LITERACY TODAY | January/February 2016
Free digital learning lessons
As you read through this year’s
Digital Literacies issue, you may
be left craving even more ideas
for fostering digital literacy in your
classroom. We recommend starting
with these E-ssentials and Bridges
units, free for members, found on
literacyworldwide.org:
■ “Instruction with Multimodal,
Multiple Texts,” by Jill Castek
for the Literacy Practices That
Adolescents Deserve E-ssentials
series
■ “Digital Discussions: Using Web
2.0 Tools to Communicate,
Collaborate, and Create,” a Bridges
unit by Brian Kissel, Karen Wood,
Katie Stover, and Kim Heintschel
■ “Cyborg Anthropology: An
Interdisciplinary Unit for Grades
11–12,” a Bridges unit by Alexandra
Seaha and Judy Randi
The undergraduate committee of
ILA’s Murray Area Council in Kentucky
and their local library partner twice a
year to host Lounging With Literacy,
in which families come together for
a story-hour, autographs, and photos
with their favorite book characters. An
average of 85 children and parents
attend, with all children receiving free
books from the library.
BY THE NUMBERS
4 out of 5
Number of teachers who reported they
would use classroom technology more
frequently during the 2015–2016 school
year, according to a survey from Front Row
Education
75%
Amount of
teachers who
noted an
increase in
support for
technology from
administration
$20 M
Donation from
Mark Zuckerberg to
EducationSuperHighway,
a nonprofi t
that improves Internet
access in schools
77%
Amount of schools in
the U.S. with reliable
Internet connections,
according to an
EducationSuperHighway
report, up from 30% just
three years ago
Age at which students
starting kindergarten will
experience signifi cant
benefi ts, including
reducing inattention
and hyperactivity by
73% at age 11, according
to a new study from
the National Bureau of
Economic Research
essons
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Grades
Alexandra
What’s new?
Look for these updates and more from ILA:
■ Free registration will be off ered to all undergrad preservice
teachers to attend our 2016 conference. (ilaconference.org)
■ The Foundation for Impact on Literacy and Learning, formerly
the USA TODAY Charitable Foundation, is now a supporting
organization of ILA. (literacyworldwide.org/foundation)
■ Meet four faces of literacy—people from diff erent walks of life
who have overcome illiteracy—on our new Take Action page.
(literacyworldwide.org/takeaction)
Lounging
With Literacy