Contents
LITERACY TODAY
Volume 38, Issue 1
July/August 2020
EDITORIAL STAFF
Managing Editor Colleen Patrice Clark
Editor Christina Lambert
ILA LEADERSHIP
Executive Director Marcie Craig Post
2020–2021 BOARD MEMBERS
Stephen Peters, Laurens County School
District 55, President; Rob Tierney, University
of British Columbia, Vice President; Kathy N.
Headley, Clemson University, Immediate Past
President; Juli-Anne Benjamin, Great Oaks
Legacy Charter School; Kia Brown-Dudley, The
Education Partners; Wendy Carss, University
of Waikato; Danielle V. Dennis, University of
Rhode Island; Rachael Gabriel, University of
Connecticut, Storrs; Annette M. Kiberu, GEMS
Cambridge International School; Kenneth
Kunz, Monmouth University; J. Helen Perkins,
University of Memphis; Laurie Sharp, Tarleton
State University
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ABOUT US
Literacy Today is the bimonthly membership
magazine of the International Literacy
Association, a nonprofi t that strives to
empower educators, inspire students, and
encourage teachers with the resources they
need to make literacy accessible for all.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Literacy Today (ISSN 2411-7900) is included
in the cost of ILA membership. To join, visit
literacyworldwide.org.
CONTACT US
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© International Literacy Association
2
EDITOR’S NOTE
4
LIT BITS
6
ILA UPDATE
LITERACY LEADERSHIP
8
No Longer Distant: How Distance Learning
Is Forever Emblazed As Our Teaching Reality
12
What If? Imagining a World Without Book
Deserts
14
Will You Be My Book Buddy? Preservice
Teachers and Striving Readers Team Up to Shape
Each Other’s Literacy Futures
RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE
16
Constructing a Multimodal Literacies English Language Arts Curriculum
18
Why Color Shift s in Picture Book Illustrations Matt er
FEATURES
22
Preventing the COVID Slide This Upcoming School Year
26
Three Key Mind-Sets for Literacy Leaders in the Wake of COVID-19
30
How Reading Together Allows Us to Build Worlds Together
34 How the Pandemic Is Impacting Students’ Emotional Health and Social
Lives—But English Class and a Classic Piece of Literature Can Help
THE ENGAGING CLASSROOM
38
New Space, New Rules? Learning How to Be Together Online
40
Moving Beyond Skills to Conceptual Understanding and Transfer
42
Exploring Improv’s Possibilities for the Language Arts Classroom
THE ILA NETWORK
44
Voices, Understanding, and Inclusion: Notable Books for a Global Society
48
Searching for a Common Language: The Baltic Sea Conference on Literacy
50
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
34