Chapter 4: Examining Author's Craft through Multimedia Composition

Chapter Summary:

     Chapter 4 focuses mainly on transferring the writing experience to digital works like PSAs, Digital Stories, and The “This I Believe” project. The author discusses the idea that Digital writing takes on so much more than simple written composition. When producing a multimedia project, the student must take into consideration various questions regarding photo choice and use, word choice, transitions, and even tone of voice. The authors stress however that the craft of writing does not necessarily change. Writers in a digital world still must consider “leads, conclusions, adding details, and inserting dialogue” (p.53). The author tries to blend the craft of writing with the addition of digital tools, and provides heuristics for assessing the craft of the writer both traditionally and with digital implications.

Making Connections:

     Digital writing can take many forms, and can actually take place in any classroom. Currently at my school, our Spanish teacher is having students write a weather report, using a green screen and an iPad, and creating weather reports in Spanish. Having access to a quality assessment tool, like is provided in this chapter would definitely help her better assess the writing and production. This chapter also looks a lot like my classroom. We have written personal narratives and turned them into movies, made Super Bowl Commercials, and my seniors are required to complete a “This I Believe Photo Essay” for their final project. By illustrating different forms of writing, as well as the modes in which these writings can be digitized, the author provides a great overview of what can be done in the classroom.

Classroom Implications:

     This chapter provides possibly the best set of resources to help a teacher set up and assess digital writing. It provides standards for digital writing (although Common Core is not listed, it also has many standards for creation and collaboration), which become helpful to teachers trying to justify why their students are having fun. The author also provides a very detailed unit plan for the “This I Believe” Project, which was inspired by NPR’s series with the same name. It provided the links I have been looking for with examples of other students’ work. The most helpful piece of this chapter is the MAPs Heuristic that provides teachers a way of assessing their students’ use of craft both in writing and digital production. This heuristic aids the teacher in knowing what things to look for in a completed piece, and more importantly what to directly teach to their students before writing and production begins.