture
Kids must be skilled at using various text structures. In 20 years, they will write structures that don’t exist today.
Here’s Why
When we write, we must choose how to share content. Young writers must pick a structure (e.g., cause & effect, compare & contrast, pro/con, problem & solution) that matches the content they’ll share. After you teach kids about various choices, it’s up to them (with some of your help) to match the content to a structure.
Examine the Evidence
NCTE’s Definition of Literacy in a Digital Age states that “active, successful participants in a global society must be able to” navigate more sophisticated literacy skills than previous generations. One of those tenets states:
As empowered learners engage in literacy practices, they need opportunities to move from consumers to producers of content. More specifically, learners need to move from content consumers to content curators to content creators. These stages do not have to operate in a sequence, nor should they be mutually exclusive as learners fully utilize the reader/writer nature of digital texts.
Information + Graphic
Infographics didn’t exist when I grew up but have become more prevalent yearly. Our highly visual world has led to more infographics to share information (words), numbers, and pictures. In other words, infographics help us better understand what numbers or facts mean to retain what we learn.
Infographics present information in an engaging, efficient way. They can be an excellent product for kids to create to demonstrate their learning. Infographics can integrate information and help kids learn how to bring their knowledge to life so they can teach others. It helps to study infographics as mentors before attempting to synthesize information into that form.
There are numerous possibilities for having students create infographics. Some are:
- Present research on a topic in an engaging way
- Develop a timeline of a historical event
- Compare and contrast concepts, events, products, etc.
- Share data from an experiment, survey, etc.
Mentor Text Suggestion
Check out Infographics for Kids by Susan Martineau and Vicky Barker (Charlesbridge, 2016). Their book contains 25 colorful infographics exploring three categories: animals, people, and our planet. Take a peek!
DIY
Create infographics for your students to use as demonstration texts. You can create them for various reading levels, making them accessible to all students. There are resources in the GO DEEPER section (below) to help you get started. Also, you can use the Make Your Own Infographic sheet at the end of Infographics for Kids to help you get started.
Infographics need to adhere to accessibility principles. If you’re unsure how to help your students do this, check out Accessible Social, a FREE resource hub explaining best practices for creating accessible and inclusive content.
The Bottom Line
Adopting diverse formats like infographics is crucial to preparing students for a rapidly changing digital landscape. By encouraging students to create content and teaching effective communication in various forms, we equip them with essential future skills that empower them to be versatile, creative communicators.
Go Deeper
- Canva
- Commonsense Media
- A comprehensive list of the “Best Infographic Design Apps and Websites” you can use with students.
- Easel.ly
- Piktochart
- Slides Carnival
- By the Numbers books by Steve Jenkins
Giveaway Information
This is a giveaway of Craft Moves: Lesson Sets for Teaching Writing with Mentor Texts by Stacey Shubitz (That’s me!), donated by Stenhouse Publishers (Routledge). To enter the giveaway, readers must leave a comment on any MODERNIZING MENTOR TEXTS by Mon., 1/20 at 12:00 PM EST. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Thurs., 1/23. The winner must provide their mailing address within five days, or a new winner will be selected. While TWT readers from around the globe are welcome to leave a comment, you must have a U.S. mailing address to win the book.
Discover more from TWO WRITING TEACHERS
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Another stellar post! Infographics speak to diverse learners and can be as simple or complex as they wish. Such a powerful means to convey their messages as writers/creators. Congratulations on your new publication! Thank you for continuing to encourage us forward!
LikeLike