Reading, Creating, and Communicating: The Power of Multimodal Literacy Lamar-Renee Garcia

Reading, Creating, and Communicating: The Power of Multimodal Literacy Lamar-Renee Garcia

Ms. Garcia gave her class a new assignment. “Write about one idea that could make our school a better place,” she explained. Maya immediately imagined a beautiful reading garden with flowers, benches, and books. She had so many ideas, but when she started writing, she struggled to explain everything on the page. “I know what I want to say,” Maya whispered, “but I can't get all my ideas into words.”

Leah, Maya's classmate, was sketching a garden map. She drew the flowers, labeled the benches, and showed where students could sit and read. “Your drawing helps me see exactly what you mean!” Maya said. Ms. Garcia noticed that the girls were already communicating through different modes. Maya was using words, while Leah combined images, labels, and symbols to share her thinking. Both were making meaning in different ways.

The next morning, Ms. Garcia introduced a new possibility. “You can write an essay, create a picture book, record a podcast, make a video, or combine several formats,” she said. “Whatever you choose, your work must communicate your ideas clearly and support them with evidence.” Maya smiled. She could write about the garden, illustrate her design, and record herself explaining why it would help students learn. Suddenly, the assignment felt possible.

Maya wrote captions for her drawings, selected photographs of possible garden spaces, and recorded an explanation of her plan. Leah helped her organize the images so the audience could follow the idea. Maya discovered that every choice mattered. Pictures helped people visualize the garden. Writing explained its benefits. Her recording added details that were difficult to fit into a caption. Together, the different modes communicated a fuller message. This connects to Walsh's (2006) examination of how readers make meaning from print, visual, and multimodal texts.

Ms. Garcia reviewed their first draft. “Does your recording explain why the garden matters? Do your pictures support your argument? Can your audience follow your thinking?” Maya and Leah revised their captions, rearranged their images, and recorded a clearer explanation. They learned that a multimodal project still required reading, writing, planning, and revision. Using different formats did not mean doing less work. It meant making thoughtful decisions about how to communicate. This page connects to the 2020 reading, Multimodal Composing and Traditional Essays: Linguistic Performance and Learner Perceptions.

Presentation day arrived. Leah displayed the garden map. Maya shared their picture book and played her recording. Together, they explained how the garden could become a place for reading, science, and community. Their classmates asked questions and offered suggestions. Ms. Garcia noticed that the girls were doing more than showing pictures. They were organizing information, explaining their reasoning, and communicating with an audience. Their assignment had become an opportunity to read, write, create, and collaborate.

After the presentations, Ms. Garcia thought about what she had learned. A traditional essay gave students an important opportunity to practice writing. But it was not the only way they could demonstrate understanding. Through their projects, Maya and Leah had combined language, images, and sound to communicate their thinking. They had also learned to make choices based on their purpose and audience. Ms. Garcia realized that multimodal assignments could enrich literacy learning when students were taught to use each mode intentionally. This connects to Oldakowski's (2014) work on multimodal assignments and literacy learning.

By the end of the week, Maya and Leah understood something important. Literacy was not just about filling a page with words. It was also about making meaning, communicating with others, and choosing how to express an idea. “Sometimes our ideas need words,” Maya said. “And sometimes they need pictures, sounds, or both!” Leah added. Ms. Garcia smiled. “The goal is to make meaning and help others understand what you have to say.” And that was a lesson worth sharing.

References: Kim, Y., & Belcher, D. (2020). Multimodal composing and traditional essays: Linguistic performance and learner perceptions. ELC Journal, 51(1), 86–100. Oldakowski, T. (2014). A multimodal assignment that enriches literacy learning: The problem. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 9, 70–77. Walsh, M. (2006). The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 29(1), 24–37.