What we did
The more we learned about new literacy skills for students, the more we realized the lack of information for those of us who teach emergent to transitional readers. This led us to focus on the question, “What technologies and strategies can K-2 teachers use to support the development of New Literacies?” As primary teachers we wanted evidence that would help us to introduce and develop these new skills with our students. It became evident that there was little research that directly supported this. Realizing that, we began the process by looking for research that supported traditional reading strategies. We then found references to the specific skills and strategies required to effectively use New Literacies. After noticing the commonality between the strategies required for both traditional and new literacies, we decided to blend the old and new to generate a set of strategies for Online reading. We have compiled a resource of strategies and technologies that primary teachers can use to support the early development of New Literacies. In conclusion, we found that even though the act of reading is becoming more dynamic and requires more skills; traditional reading strategies provide a strong foundation for those newer strategies and it is the specific teaching of both that gives our students what they need to to become effective online readers.