Language Arts in Action: Engaging Secondary Students with Journalistic Strategies

To adolescents enthralled by the instant gratification of social media, the pace of classroom routines can seem glacial. How can educators engage today's "swipe-happy" students and prepare them to thrive in a world where disinformation is as easy to absorb as information? Language Arts in Action is a thoughtful guide for middle and high school educators wanting to reengage their classes with more active, student-centered instruction. Here, teachers will find tools rooted in journalistic learning: a model that uses project-based storytelling to develop critical communication skills. By allowing young people to research, write, and publish articles aligned with their interests, educators can transform language arts, especially for students who feel their experiences and concerns are missing from traditional instruction.

About the Author :
Ed Madison is an associate professor at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication and a College of Education affiliated faculty member. His research centers on how journalistic learning methods can enhance overall student achievement. Madison is a co-founder and executive director of the Journalistic Learning Initiative (JLI), a nonprofit committed to empowering student voice and academic success. He is also the author of Newsworthy: Cultivating Critical Thinkers, Readers and Writers in Language Arts Classrooms and coauthor of Reimaging Journalism in a Post-truth World. Melissa Wantz, MA, is a retired language arts instructor and former journalist from Ventura, California, now living in Eugene, Oregon. Rachel Guldin, PhD, a former classroom teacher, is a visiting assistant professor at Denison University in Ohio.

Review :
If you're committed to breathing new life into language arts teaching, then look no further. This book offers an action-oriented framework that can help you transform ELA teaching into more engaging and meaningful experiences--empowering students to become the authors of their own learning and contributors to their own futures.--Ronald A. Beghetto, Pinnacle West Presidential Chair and professor, Arizona State University A welcome new approach to information literacy, this work utilizes active learning while never losing sight of the activities' connection to larger goals around trust, community engagement, skill development, and how such activities might make for better consumers of news content. This last part is particularly important; active approaches tend to disregard the ultimate impact of such activities on the student as reader and viewer, instead becoming hyper-focused on technical production and polish. Language Arts in Action, however, stays centered with activities that will help students think through the nature of capturing and conveying expertise--lessons that readers themselves will likely find useful as well.--Mike Caulfield, research scientist at the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public and creator of the SIFT methodology for student fact-checking Language Arts in Action is a book that skillfully blends language arts and media literacy concepts together in a way that makes it possible for every secondary English teacher to engage with adolescent learners and their complex media environments. This book revolutionizes and reinvigorates journalism education at a time when it's never been more important to untangle the blurring boundaries between information, persuasion, and entertainment.--Renee Hobbs, professor of communication studies and director, Media Education Lab, Harrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island A great read for those interested in creating authentic learning experiences for students! Language Arts in Action presents a powerful, honest, and moving process of an innovative education model.--Yong Zhao, Foundation Distinguished Professor, School of Education and Human Sciences, University of Kansas and professor in educational leadership, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University